Achi news desk-
Almost 50 years ago, Billy Connolly was in Northern Ireland filming Big Banana Feet.
The edgy fly-on-the-wall documentary followed the comedian around the country’s volatile landscape at the height of the Troubles.
It was a challenging filming process. Just three weeks before Connolly’s arrival three musicians from a popular cabaret band were shot and killed by a paramilitary group.
The film had very little release in cinemas in the UK, but shortly afterwards the distributor went out of business and the film was lost.
Only one copy remained at the Pacific Film Archive in California. But when director Murray Grigor left in the 1970s he was forced to leave the film behind as he was unable to fit the reels in his luggage.
A video copy of that version was shown at the Glasgow Film Festival in 2012 but the film has not been seen since.
Now, thanks to the determined Scottish film archivist Douglas Weir, who works at the British Film Institute (BFI), the film has been saved.
For a decade, Douglas kept a close eye on the film. Then, one day, he saw it for sale on eBay.
Douglas Weir restored the film alongside Murray Grigor. Credit: John Carey/GFF.
He was immediately drawn to the 16mm film when he realized that the seller had misspelled Connolly and banana. Douglas bid on the film and managed to bag it for £50.
‘My first memory is seeing footage of Billy Connolly performing which was shot on film, rather than video, which made me want to investigate further where it came from,’ he said.
‘This is the Great Yin, what’s not to love.
‘Due to the lack of original film materials, the film has not been available for several decades and part of my job is to find the best materials for rare and unknown titles that are ripe for rediscovery.
‘Big Banana Feet was one of them and one day it came to be sold by a private collector.’
Douglas has spent the last few years restoring the film, using two rare 16mm prints, one in the collection of the Pacific Film Archive in the USA and one he found online.
The sound and color of the film improved and dust spots and scratches were removed. He even managed to add jokes about religion that were censored in the original release.
And now the rarely seen film is being screened in cinemas.
Featuring iconic stand-up material and songs, there’s also a behind-the-scenes look at Big Yin on the road with his crew, relaxing backstage and meeting the press.
The banana shoes that give the film its title first appeared in 1975. Made especially for Connolly by Glasgow pop artist Edmund Smith, they became a regular fixture at his 70s shows and are now are on display at the People’s Palace, Glasgow.
‘The film materials we found were first checked and repaired, then digitally scanned at high resolution and color corrected, to compensate for color fading,’ said Douglas.
‘The rest of the restoration work was done digitally by a company in London called R3store Studios, which removed specific dirt and scratches.
It was extremely important to save this film as it is a rare early glimpse of one of Scotland’s greatest entertainers, not only performing, but also off stage, and in Northern Ireland during the Troubles without- fail
‘I’m lucky to have such a satisfying job which allows me to cross the life of the films and the film makers and hopefully give them another hundred years of existence, especially when the films are Scottish.’
The revamped film recently premiered at the Glasgow Film Festival and will now be shown in cinemas from 10 May and released on DVD/Blu-ray by the BFI on 20 May.
Pre-order DVD/Blu-ray from the BFI Shop: https://shop.bfi.org.uk/big-banana-feet-dual-format-edition.html
Cinema screenings to be listed here: www.bfi.org.uk/releases
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