Get the Glasgow stories that matter to you sent straight to your inbox with our daily newsletter Sign me up Thank you for subscribing See our privacy notice Invalid Email

With Glasgow home to both the world's tallest cinema and a host of picture houses throughout the city, it can certainly be considered a city with a local population who love the movies.

Be it the latest releases at the likes of Cineworld and the Odeon or more niche and classic films and small boutique festivals at the likes of the CCA and the GFT, there's something for everyone.

That being said, it's strange to think that the powers that be in the city had a reputation for censoring films they thought might offend public decency and taste in the not too distant past.

Here's our list of a few such movies that fell foul of the censors, some of which encouraged movie-lovers in the city to travel outwith the city boundary just so they could catch a film:

Tropic of Cancer

The 1970 American drama, an adaptation of Henry Miller's controversial 1934 novel, was banned by the council in Glasgow in March of 1971.

With one magistrate banning the film said to have referred to it as 'filthy, disgusting, depraved'.

The Devils

The British historical drama horror, directed by Ken Russell and starring Oliver Reed and Vanessa Redgrave, followed on from Tropic Of Cancer in also being banned in 1971.

It was, according to the book The Sexual State: Sexuality and Scottish Governance (1950-1980) by Roger Davidson and Gayle Davis, the first time where Glasgow magistrates banned a film on grounds it "offended good taste and public decency".

The Sex Adventures of the Three Musketeers

This "adults only" retelling of the legend of the Three Musketeers German film fell foul of the city magistrates in 1974 on basis of its 'strong emphasis on immorality taking place behind the walls of convents and monasteries'.

Monty Python's Life of Brian

The 1979 British comedy film starring and written by the comedy group Monty Python has to be the most famous example of film censorship in Glasgow. The city was one of 39 local authorities in the UK that refused to grant the film a general release on blasphemy grounds.

While its possible it might have been shown as part of a double-bill with Airplane at the ABC cinema on Sauchiehall Street, plenty of residents (especially in north Glasgow) flocked to the Rio in Bearsden to see the film.

The 'unofficial' 30-year ban was only lifted back in 2009, when the council's licensing and regulatory committee approved a request from the GFT to show the biblical satire under a 15 certificate.

Romper Stomper

The controversial Australian film which depicts the life of a neo-Nazi skinhead gang, was banned by the city back in 1993, leading to the GFT among others to cancel their proposed screenings.

That saw people (plenty of skinheads among them) travel to East Kilbride and the UCI in Clydebank in their droves to see the film , which stars Russell Crowe.

This story was originally published in September 2020.