2 weeks Ago By Susan Dalgety
Excited, I ran downstairs to where my two sons were playing with their friends to find them scooping up handfuls of tenners. Sadly it turned out that none of us had won the jackpot. The money was fake, used in the filming of the 1985 cult movie Restless Natives.
It told the tale of local heroes Ronnie and Will, aka the Clown and the Wolf Man, who rob busloads of tourists to give money to Edinburgh’s cash-strapped communities such as Wester Hailes . A Robin Hood tale for the Thatcher era. That Monday afternoon, a scene where the dynamic duo roar through a housing scheme on their motorbike throwing out cash was filmed in our part of the estate, much to the delight of my lads and their friends.
My eldest son, now a father of three and heading towards the big 50, made a fleeting appearance in the movie, skipping down the path in his grey parka in pursuit of the ‘free’ money. He laughed when I told him that the stage musical of Restless Natives is due to open later this month in Perth Theatre, and will be in the Leith Theatre for two weeks in June. “I wonder if my parka will still fit me?” he asked.
I haven’t decided yet whether to go and see the musical. The day that it rained money has such a special place in our family’s history and the movie which we eventually saw on TV in 1986 was so heartwarming – and funny – that I am not sure I want to risk disappointment. I am not a big fan of musical theatre.
Restless Natives was dubbed by some critics as a “critique of Thatcherism”, but to me it was about friends, family and community. And Wester Hailes was the perfect setting, because despite all its challenges during that decade – from an HIV epidemic to high unemployment – it provided a safe and secure home for my little family for 15 years, as well as a priceless memory of the day it rained money..
