Gallipoli - 1981 - Directed by Peter Weir and starring Mark Lee as well Mel Gibson one of his early roles. Before the lads leave the quay to boarda train in Egypt, an Austrailian pipe band playing Cock of the North. The band was the Athol and Ulster Pipe Band from South Australia. They are no longer in existence. Pipe Major was Dave Paterson and the lead snare was Peter Tool.
Gardens of Stone - 1987 111 minutes. Directed by Francis Coppola, starring James Caan and Anjelica Huston, this film has an opening scene in Arlington Cemetery with piper Dick Blair (of Oxon Hill, Maryland) playing The Flowers of the Forest. It tells a story about men of the Old Guard, a muddled meditation on the Vietnam War. Incidentally, Dick suggests that any pipers contacted by casting personnel should push for credits in the movie, whether or not they belong to Actors Equity. Otherwise, as with any other extras, no name will appear in the line-up.
Geordie - 1955 - The film was directed by Frank Launder and starred Bill Travers in the title role. His mother was played by Molly Urquhart. Alastair Sim also had a part. The piper was the late Jimmy Wilson. He was playing the great highland bagpipes, but could also play the bellows-blown Lowland pipes and the Northumbrian pipes.
Ghostbusters II - 1989 The Pipes and Durms of New York City Police Department Emerald Society play at the end of the movie. This band, which was founded in 1960 by Edward Patrick Maloney has made well over 1,000 appearances -- from Ireland to Australia. It has also appeared in several other movies and television shows (what ones?) and is seen anually in New York City's St. Patrick's Day parade.
Ghostbuster (Cartoon) - 1980s? - One character inherits a haunted castle in Scotland. In the end, a whole army of ghosts of Highlanders, including pipers, lay siege to the castle and, of course, are caught by the ghostbusters. The ghostbuster turns over the castle to a neighboring town, and returns to the States with a set of pipes which he somehow knows how to play.
Ghost Goes West - 1935 82 minutes. Directed by Rene Clair, starring Robert Donat, Jean Parker, and Elsa Lanchester. The movie tells the story of an American grocery tycoon who purchases a Scottish castle, dismantles it, and ships it piece by piece to Florida where it is reconstructed. Donat portrays the laird of the castle, who sells it to the American, as well as the ghost of a kinsman who haunts the castle. At a dinner thrown by the laird for the prospective buyer and his family, three pipers (the laird's creditors) march around the dining table playing. Not one of the all-time great films, it is yet curiously entertaining.
The Goodies - 1970s BBC television comedy series about a group of lads (Graeme Garden, Tim Brooke-Taylor, Bill Oddie) who could be hired to do anything, anywhere, anytime. In one episode they were hired by the London Zoo to capture Nessie from Loch Ness for their new Monster Exhibit. While waiting to catch Nessie, and feeding their hair sporrans a saucer of milk, one of the Goodies was nearly bitten by a bagpipe spider, (portrayed as a set of bagpipes walking like a spider on its drones with drones humming). At the last second, the bagpipe spider was shot and it slipped away with drones dying. The bagpipe spider's bite is of course fatal - "ane bite by the spider and yee dance the heeland fling 'til yee drop deed!"
In another episode of the Goodies, Bill Odie played the Master of Ecky Thump, a martial arts expert who uses blood sausages a weapon. In one scene he is attacked and fights a highlander who uses bagpipes as his martial arts weapon. It was reported in the newspapers back in the 70s that one English viewer found that particular scene so funny he actually died laughing. His wife commented that at least he died happy.
Grandview U.S.A. - 1984 - starring Jamie Lee Curtis, the film was made in the mid 80's. At the end, the entire cast goes to a small town parade - Pontiac, Illinois - and one of the units shown in the movie is the Morton Highlanders Pipe Band. It is a very brief appearance. The sound track is not of the actual band.
Greyfriars Bobby - At the end of this Disney movie, Bobby scuttles between the legs of the pipers marching on the Esplanade.They are playing The 79s Farewell to Gibraltar.
Going Home - a Disney TV special featuring Paul McCartney. Paul and his band perform a homecoming concert in Glasgow, Scotland, where they are backed by the Power of Scotland Pipe Band in a fabulous presentation of Paul's mega-hit, Mull of Kintyre.
Gunga Din - 1939 120 minutes. An RKO Radio picture, this film is directed by George Stevens and stars Cary Grant, Victor McLaglen, Douglas Fairbanks, Jr. and Sam Jaffe. It is the story of three happy-go-lucky British sergeants in India at the time of the outbreak of the Thugs against the English troops. It contains a piping scene in which the tunes Will Ye No Come Back Again and Piobaireachd of Donald Dhu are played. The rescuing 42nd Highlander replacements come just in the nick of time (while actor Sam Jaffe, playing Gunga Din is atop a golden dome) and the regiment can be heard approaching from afar to the sound of The 42nd Highlanders. The pipes return during the final funeral with Lord Lovat's Lament. The piping is supposed to be very good.