MovieChat Forums > Comfort and Joy (1984) Discussion > Cafe where Dickie has a meeting with Mr ...

Cafe where Dickie has a meeting with Mr Cool


...used to be across the road from Kelvingrove, at the corner where Sauchiehall and Argyle Streets meet. Long since demolished and rebuilt as flats.

I have very find memories of that place, always in conjunction with a trip to the museum or the park. My dad would take me in after for a roll and sausage and they still had the glass bottled coke machine when that kind of thing had become rare (unlike today when you can buy them, expensively, in practically any newsagents).

I much preferred it to the Uni Cafe on Byres Road which I've always thought was a bit of a sight inside though they do have nice iced cream.

Does anyone remember the name of that cafe?

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The Orlando Cafe

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I think the exterior was of the Orlando Cafe but pretty sure the interior was Jaconelli's cafe on Maryhill road. That's still there to this day unlike the Orlando which is long gone.
I checked out some pictures of the interior of Jaconelli's online and it seems to match up perfectly with the movie.

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I've never been to Glasgow but judging by the descriptions given, I reckon the cafe must have been here:

https://www.google.com/maps/@55.867526,-4.290744,3a,75y,195.05h,101.9t/data=!3m4!1e1!3m2!1sORNR92uTJC_5P-gMopkT0w!2e0

I also happened to notice that there is still a Cafe Orlando trading in Argyle Street today (at 1383-1385) so perhaps this is where the business moved to after the old premises were demolished?

I watched the film when it was broadcast this weekend on BBC2 after midnight. I noticed that when Dicky Bird's (Bill Paterson's) red car pulls up to park outside the cafe, you can see Maria through one of the windows, standing inside at the counter, then the next shot (6 seconds) shows him entering the cafe and passing Maria at the counter as he heads towards the table where Mr. McCool and the others are sitting. As he leaves, we see the counter area and front door again. After comparing the image of Maria and the counter area in the external shot with the 6-second internal shot, my impression is that the internal shot of the counter area looks like it was filmed inside the same cafe which is shown in the external shot, rather than at a separate location as wayofthecass suggests... but I could obviously be wrong as things are often not what they appear to be in movies!

It is less clear whether the conversation at the cafe table between Dicky Bird and Mr. McCool and his boys could also have been filmed at the same location, but the counter area can almost be seen (although out of focus) behind Bird as the conversation takes place so I presume all internal shots were filmed at the same venue. It would be useful if others who frequented the original Cafe Orlando could tell us whether the internal shots in the film match their memory of the interior of the Cafe Orlando.

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