- classic British films and a Highland folk hero

Part rogue, part folk hero, the story of Rob Roy MacGregor was first told in Rob's own lifetime by the writer Daniel Defoe. He was later portrayed in a novel by Sir Walter Scott, so it is hardly surprising that, later still, he should also have been the subject of attention from film-makers. There was a silent epic from 1922 with a cast of 2000, filmed around Loch Lomond. Then Walt Disney took up the story. With the big-budget film industry's usual preference for legend and dramatic action rather than accurate historical detail, Rob Roy (1953) was an exciting film, starring Richard Todd in the title role, with action sequences set in the hills above Loch Ard. Highlanders and redcoats, swords, targes (Highland shields) and roaring cannon provided plenty of excitement. Misty hills and snow patches added extra atmosphere. (The extras were from the local regiment the Argyll and Sutherland Highlanders.)

The reputation of the most famous MacGregor clansman spread world-wide after the release of Rob Roy starring Liam Neeson and Jessica Lange and directed by Michael Caton-Jones.The 'real' story of this famous Highlander is told at Rob Roy & Trossachs Visitor Centre in Callander. Visitors can experience what life was like in Rob Roy's day, see how he and his comrades would have lived, and even try on the type of clothes they would have worn. There is also plenty of information on how to get to some of the other film locations in the area.

These include, for example, a whole cluster of locations associated with the 1959 version of The 39 Steps, notably around Balquhidder as well as Loch Lubnaig and also near the very top of the Duke's Pass, the main road which winds through the Trossachs. Further north, the spectacular Falls of Dochart at Killin are also in the film. They turn up again in Casino Royale (1967) with its galaxy of stars including Peter Sellers, Ursula Andress, David Niven, Orson Welles and even Ronnie Corbett.

And there is no escape from Monty Python hereabouts. The Cave of Caerbannog, setting of the famous 'Killer Rabbit' scene is halfway along the south shore of nearby Loch Tay. (It's actually an old abandoned copper mine.) One of TV's best loved medical series, Dr Finlay's Casebook (1962-1971) featured the experiences of Dr Alan Finlay (Bill Simpson), working in a country medical practice under the tutelage of the veteran Dr Cameron (Andrew Cruickshank) in the fictional Scottish village of Tannochbrae in the late 1920s. In reality, Tannochbrae was the lovely Trossachs village of Callander.

The Trossachs landscapes also play a role in the sometimes overlooked Geordie (1955) which tells the story of a small boy who takes a body building course and ends up at the hammer-throwing competition at the Olympic Games. Geordie's triumph at the local Highland Games was filmed at Aberfoyle, while there are some fine panoramas of Balquhidder also to be enjoyed. Alastair Sim, Bill Travers (as the later Geordie), Stanley Baxter and Duncan Macrae are some of the famous names who appear in it, along with Paul Young as the very young Geordie before the body-building took effect!

Kinlochard and Loch Katrine in the Trossachs also feature in the suspenseful thriller This is Not a Love Song (2002), while on the southern edge of the area and below the Highland line, Inchmahome Priory is a backdrop for part of the Bollywood blockbuster Kuch Kuch Hota Hai (1998).