From there a compact walking tour took us past cafes where JK Rowling came up with Harry Potter to plenty of locations such as Greyfriars churchyard where we saw the spot that Maggie Smith led her charges in a walk and talk about Scottish history in The Prime of Miss Jean Brodie (no relation to the keycutting outlaw), with views of the back of the castle. She won an Oscar playing the schoolteacher lead role.

Greyfriars is also interesting for the Greyfriars Bobby, the name of the dog who on the death of his master in the 19th century slept on his grave until its own death 14 years later. There's a graveyard memorial to the dog and statue outside paid for by locals that attracts American tourists, not least because it was the inspiration for the Lassie story.

Pendreigh also pointed to the large family tombs in the graveyard with doors that were traditional up to the 19th century, when grave robbing for medical experiments became more common. Edinburgh locals Burt and Hare were the most famous, and the 1940s Bodysnatchers film sent up the Greyfriars Bobby legend by having a dog called Robby guarding one of the tombs that Boris Karloff prmptly killed.

Down at Grassmarket and around the corner to the right our guide points to the sheer view of Edinburgh Castle and a blue door that was home to MGM's art director before he emigrated in the 1930s. When he was tracked down to California in his nineties he admitted that the view of the cliff was the inspiration for the Emerald City in the Wizard of Oz - one of many little known nuggets that even our film festial hosts were unaware of.

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After our walking tour a minibus trip showed us Sean Connery's childhood home and locations from Trainspotting and Shallow Grave before heading to the outskirts to visit Rosslyn Chapel, setting for the finale of The Da Vinci Code. That rather disappointing flick means the visit is more interesting for the history of the building and conspiracy theories than to see where Tom Hanks did his thing.

The plethora of paganistic 'green man' sculptures in the walls of Rosslyn and carvings of a musical code that when cracked is supposed to reveal the Knights Templar treasures adds plenty of mystery to the place, along with rumours that anything from the Holy Grail to the Ark of the Covenant could be hiding below the floor. In 1997 only 9,000 people visited the chapel, but by 2007, thanks to Dan Brown, 170,000 had paid homage. Such numbers endanger the building's structure but more than pay for its restoration.

Pendreigh's encyclopaedic knowledge makes for an interesting day out and you don't have to be completely film mad to enjoy it. There's plenty of additional interest in there, including literary history and general information about the city where he was born and bred. We headed back into town suitably inspired for the rest of the festival.

Need to know

The Edinburgh International Film Festival is on until June 28.

Film tours Brian Pendreigh, bpendreigh@blueyonder.co.uk, tel: 0131 552 4302

Where to stay Hotel Missoni, 1 George IV Bridge, Edinburgh, EH1 1AD

Where to eat La Cucina Restaurant, Hotel Missoni (details above)

Cafe Royal Oyster Bar, 19 West Register Street, Edinburgh, EH2 2AA, tel: 0131 556 1884‎

More information www.visitscotland.com/perfectedinburgh or call 0845 22 55 121

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