I hope you're fast as lightning with your memories of the 70s - when everybody was kung fu fighting

Martial arts were a real hit both in the movies and in the charts.

Breaker, breaker - Convoy on at The Crown in Jarrow

We were singing along to Carl Douglas and his song about kung fu masters who fought with expert timing. At the same time, you could watch the film Kung Fu Fighting at The Crown in Jarrow.

The same cinema was showing Convoy starring Kris Kristofferson and Ali McGraw and it was part of the trend for 70s movies about CB radio.

If drama and romance was more your thing, then the ABC in South Shields was the place for you. Beau Bridges and Marilyn Hassett were starring in A Window To The Sky which was the story of a ski racing champion who is paralysed after an accident.

Hit film with a South Shields connection

Another hit at the ABC was a film with South Tyneside connections.

Callan, the movie, was a spin-off from the British TV series screened between 1967 to 1972. But unlike most spin-offs the gritty drama transferred well to the big screen.

That was in no small measure thanks to the performance of the late Edward Woodward, he died in 2009, in the title role, and to a script from the late South Shields-born writer James Mitchell, who passed away in 2002.

Over to you for fabulous film memories

The fondness for gangster films was another passion of South Tyneside film goers.

Dillinger starred Warren Oates as Dillinger and Ben Johnson as his pursuer, FBI agent Melvin Purvis.

It was showing twice a day at 4.35pm and 8.10pm.

Tell us about the big screen entertainment you loved the most by emailing your memories to [email protected]