91Èȱ¬

Scots actor Alan Cumming may have made it all the way to Hollywood but it seems like Edinburgh still plays on his mind.

It was there, at the Fringe, back in 1984, he first appeared with Forbes Masson in the cult (and camp) cabaret act Victor and Barry.

Cumming recalls on his blog that not everyone appreciated their humour.

The Scotsman's critic - none other than our own Andrew Marr - gave their show a feeble review, leading to a suitably cabaret response from Victor and Barry, who paid tribute to him at a Best of the Fest event with a variation of the Dean Friedman classic Lucky Stars - "We can thank you, Andrew Marr, that you're not as smart as you'd like to think you are..."

Cumming is one of the jurors at this year's Edinburgh International Film Festival, which got under way last week.

He was particularly keen to support Sam Mendes - director of the opening night film Away We Go - and the director of the Broadway version of Cabaret, which won Cumming a Tony award.

Speaking to critic Mark Kermode in a live broadcast of Radio Five Live's Simon Mayo Show, he said he preferred Edinburgh to Cannes at film festival time.

"Edinburgh is what Cannes would be like if it took place in a civilised country with a decent climate and reasonable licensing laws and good pubs," said Kermode.

Cumming agreed, particularly as an actor as he said most of the focus was on sales.

"You have conversations here about film rather than about sales of films and distributors."

Cumming, who recently took up joint US citizenship, was awarded an OBE in Queen's birthday honours.

He said: "You know what was great about it - it was for film and theatre and the arts but also for my activism trying to get equal rights for gay people in America.

"I thought it was very nice to get something from the Queen and those that love her for doing something in another country.

"I said thank you, your majesty, for highlighting the omission of the Obama government on this issue.

"I don't she will have had anything to do with it at all actually.

"I think there is some nice homosexual in the 91Èȱ¬ Office."

Cumming said he took up US citizenship to vote for Obama.

"It took too long. I missed it by three days but I'm glad I did it."

He said the main advantage was that he now did not have to worry about losing his Green Card and never being allowed in the country again.

Cumming also told the audience he will be providing the voice of Adolf Hitler in the stop-motion film Jackboots on Whitehall.

He said: "I use my acting skills. I do one of my range of German accents. There was the Nightcrawler in X-men, that was a German accent, Emcee in Cabaret - that was a German - and now this."

"In the story of this film, it is what would happen if the Nazis had invaded Britain and Hitler goes and lives in Windsor Castle and tries on all the Queen's dresses, so it is kind of like a drag-queen Hitler."

As a member of the international jury, Cumming recommended a film about phone sex called Easier with Practice.

"It is not a family film. It is like a phone sex road movie."