Whisky Galore (1949)
"Whisky Galore!" (original title)

Scottish islanders try to plunder 50,000 cases of whisky from a stranded ship.

Director:

Alexander Mackendrick

Writers:

Compton MacKenzie (novel), Compton MacKenzie (screenplay),

Stars:

Basil Radford, Catherine Lacey, Bruce Seton

Nominated for 1 BAFTA Film Award. Another 1 win.

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Basil Radford	...	Captain Paul Waggett
Catherine Lacey	...	Mrs. Waggett
Bruce Seton	...	Sergeant Odd
Joan Greenwood	...	Peggy Macroon
Wylie Watson	...	Joseph Macroon
Gabrielle Blunt	...	Catriona Macroon
Gordon Jackson	...	George Campbell
Jean Cadell	...	Mrs. Campbell
James Robertson Justice	...	Dr. Maclaren
Morland Graham	...	The Biffer
John Gregson	...	Sammy MacCodrun
James Woodburn	...	Roderick MacRurie
James Anderson	...	Old Hector
Jameson Clark	...	Constable Macrae
Duncan Macrae	...	Angus McCormac

Storyline

Based on a true story. The name of the real ship, that sunk Feb 5 1941 - during WWII - was S/S Politician. Having left Liverpool two days earlier, heading for Jamaica, it sank outside Eriskay, The Outer Hebrides, Scotland, in bad weather, containing 250,000 bottles of whisky. The locals gathered as many bottles as they could, before the proper authorities arrived, and even today, bottles are found in the sand or in the sea every other year.

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Plot Keywords:

hebrides | home guard | scotland | whiskey | ammunition | 

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Taglines:

A Highland fling on a tight little island

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Genres:

Comedy | Crime

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Certificate:

Approved

Details

Country:

UK

Language:

English Scottish Gaelic

Release Date:

25 December 1949 (USA)

Also Known As:

Tight Little Island

Filming Locations:

Allasdale, Barra, Western Isles, Scotland, UK

Company Credits

Production Co:

Ealing Studios

Technical Specs

Runtime:

82 min

Sound Mix:

Mono (RCA Sound System)

Color:

Black and White

Aspect Ratio:

1.37 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

The author of the original novel, Compton MacKenzie, plays the captain of the ship that runs aground on the island. In reality, Mackenzie took great exception to the number of takes that director Alexander Mackendrick made him do.

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Goofs

When Captain Waggett telephones the Post Office, he is unable to get through to the switchboard operator. Seconds later, he is speaking to Mistress Campbell. He could not possibly do so without the Post Office switchboard connecting him.

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Quotes

Farquharson: My men are experts.
Captain Paul Waggett: So are the Todday people, at hiding whisky!

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Crazy Credits

By a strange coincidence, the SS Cabinet Minister was wrecked off the island of Todday [in the movie] two years after the SS Politician, with a similar cargo, was wrecked [in real life] off the Island of Eriskay . But the coincidence stops there, for our story and the characters in it are pure fiction.

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Connections

Featured in Breakfast: Episode dated 18 August 2011 (2011)

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Soundtracks

"Brochan Lom, Tana Lom"
(uncredited)
Traditional
Sung when the whisky is first being shared out

User Reviews

Captain Waggett (aka Mainwaring)

Delightful post-war British comedy illustrating for the umpteenth time the fighting spirit of the "ordinary Joe" (or in this case Jock) when set against the pomposity of the would-be ruling classes. Capt Waggett (Basil Radford) is the real star here as the middle class representative of stiff upper lippery. Surely Jimmy Perry and David Croft must have drawn on him when they were dreaming up the Capt Mainwaring character for the long-running BBC TV sit-com "Dad's Army". Even one of Waggett's lines ("I was waiting to see when you'd spot that", a comment usually made when Mainwaring had just uttered some piece of logistical nonsense) made an appearance. Unmissable example of British comedy rooted in the style that made Ealing so succesful.