Whisky Galore! (1949)

User Rating:

7.6/10   

Director:

Alexander Mackendrick

Writers:

Compton MacKenzie (novel)
Compton MacKenzie (screenplay)

Release Date:

25 December 1949 (USA)

Genre:

Comedy

Tagline:

A Highland fling on a tight little island

Plot:

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

Plot Keywords:

Home Guard | Scottish Island | Scotland | WWII | Hebrides

Awards:

Nominated for BAFTA Film Award.

Cast

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

Also Known As:

Tight Little Island (USA)

Runtime:

82 min

Country:

UK

Language:

English | Scottish Gaelic

Color:

Black and White

Aspect Ratio:

1.37 : 1

Sound Mix:

Mono (RCA Sound System)

Certification:

Iceland:L | UK:Approved (British Film Censors) | Finland:K-16 | Sweden:15 | UK:A

Filming Locations:

Allasdale, Barra, Western Isles, Scotland, UK

Company:

Ealing Studios

Trivia:

Shot in three months.

Goofs:

Revealing mistakes: 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.

Quotes:

Narrator: [describing the inhabitants of Todday as children run out of a cottage] A happy people, with few and simple pleasures.

Movie Connections:

Featured in Forever Ealing (2002) (TV)

Have a drink!

A little town on a Scottish Isle suffers the most horrifying predicament, of which the outbreak of WWII in hindsight seemed to be an omen: they're out of whiskey! Everyone goes into an almost catatonic state until fortune takes a turn for the better: a ship is wrecked on a reef. The cargo: 50,000 cases of whiskey. But there's one do-gooder, the local militia leader, who just can't allow the cargo to be put to use. That, he says would lead to anarchy. Many well defined characters, good plot.