'I Know Where I'm Going!' (1945)

A young Englishwoman goes to the Hebrides to marry her older, wealthier fiancé. When the weather keeps them separated on different islands, she begins to have second thoughts.

Directors:

Michael Powell, Emeric Pressburger

Writers:

Michael Powell, Emeric Pressburger

Stars:

Wendy Hiller, Roger Livesey, George Carney

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
George Carney	...	Mr. Webster
Wendy Hiller	...	Joan Webster
Walter Hudd	...	Hunter
Duncan MacKechnie	...	Capt. 'Lochinvar' (as Captain Duncan MacKechnie)
Ian Sadler	...	Iain
Roger Livesey	...	Torquil MacNeil
Finlay Currie	...	Ruairidh Mhór
Murdo Morrison	...	Kenny
Margot Fitzsimons	...	Bridie
C.W.R. Knight	...	Col. Barnstaple (as Captain C.W.R. Knight F.Z.S.)
Pamela Brown	...	Catriona
Donald Strachan	...	Shepherd
John Rae	...	Old Shepherd
Duncan McIntyre	...	His Son
Jean Cadell	...	Postmistress

Storyline

Joan Webster is an ambitious and stubborn middle-class English woman determined to move forward since her childhood. She meets her father in a fancy restaurant to tell him that she will marry the wealthy middle-aged industrial Robert Bellinger in Kiloran island, in the Hebrides Islands, Scotland. She travels from Manchester to the island of Mull, where she stays trapped due to the windy weather. Whilst on the island, she meets Torquil McNeil and as the days go by they fall in love with each other.

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Plot Keywords:

hebrides | naval officer | sea storm | ceilidh | island | 

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Genres:

Drama | Romance

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Certificate:

Not Rated

Details

Country:

UK

Language:

English Scottish Gaelic

Release Date:

9 August 1947 (USA)

Also Known As:

Ich weiß wohin ich gehe

Filming Locations:

Argyll and Bute, Scotland, UK

Box Office

Budget:

£200,000 (estimated)

Company Credits

Production Co:

The Archers

Technical Specs

Runtime:

91 min

Sound Mix:

Mono (Western Electric)

Color:

Black and White

Aspect Ratio:

1.37 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

Michael Powell wanted to make A Matter of Life and Death (1946) at this time, but had to wait for access to Technicolor cameras.

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Goofs

The reflection of a boom mic is visible in a picture frame in Joan's hotel room.

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Quotes

Colonel Barnstaple: [getting himself caught in a tree] There ought to be a law about trees...

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Crazy Credits

Opening cast credits appear on the end of a baby's cot; all other credits are chalked on a children's blackboard, appear on the side and rear of a horse drawn milk van and on a board attached to a metal factory gate.

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Alternate Versions

When Bridie and Joan are arguing in Joan's bedroom when Joan is about to try to get to the island, Bridie has a little speech where she says "Some folks there are, who want to drown fine young men and break young girls' hearts so that they can be bedded one day sooner." Risqué stuff for 1945. It was dubbed in the initial American release for her to say "wedded" instead of "bedded".

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Connections

Referenced in Has Anybody Here Seen Canada? A History of Canadian Movies 1939-1953 (1979)

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Soundtracks

The Nut Brown Maiden
(uncredited)
Traditional
Sung by Roger Livesey at the Céilidh, and played by three marching pipers at the end of the film.

User Reviews

Love and Economics in the Highlands

The title, "I Know Where I'm Going," refers to a declaration made by the film's heroine, Joan Webster (Wendy Hiller), a middle-class English girl who's determined to get to the top of the social rung by any means legal. Thus, at the story's outset, we learn she has just become engaged to Sir Robert Bellinger, one of the richest industrialists in Britain. She knows where she's going all right: To the Scottish isle of Killoran, by train and by boat, where her future as Lady Bellinger is to be confirmed in matrimony.

Yet as far as Joan is concerned, Killoran may as well be a distant planet, for either thick fog or a high wind makes it impossible for her to ferry across to Gretna Green. It's as if the atmosphere, something in the climate, or perhaps the old legends and superstitions that proliferate the Highlands are conspiring to keep her from obtaining everything she's ever wanted from the time she was a child.

It's obvious to the Scottish locals that the island of Killoran is highly suspect as the key to Joan's future happiness. Yet she is stubborn, even bribing a boy to pilot a small boat to Killoran in the midst of a huge squall – a move that proves nearly fatal. She's determined to get "where she is going," but she's turned away -- by the elements as well as by a slow realization that she has become emotionally attached to a naval officer on leave (Roger Livesey) who she has just encountered.

Michael Powell, the director, keeps things moving at an agreeable pace. There isn't a single wasted motion in this modest little film. The minor characters are memorable: Pamela Brown, as Catriona, who is introduced silhouetted against the gray Northern sky, her hand tethered to a leash restraining dogs as they make their way up a brae; Finley Curray, whose weather-beaten face says more about his salty character than the terse, excellent dialogue he is given; and there's a cameo by a pre-teen Petula Clark.