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Whisky Galore!
Director: Alexander Mackendrick
Written by: Compton MacKenzie, Angus MacPhail
Photography: Gerald Gibbs
Starring: Basil Radford, Joan Greenwood, Gordon Jackson.
Country: UK
Year: 1949
Based on the novel by Compton Mackenzie, which itself was inspired by true events. Whisky Galore is set on the small and fictional Calvinist island of Todday in the Outer Hebrides. Depression hits the island hard when they're temporally deprived of Whisky. To their luck, a cargo ship carrying 50,000 crates of Whisky runs dry just off the coast of the island. Though unfortunately this being an strong Calvinist community and consequently Sunday observers, the male islanders have to wait patiently till the clock strikes midnight before they can go and fetch their precious whisky.
The film is a child of the legendary British film studio, Ealing and director Alexander Mackendrick. Unusual for an Ealing film, Whisky Galore! is shot primarily on location, specifically on the Isle of Barra. This was Mackendrick's first film as a director who went on to make other such classics as The Ladykillers and Sweet Smell of Success. It's interesting to note that Mackendrick is indifferent about Whiskey Galore! and he doesn't understand is lasting popularity. But then what do directors know about their own films, Woody Allen hates Manhattan.
The film was released in 1949, WW2 had been over for five years but rationing was still in place, meaning for it's original audience would have found in the islanders a sense of relatability and aspiration. What would have also applied to it's audience at the time was the Islanders cunning deception and victory against the English commander of the local home guard, Captin Waggett who represents the petty bureaucracy of the time.
That's not to say that Whisky Galore has lost it's value, it hasn't, it's still wonderfully funny and there are some fantastic performances especially from Basil Radford (perhaps most famous for his role in Hitchcock's The Lady Vanishes) and Gordon Jackson.
It's interesting how Whiskey Galore deals with it's own clouded morality. This is after all a film about a group of islanders who successfully steal thousands of bottles of whisky. Which might explain why an appendix is hastily added saying how the price of whisky inflated so much that nobody could afford it and they all became depressed.
The last quarter of the film doesn't hold up to the previous three, it feels rushed and just a little bit silly. It's a shame because everything before it was so strong.
So in conclusion Whisky Galore is a great fun film and I did enjoy it, but to me it doesn't hold up to great Ealing films the likes of The Ladykillers.
The film is a child of the legendary British film studio, Ealing and director Alexander Mackendrick. Unusual for an Ealing film, Whisky Galore! is shot primarily on location, specifically on the Isle of Barra. This was Mackendrick's first film as a director who went on to make other such classics as The Ladykillers and Sweet Smell of Success. It's interesting to note that Mackendrick is indifferent about Whiskey Galore! and he doesn't understand is lasting popularity. But then what do directors know about their own films, Woody Allen hates Manhattan.
The film was released in 1949, WW2 had been over for five years but rationing was still in place, meaning for it's original audience would have found in the islanders a sense of relatability and aspiration. What would have also applied to it's audience at the time was the Islanders cunning deception and victory against the English commander of the local home guard, Captin Waggett who represents the petty bureaucracy of the time.
That's not to say that Whisky Galore has lost it's value, it hasn't, it's still wonderfully funny and there are some fantastic performances especially from Basil Radford (perhaps most famous for his role in Hitchcock's The Lady Vanishes) and Gordon Jackson.
It's interesting how Whiskey Galore deals with it's own clouded morality. This is after all a film about a group of islanders who successfully steal thousands of bottles of whisky. Which might explain why an appendix is hastily added saying how the price of whisky inflated so much that nobody could afford it and they all became depressed.
The last quarter of the film doesn't hold up to the previous three, it feels rushed and just a little bit silly. It's a shame because everything before it was so strong.
So in conclusion Whisky Galore is a great fun film and I did enjoy it, but to me it doesn't hold up to great Ealing films the likes of The Ladykillers.
To view all films of the Blind Spot Series 2013 list click here
