Whisky Galore!

Whisky Galore AKA Tight Little Island is one of the funniest movies I have ever seen. Alexander MacKendrick did a fantastic job in bringing Compton MacKenzie's book Whisky Galore to the big screen. MacKendrick keeps the pace going with plot twists that would cause one to "bust a gut." If you are looking for a truly enjoyable movie to lighten your mood, Whisky Galore is a must.

Along with classical music Compton Mackenzie certainly knew his stuff when he wrote Whisky Galore, basing it on true events that happened in 1941. I always preferred the film. The quality of the video I made from UK BBC2 on 28th Dec 1988 was excellent, but there are budget editions out there so if interested best be careful. This is one of Ealing's handful of timeless first class classics, one that is always shown on TV and has passed into British movie folklore. Its depiction of the Sabbath-keeping Scottish islanders is only just passing into history as the inhabitants of the Outer Hebrides are only gradually establishing Sunday communications with the mainland.

Insular isolated island runs out of whisky but a cargo ship with 50,000 cases of the muck runs aground nearby. Happy times return, against all the efforts of Basil Radford as the local snooty (English) Home Guard Captain. Bruce Seton was actually a rather weather-beaten 40 to Joan Greenwood's 28 but they surely made a splendid non whisky drinking couple especially at the dance. Favourite bits: The church clock striking for the arrival of Monday morning and the consequent sudden activity; The group of men singing lustily and making hay with their first drink for ages; Hiding the muck from the Excise men, and so much more to watch and savour over and over again.

Ealing Studios went to Barra in summer 1948 and filmed this in 3 months for £80,000 - over-budget, too! When I think of the enormous pleasure that it's given me and so many others over the decades I would think that it was money very well spent, unlike any that might be spent on a pointless remake.

To all that's been said by other viewers, I'd just like to add that, to me, the comedy derives not only from the sheer situation - a whole cast of beautiful Scottish island dwellers / a ship washed ashore with holds full of precious rare whiskey at a time of dire storage, but from the way this bunch of islanders deal with the 'rules' and go around all of them. A godsend shipment of whiskey in war time is one thing, the armed forces trying to apply some rule to such an unruly population is another, but they also have to deal with 2 even bigger forces, the tide and Sabbath! The inner struggles of these good people to finally manage and have the proper wedding ceremony, and the ensuing traditional ceilidh make the movie a delight of good, unpretentious comedy, while the fond memory that remains is that of mankind working around cultural/historical setting to remain what they are deep at heart, and behave accordingly. And yes, there is also the wonderful Joan Greenwood, with her ragged velvet voice and smooth acting...

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.

I have seen Whisky Galore so many times I lost count during the 'eighties. Most films so viewed tend to lose their sparkle somewhat. Not with this little gem - I laugh every time.

I have been promised that these strange happenings were based in fact, but I cannot believe that such a concatenation of hilarious happenstance could possibly have occurred, here in the British Isles, where the ridiculous is commonplace, or anywhere else. This film is full of the finest British character actors of the era, and a few acting 'non-entities' as well, who all give marvellous performances. The laughter doesn't stop, and the whisky keeps on flowing - I love it. I hope you get half as much out of Whisky Galore as I have - you'll be well pleased.