Whisky Galore! (released in the US as Tight Little Island) was a 1949 Ealing comedy film based on the novel of the same name by Compton MacKenzie. Both the movie and the novel are based on the real-life 1941 shipwreck of the S.S. Politician and the unauthorized taking of its cargo of whisky. The plot deals with the attempts of Scottish islanders to take advantage of an unexpected windfall, despite opposition from British authorities. It starred Basil Radford, Bruce Seton, Joan Greenwood and Gordon Jackson. This was Alexander Mackendrick's directorial debut.
Mackenzie also wrote a sequel, Rockets Galore!, which was filmed by the Rank Organisation in 1957. An attempt was made to produce a remake of the film between 2004 and 2006.[1][2]
Plot
The inhabitants of the isolated Scottish island of Todday in the Outer Hebrides are largely unaffected by wartime rationing...that is until the supply of whisky runs out in 1943. Then gloom descends on the disconsolate natives.
In the midst of this catastrophe, English Sergeant Odd (Bruce Seton) returns on leave to court Peggy (Joan Greenwood), daughter of storekeeper Joseph Macroon (Wylie Watson). Meanwhile, Macroon's other daughter, Catriona (Gabrielle Blunt), has just got engaged to meek schoolteacher George Campbell (Gordon Jackson), though his stern, domineering mother (Jean Cadell) refuses to give her approval.
Things take an unexpected turn for the better when the freighter S.S. Cabinet Minister runs aground in heavy fog late one night. The Biffer (Morland Graham) and Sammy MacCodrun (John Gregson) row out to investigate and are ecstatic to learn from its departing crew that the cargo consists of 50,000 cases of whisky.
Captain Paul Waggett (Basil Radford), the stuffy English commander of the local Home Guard, orders Odd to guard the cargo, but Macroon casually remarks that, by longstanding custom, a man can't marry without hosting a party in which whisky must be served. Taking the hint, the sergeant allows himself to be "overpowered", and the locals manage to offload many cases before the ship goes down. MacCodrun persuades Campbell to participate, though he had been sent to his room by his mother for a prior transgression. This proves fortunate, as Campbell rescues the Biffer when he is trapped in the sinking freighter. The whisky also fortifies teetotaller Campbell's courage enough so he can stand up to his mother regarding Catriona.
A battle of wits ensues between Waggett, who wants to confiscate the salvaged cargo, and the wily islanders. Waggett brings in Macroon's old government nemesis, Mr. Farquharson (Henry Mollison), and his men to search for the whisky, but the forewarned islanders manage to hide the bottles in various ingenious places, including ammunition cases which Waggett ships off-island. When this is discovered, Waggett is recalled to the mainland to explain himself, leaving the Scots triumphant.
Cast
Production
The film was shot on the island of Barra.
Differences from the novel
The plot underwent some modification and condensation from the novel, with a lot of the background removed; in particular, the two islands were merged into the single island of Todday and some religious issues were left out.
Alternate film titles
In the United States, both the novel and the film were called Tight Little Island, as a ban existed at the time on using the names of alcoholic drinks in titles.
In France, the movie was retitled Whisky à gogo, after the famous Paris discothèque, which had opened two years before..
Parodies
The film was parodied in the TV series Fast Show as "Heroin Galore". The cargo in this version consists of pure heroin.
A television commercial for Tennent's Lager also parodied the film[3]
References
Notes
Bibliography
- The Great British Films, pp 128–130, Jerry Vermilye, 1978, Citadel Press, ISBN 080650661X
External links
