Whisky Galore! (1949)

Excellent but underrated film

Captivating movie !

The best films of this genre always show a path and provide a takeaway for being a better person.

Blistering performances.

I regret to say that this is one of the most overrated films I have ever seen. This is the only negative review I have ever done for IMDb, but enough is enough - someone has to stand up against the tide of praise this film has inexplicably attracted for decades.If ever there was an example of a film playing the part of the emperor in the Emperor's New Clothes fable, it is this one. There are virtually no laughs - and yet it is an acclaimed comedy. It is at times cruel and unpleasant - and yet it has a reputation for being gentle and whimsical.There are genuinely classic comedies from the 1940s, so I have nothing against 40s comedies as such. An example is fellow Ealing comedy 'Kind Hearts and Coronets' (1948), which is both clever and genuinely witty, and at the same time doesn't pretend to be gentle and whimsical.However, 'Whisky Galore' is neither clever nor witty. And, as mentioned above, it is at times cruel. The army captain (Basil Radford) is only trying to do his job, yet is driven to the edge of a nervous breakdown by the malice of the islanders. In the end, the captain gets into trouble with his superiors because of the deceit of the islanders. How gentle, whimsical and amusing - not.I realise that such films were popular at the time because they tapped into the prevailing anti-establishment feeling of the immediate post-war years. However, in the cold light of the 21st century we need to be honest. There are many 1940s films which stand up extremely well even today. 'Whisky Galore' is not one of them.

The island of Barra doubles for the fictional Isle of Toddy, where the God-fearing locals sweat over the sabbath before launching a mission to unload 50,000 cases of whisky from a shipwreck under the fastidious guard of the sassenach Home Guard captain, Basil Radford.Beautifully paced, wonderfully shot, Whisky Galore creates a genre of Scottish/Celtic-themed comedies and refuses to relinquish its crown to the pretenders. Local Hero, Restless Natives, Hear My Song, and Heavenly Pursuits are all funny films that exploit the wry, laconic humour established in Whisky Galore. The epitome of this is the scene where the Sergeant tells his fiancé's father of his honourable intentions. More than his daughter's betrothal, the father's mind is on salvaging the whisky, and he plots to make it happen.The English-Scottish tension would have been easy to overplay but it hardly surfaces, the writers instead allowing the characters to develop three-dimensionally. Each scene is a gem. No rural Scottish comedy can ever be made again without referencing this timeless classic.

Another brilliant movie from Ealing studios, this one based in the islands of Scotland.Due to the studios at Ealing all being used for other productions at the time, filming took place on location in Scotland and the film looks immeasurably better for it. Having the action take place on the actual beaches, countryside and buildings of the islands makes the whole thing look so much better.Based on a true story, Whisky Galore tells the tale of when whisky is rationed during WW2 and a ship is wrecked off the island coast with 50000 cases of whisky. Naturally the inhabitants want to get it before the ship completely sinks, but have to contend with the local pest Captain Wagget and the local revenue.Captain Wagget is really really nasty and wants to cause misery to everyone on the island and yet he is not actually a bad person, he just doing what he thinks is right. But as history shows untold misery has been inflicted on the world by those who do things because they think they are right. At the end, his attitude annoys everyone, even his own wife who, having stood by him throughout the entire movie, bursts in uncontrollable laughter when Wagget finds out he has inadvertently sent some whisky to the revenue.The rest of the island inhabitants are all a bunch of crooks. Particularly funny is Duncan Macrae who appears stupid, but who one suspects is a lot cleverer than most people think.It also extols the virtues of whisky, such as how it allows Mummy's boys to stand up to their domineering mothers and other such acts of bravery.Ealing Studios does it again.

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.