Whisky Galore! (1949)

I think this is a new genre that they're all sort of working their way through it and haven't got all the kinks worked out yet but it's a genre that works for me.

Funny, strange, confrontational and subversive, this is one of the most interesting experiences you'll have at the cinema this year.

Let me be very fair here, this is not the best movie in my opinion. But, this movie is fun, it has purpose and is very enjoyable to watch.

It is encouraging that the film ends so strongly.Otherwise, it wouldn't have been a particularly memorable film

WHISKY GALORE! is one of the films that helped to cement Ealing Studios's reputation as a fine leading purveyor of British comedies. It's a memorable production that was of course based on the true story of a cargo ship becoming wrecked off the coast of Scotland and shedding its cargo of whisky bottles to the delight of the local populace.What plays out is straightforward stuff indeed; there's not a great deal of narrative structure or plot here as this is for the most part a character piece. The viewer sits back and watches how each of the characters reacts to the unusual situation as the officials try to retrieve the stolen whisky while the locals try to hide their ill-gotten games. It's the sort of film that can write itself, if I'm honest, but the cast make it work.Basil Radford (without his comic partner Naunton Wayne for a change) is fine as the stressed-out captain tasked with retrieving the cargo. A youthful Gordon Jackson is all smiles and James Robertson Justice typically larger than life as the doctor. Joan Greenwood in particular makes an impact as the wife of one of the islanders. WHISKY GALORE! is a farce that works thanks to a fast pace and plenty of little twists in the narrative to keep you watching, and crucially it's also funny in the dated, genteel English way.

Whisky Galore! is generally regarded as the typical charming and whimsical Ealing comedy pitting the common people against the forces of bureaucracy and high mindedness.Directed by the American Alexander Mackendrick who had a sly eye for such waggish stories. When a cargo of whisky is shipwrecked near a small Outer Hebrides island, the local villagers, already out of whisky rations set about taking as much of the stock from the stricken ship before the authorities get wind.Basil Radford plays the Home Guard's Captain Waggett, an Englishman who tries to keep order from what he sees as anarchy and find the stolen whisky which by now is cunningly hidden by the villagers.The villagers just want to have fun during wartime rationing and rally together by sticking two fingers at the face of authority. A classic case of Ealing's anti establishment streak which works well in a remote island community which by the way still strictly observes Sunday. Of course Gordon Jackson is in it, a young man with a domineering mother.Although the tale is amiable, it is also modest. It is more of a culture clash comedy as Captain Waggett behaves in an arch way and not trying to understand the locals.

I had heard that this movie was a classic, and I was anxious to see it. After all, I've seen others Ealing comedies such as "Kind Hearts And Coronets" and "The Man In The White Suit", and those were good. But this movie was an unfunny dud.Perhaps it was funnier to Britons, but my mother and I hardly laughed. The whole concept could have been good, but the humor was dry as the proverbial funeral drum, and the concept of the officer trying to retrieve the whiskey and suffering for doing his duty, well, the idea is more cruel than amusing. Avoid this one and stick to the much better, later ones which are genuinely funny.

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.