This movie is the proof that the world is becoming a sick and dumb place

The Worst Film Ever

Good films always raise compelling questions, whether the format is fiction or documentary fact.

The film never slows down or bores, plunging from one harrowing sequence to the next.

I don't think I was even familiar with Powell and Pressburger until a couple of years ago. But, due to the IMDb Classic Film Board, this will make the 8th of their movies that I've seen, and they still surprise and delight me! Powell and Pressburger co-wrote, produced, and directed this romantic comedy. Michael Powell used a setting, the Scottish Hebrides, much like the one that he had fallen in love with while making The Edge of the World (1937).This movie, like, Vincente Minnelli's 1954 musical, Brigadoon, contrasts the modern city life to the more mystic and mythical Scottish traditional life. When a city person--like Gene Kelly in Brigadoon or Wendy Hiller in I Know Where I'm Gong!--travels to a "simpler" place, they not only unexpectedly find love but also find another type of rooting beyond their city values.The enjoyable part is watching them in the progress of their discovery. One of the biggest jokes of this movie is it's title: Wendy Hiller may THINK she knows where she is going but really has no idea. Joan Webster (Wendy Hiller) is an English working-class social climber, bent on marrying a rich chemical magnate who lives on a Scottish island in the Hebrides. However, when she goes to there to marry him, she gets "stuck," due to the unpredictable weather, between the island that she can see—almost touch—and the mainland inhabited by Scottish folk.While waiting to get to the island, Joan is introduced to the locals' song, dance, myth, humor, and tradition as well as the penniless laird named Torquil (Roger Livesey). This 'getting stuck between two places' acts as a metaphor for a crossroads where she must decide what is right for her life. This movie is another Archer masterpiece.

I'm not a fan of most British film making, although modern British films are quite good. But back in the 1930s until at least the 1960s...well, it's a rare British film I'm impressed with. This is one of those rare British films.I watched it primarily because I wanted to see Wendy Hiller. I'm always impressed with her, although I've only seen her in films when she was much older (such as "Toys In The Attic"). She was a gem...and that is certainly true here. Being that I usually don't watch British films, I was not familiar with Roger Livesey, the male romantic lead. To Americans I guess he seems like an odd romantic lead, but I rather liked him once I adjusted my thinking. The other performances are (sometimes) a bit odd, but interesting. And I was particularly interested in seeing Finlay Currie as the old man. I found his fascinating as a follower of Christ in "Ben-Hur", and as Cary Grant's odd friend in "People Will Talk". Of course, as a Scotsman, he was probably more at home here in this movie filmed mostly in Scotland! Along with an interesting cast, I was also impressed with the dramatic scenery and vivid black and white photography...although there were a few places where the photography seemed a tad amateurish (such as one scene where vignetting is clearly evident). Both in terms of the natural photography, and in terms of the culture, this film probably gives one a better sense of what Scotland is really like...or at least was really like. Stunning and interesting. The whirlpool in the boat segment...a bit amateurish compared to today's special effects, but quite impressive for 1945. And by the way, that whirlpool really does exist in Scotland to this day.The story is not particularly unique -- girl on her way to marry a rich man living in Scotland meets a poor man and falls in love. Will she follow love or money? While the plot may be rather traditional, the characters and settings and some of the situations are unique, and that makes the film very interesting.Is it a great film? Well, in my mind it's an extraordinarily good film. But Martin Scorsese once wrote that, "I reached the point of thinking there were no more masterpieces to discover, until I saw I Know Where I'm Going!" Highly recommended, especially for the performance by Wendy Hiller, who -- in a review here on IMDb for another of her films -- one of our reviewers wrote, "she can do no wrong!" I second that opinion.

If I was putting it in a double bill, it would be, not with another Scottish film, but with 'The Peaceful Man', set in Ireland, or 'Gone to Earth', set on the English/ Welsh border country.Heck, let's call it a triple bill!The essential qualities are: beautiful countryside: real people, albeit some a little unusual: excellent acting from fine actors - and, most importantly, a story that may not be new but is neither hackneyed nor trite.If you want a period film that's not a 'just-so' story - where there aren't necessarily good guys who always do the right thing, and bad guys who are obvious villains, and macguffins round every corner - well, here it is.

Nice job by Pressburger and Powell, by the performers, and by the crew. It's a convincing picture of the western islands off Scotland. The cool wind rushes across the bluffs and the puffy clouds are chased up and down the barren hills by their own shadows. And this is 1945 and in black and white. Special effects provide persuasive gales and rainstorms.In the middle of it all is Wendy Hiller, a young lady who knows where she's going. The introduction tells us that at age one she crawled in one direction across the floor. At age five she wrote a letter to Father Christmas, demanding a pair of silk stocking -- and not that artificial fabric either. At twelve, she had her stockings. By this time my heart was beginning to ship some water because I was reminded of my ex wife.However, this is a fairy tale. Hiller becomes engaged to one of the richest industrialists in England. Says her Dad, "Why, he's old enough to be your father," and Hiller replies with dignity, "And what's wrong with YOU?" Her fiancé is waiting for her on the far-off isle of Kilgoran where they will be married and spend their honeymoon. He's rented a castle there from the Laird of the Manor or whatever his title is. Alas, Hiller reaches the next to the last island in the chain and is stranded there first by fog and then by howling gale.At this point, we're waiting for the romantic stranger to show up in the little town because we don't believe for one minute that Hiller is REALLY going to marry that robber baron. Well, Roger Livesey is a stranger, and an officer in His Majesty's Navy too, AND the owner of the island of Kilgoren who is renting the castle out. I hope I'm not mixing up the geography but I might be, because Livesey seems to own a ruined castle just outside the little village where he and Hiller are stranded by the weather. I don't know. Can you own two castles? No matter. Livesey might not be romantic but he's a good-natured guy with a sense of humor and principle. The gale lasts for days. Hiller and Livesey are increasingly attracted to one another and Hiller prays to get to Kilgoren and her fiancé so she doesn't fall for the wrong man.Meanwhile they enjoy all the amiability and hospitality of the little village. Three pipers -- count 'em, three -- have been imported from the mainland for a Ceilidh celebrating the 60th wedding anniversary of the old Campbell couple. It's a touching moment when the elderly husband is asked to say a few words between jigs and drams, stands up, croaks a bit, shrugs, and gives up, to great applause.In a way, this is a city versus country movie. There are a lot of them about. Murnau's "Sunrise" may have been one of the earlier examples. The materialistic and driven person comes from the city -- here, it's Manchester -- and discovers the real meaning of life among the happy peasants, given to eating, drinking, singing, and whistling while they work, at ease with themselves and with nature. More sophisticated examples put a blemish or two on peasant life, like "The Quiet Man" and "Zorba the Greek." At any rate, Hiller insists on being taken by boat to Kilgoran despite the turbulent sea and there's considerable adventure in their attempt. The attempt, though, fails, as it must, if Hiller and Livesey are to be together at the end.An altogether pleasant, if minor, viewing experience. No breakthroughs. Nothing more than a fairy tale, but nicely done.