Purely Joyful Movie!

While it doesn't offer any answers, it both thrills and makes you think.

It is an exhilarating, distressing, funny and profound film, with one of the more memorable film scores in years,

Through painfully honest and emotional moments, the movie becomes irresistibly relatable

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.

A good whisky needs time to fully express itself; drinking it without its having reached its maturity just won't do. Well, like a great whisky, this film has developed itself over time. Already 65 years old, and that is certainly a long period of ageing, "Whisky Galore" is still crisp, certain, subtle and appealing, what you would expect both a great spirit and a great film to be. Like the perfect sip, it gets ahold of you from the very beginning, captivating the drinker (or the viewer) with calculated pace and timing, keeping your interest from start to finish. The movie deals easily with complex issues, such as the relation between parents and offspring, military and civilian, State and folk, always leaning towards the weaker. Ever gentle, it will make you smile and leave you with a nice reminiscence lingering for a long time: once again, just as a glass of the best scotch would do. Cheers!

I recognised the title of this comedy classic from Ealing Studios and director Alexander Mackendrick (The Ladykillers, Sweet Smell of Success), and being in the book 1001 Movies You Must See Before You Die I was bound to try it. Based on a true story, set in World War II, a remote Scottish Hebrides island group - Great Todday and Little Todday - have run out of all whisky, the "water of life", most people can't live without it. There fortune changes though when a cargo vessel crashes, and when they find out it is filled with 50,000 bottles of whisky, so the villagers are quick to get to the wreck and loot it. They manage to get plenty before the ship sinks, of course the authorities are bound to get involved, so plenty of people are finding places to hide their bottles. In the end, after they all get away with it and they eventually run out, the price for whisky is risen twice, and only two people that don't drink it live happily ever after. Starring Basil Radford as Captain Paul Waggett, Catherine Lacey as Mrs. Waggett, Bruce Seton as Sergeant Odd, Joan Greenwood as Peggy Macroon, Gordon Jackson as George Campbell, Wylie Watson as Joseph Macroon, Gabrielle Blunt as Catriona Macroon, Jean Cadell as Mrs Campbell and James Robertson Justice as Dr Maclaren, narrated by Finlay Currie. The story might have been a bit droll, but there were some alright performances, it was quite intriguing in parts, and I did laugh in a few moments of the film. It was nominated the BAFTA for Best British Film. Very good!

When I saw this film was made by Ealing Studios, I jumped at the chance to see it. That's because following WWII, this small studio made a long string of cute little gems--all with exquisite writing, acting and direction--and on shoestring budgets. Their Alec Guinness films and PASSPORT TO PIMLICO are some of the very best films of the era. So I wasn't surprised when I found I also enjoyed this slight little film about a town that ran out of whisky (the Scottish spelling) and their attempts to smuggle in a new supply of drink. Once again, the very simple story was deftly handled and it was quite entertaining. There were only two drawbacks--neither one might affect you personally. The first was the language. While I watch tons of British television and movies, I, like most Americans have a much harder time understanding Scottish accents than English accents. I really would have loved subtitles or closed captioning, but the videotape I saw had neither. Secondly, the quality of the print was really lousy. Both these problems can be blamed on Critic's Choice Videos. I've seen other films from them and must say they produce among the WORST quality videotapes--try to find ANY other brand.