105: Whiskey Galore!

            Sooner or later lovers of the movies will stumble upon the Ealing comedies.  The Ealing studio, based in London, produced many of post war Britain’s finest features, and a good number of them find their way onto the 1001 list.  Whiskey Galore! (1949) is not the best of the Ealing productions – that would be Kind Heart and Coronets (also 1949) – but it is one of the best.  The studio made light-hearted, but not totally devoid of commentary films for a country that desperately needed a laugh.  The war had changed English society, exposing the farce that was class distinction, and suddenly hundreds of years of manners were up for parody.

            Here, writer Compton Mackenzie and director Alexander Mackendrick take square aim at man’s desire for drink and the cultural predisposition to alcohol that runs rampant in the British Isles.  When the war brings about shipping restrictions and rationing the inhabitants of the fishing village on the island of Todday drink their supply of spirits dry.  The resulting prolonged sobriety threatens to drive the Scotch/Irish villagers mad, much to the delight of the tee-totaling and very English captain of the Home Guard (Basil Radford).  Thinking these happenings provide the perfect opportunity to instill discipline in his troops, the captain fears the worst when a storm shipwrecks a cargo boat bound for America with 50,000 cases of hooch just off the island’s shore.

            Word spreads quickly through the village, and men begin to gather on the beach hoping to retrieve the libations before the ship, wedged on the rocks, takes on water and sinks into the deep.  In one of the film’s best sequences the gathering is halted just prior to launching their fishing skiffs as the clock strikes midnight.  Thirst or no thirst fishermen do not board their boats on the Sabbath.  The day of rest gives the Guard Captain a reprieve from mayhem and he’s determined to prevent “looting” of the cargo when the clock signals midnight again.  He recruits a young sergeant, a non-local who’s returned to duty on the island after a stint in North Africa, to take the first watch over the ghost ship, but romantic interests might hinder the soldier’s abilities as a guard.

            This is a film of fantastic sequences.  The “looting” of the ship’s cargo hold, the hiding of the salvaged spirits, and the race to keep them away from regulators make this movie engaging and even suspenseful at times.  Yes, the audience knows who will win out from the onset of the picture, but not all predictability is bad at the movies.  Radford plays the strait man well, and you can see that he’s having fun with the task.  Meanwhile, the cast of characters who surround him make the island of Todday seem like the most pleasant of places to have a wee nip, and the Barra location cinematography by Gerald Gibbs is picturesque.  I wont say that the film concludes on a happy note – I suppose it doesn’t – but it is the correct note, tongue firmly planted in cheek.

Language: English with some Gaelic

Runtime: 82 Minutes

Available from Netflix.com

Grade: 3 Hats Off