Alegrias a Granel

I have seen Whisky Galore so many times I lost count during the 'eighties. Most films so viewed tend to lose their sparkle somewhat. Not with this little gem - I laugh every time.

I have been promised that these strange happenings were based in fact, but I cannot believe that such a concatenation of hilarious happenstance could possibly have occurred, here in the British Isles, where the ridiculous is commonplace, or anywhere else. This film is full of the finest British character actors of the era, and a few acting 'non-entities' as well, who all give marvellous performances. The laughter doesn't stop, and the whisky keeps on flowing - I love it. I hope you get half as much out of Whisky Galore as I have - you'll be well pleased.

A lovely bit of nostalgia here, one of the greats of British comedy. The isle of Toddy becomes for a while at least a true paradise when the islanders find themselves rescuing part of the cargo of a wrecked ship carrying precious whisky, despite the efforts of the sassenach jobsworth running the local home guard. A wealth of wonderful moments, a softly-spoken gentleness that has always characterised this kind of movie (and lives on in such modern works as Hear My Song and Waking Ned), and a kind but firm lack of respect for bureaucratic authority soaked throughout the entire film make this a delight and a joy every time.

Whisky Galore AKA Tight Little Island is one of the funniest movies I have ever seen. Alexander MacKendrick did a fantastic job in bringing Compton MacKenzie's book Whisky Galore to the big screen. MacKendrick keeps the pace going with plot twists that would cause one to "bust a gut." If you are looking for a truly enjoyable movie to lighten your mood, Whisky Galore is a must.

Delightful post-war British comedy illustrating for the umpteenth time the fighting spirit of the "ordinary Joe" (or in this case Jock) when set against the pomposity of the would-be ruling classes. Capt Waggett (Basil Radford) is the real star here as the middle class representative of stiff upper lippery. Surely Jimmy Perry and David Croft must have drawn on him when they were dreaming up the Capt Mainwaring character for the long-running BBC TV sit-com "Dad's Army". Even one of Waggett's lines ("I was waiting to see when you'd spot that", a comment usually made when Mainwaring had just uttered some piece of logistical nonsense) made an appearance. Unmissable example of British comedy rooted in the style that made Ealing so succesful.

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.