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Whisky à gogo

Original title: Whisky Galore!
  • 1949
  • Tous publics
  • 1h 22m
IMDb RATING
7.1/10
7.1K
YOUR RATING
Whisky à gogo (1949)
Official Trailer
Play trailer1:03
1 Video
33 Photos
ComedyCrime

Scottish islanders try to plunder 50,000 cases of whisky from a stranded ship.Scottish islanders try to plunder 50,000 cases of whisky from a stranded ship.Scottish islanders try to plunder 50,000 cases of whisky from a stranded ship.

  • Director
    • Alexander Mackendrick
  • Writers
    • Compton MacKenzie
    • Angus MacPhail
  • Stars
    • Basil Radford
    • Joan Greenwood
    • Catherine Lacey
  • See production info at IMDbPro
  • IMDb RATING
    7.1/10
    7.1K
    YOUR RATING
    • Director
      • Alexander Mackendrick
    • Writers
      • Compton MacKenzie
      • Angus MacPhail
    • Stars
      • Basil Radford
      • Joan Greenwood
      • Catherine Lacey
    • 70User reviews
    • 31Critic reviews
  • See production info at IMDbPro
    • Nominated for 1 BAFTA Award
      • 1 win & 1 nomination total

    Videos1

    Whisky Galore!
    Trailer 1:03
    Whisky Galore!

    Photos32

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    Top cast24

    Edit
    Basil Radford
    Basil Radford
    • Captain Paul Waggett
    Joan Greenwood
    Joan Greenwood
    • Peggy Macroon
    Catherine Lacey
    Catherine Lacey
    • Mrs. Waggett
    Bruce Seton
    Bruce Seton
    • Sergeant Odd
    Wylie Watson
    Wylie Watson
    • Joseph Macroon
    Gabrielle Blunt
    Gabrielle Blunt
    • Catriona Macroon
    Gordon Jackson
    Gordon Jackson
    • George Campbell
    Jean Cadell
    Jean Cadell
    • Mrs. Campbell
    James Robertson Justice
    James Robertson Justice
    • Dr. Maclaren
    Morland Graham
    • The Biffer
    John Gregson
    John Gregson
    • Sammy MacCodrun
    James Woodburn
    • Roderick MacRurie
    James Anderson
    • Old Hector
    Jameson Clark
    Jameson Clark
    • Constable Macrae
    Duncan Macrae
    Duncan Macrae
    • Angus MacCormac
    Mary MacNeil
    • Mrs. MacCormac
    Norman MacOwan
    Norman MacOwan
    • Captain MacPhee
    Alastair Hunter
    Alastair Hunter
    • Captain MacKechnie
    • Director
      • Alexander Mackendrick
    • Writers
      • Compton MacKenzie
      • Angus MacPhail
    • All cast & crew
    • Production, box office & more at IMDbPro

    User reviews70

    7.17K
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    10

    Featured reviews

    8bkoganbing

    They like their drams

    This film was shot in part in the New Hebrides Islands and those island folk have little enough to do to relax and unwind. So the Scots congregate at the local pub, looks like few even have a radio. So when World War II comes spirits among other things are put on a quota. Four bottles a month for the pub. War is hell, but this is ridiculous.

    So when the HMS Cabinet Minister founders and eventually sinks and its cargo being a few tons in crates containing whiskey it's manna from heaven. A way to endure the war so to speak. If only that pompous idiot Basil Radford of the local home guard would stop thinking he's in the Coast Guard and try to spoil all the fun.

    In a role that would have been ideal for Cecil Parker Radford does well in the part. He plays it absolutely straight, he's a man just doing his duty as he sees it. Trouble is he just can't convince anyone else.

    Another favorite in the screen in total sympathy with Radford's temperance crusade is Jean Cadell, a stern Scot's Presbyterian woman if there ever was one. Not even to break the Sabbath will she allow her grown son Gordon Jackson out to salvage the cargo. Jackson who is on leave after serving in North Africa is going against this formidable woman.

    So it's Whiskey Galore for the lucky people here and Ealing Studios came up with a real winner in their comedy stable. Whiskey Galore holds up remarkably well today.

    The film is based on a true wartime incident, but I doubt it was as much fun as this film was.
    Film Dog

    Have a drink!

    A little town on a Scottish Isle suffers the most horrifying predicament, of which the outbreak of WWII in hindsight seemed to be an omen: they're out of whiskey! Everyone goes into an almost catatonic state until fortune takes a turn for the better: a ship is wrecked on a reef. The cargo: 50,000 cases of whiskey. But there's one do-gooder, the local militia leader, who just can't allow the cargo to be put to use. That, he says would lead to anarchy. Many well defined characters, good plot.
    10rnwaite

    Bottoms Up!

    A Canadian friend turned me on to this film. Prior to that - about 10 years ago - I had never heard of it. I managed to find a video and watched it. This was, without question, one of the funniest flicks I had ever seen. Filmed in glorious black & white and mostly at night, it boasted some incredible character actors and a non-stop action plot involving whiskey. LOTS of whiskey. Some great cinematography and sets, moody typical-English fog-laden atmosphere and a giant A for effort what the townsfolk went thru to hold on to that liquor! Very funny, non-violent movie just for laughs. I strongly suggest you see it.
    9hitchcockthelegend

    The Password Is Whisky!

    Out of Ealing Studios, Whisky Galore! is directed by Alexander Mackendrick and adapted to screenplay by Compton Mackenzie (novel also) and Angus MacPhail. It stars Basil Radford, Wylie Watson, Catherine Lacey, Bruce Seton, Joan Greenwood and Gabrielle Blunt. Music is by Ernest Irving and cinematography by Gerald Gibbs.

    When a ship with a cargo of 50,000 bottles of whisky is shipwrecked near the Outer Hebrides island of Todday, the villagers, out of their whisky rations, set about pillaging as much of it as they can before the authorities take control.

    Of the many thematic successes that Ealing Studios worked from, one of the highlights was the theme of a community rallying together to thwart an oppressive force. Reference Passport to Pimlico, The Titfield Thunderbolt and Whisky Galore! The latter of which was worked from a true story. In 1941 the cargo ship SS Politician was shipwrecked near the island of Eriskay in the Outer Hebrides, its main cargo of whisky and Jamaican shilling notes was mostly salvaged by the islanders. Ealing's take on the general story is condensed down to being an ode to anti authoritarianism and drink! With joyous results.

    Filmed on location close to Eriskay at Barra, the production had to overcome creative differences and awful weather to become the wonderful finished product. In fact the production went well over budget, a big no no on Ealing terms. Creative difference came between co-producer Monja Danischewsky and rookie director Mackendrick, where the former was firmly on the side of the islanders' pillage tactics, and the latter siding with Home Guard Captain Waggett's (Radford) feeble attempt to keep order. Danischewsky won out, where in spite of a code enforced epilogue, film plays out rooting for the islanders, gaining much humour from Waggett being an Englishman who is completely at odds with what he sees as the Scottish islanders anarchic behaviour.

    The Water Of Life.

    The community of Todday is bound by its love of whisky, makers extract quality mirth by presenting the sorrow brought about by the whisky running dry, only to then have the islanders lives perked up by the stricken fate of the ship carrying "the water of life". How the people react to the news of the ships cargo, how they set about purloining said cargo and how they hide said cargo from the authorities, is what brings the joy to Whisky Galore! Rarely has a cinematic treatment to larceny been so sweet and deftly handled as it is here. There's even an aside to class distinction, a nod to religious conformity and two lightly (unobtrusive) portrayed romances within the story. And with a cast bang on form, notably Radford, Watson and the gorgeous Greenwood, it rounds out as one of Ealing's most smartest and joyous comedies.

    It gladdened the hearts of many back on release as Britain continued to rebuild after the war, that it still entertains new observers even today is testament to Whisky Galore's lasting appeal. 9.5/10
    Bill Hutchinson

    Truly Enjoyable

    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.

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    Storyline

    Edit

    Did you know

    Edit
    • Trivia
      American censors of the day insisted on a coda being inserted at the end of the film stating that the stolen whisky brought nothing but unhappiness to the islanders, although in real life quite the opposite was true.
    • Goofs
      Had there really been whisky (or anything except air) in those wooden crates piled as high as a person on the rowboats the villagers use to loot the cargo ship, those boats would have capsized or sunk by the sheer weight of the crates.
    • Quotes

      Narrator: To the west, there is nothing. Except America.

    • Crazy credits
      Opening credits prologue: By a strange coincidence the S.S. Cabinet Minister was wrecked off the Island of Todday [in the movie] two years after the S.S. Politician, with a similar cargo, was wrecked [in real life] off the Island of Eriskay. But the coincidence stops there, for our story and the characters in it are pure fiction.
    • Connections
      Featured in Tuesday's Documentary: The Ealing Comedies or Kind Hearts and Overdrafts (1970)
    • Soundtracks
      Brochan Lom, Tana Lom
      (uncredited)

      Traditional

      Sung when the whisky is first being shared out

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    FAQ17

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    Details

    Edit
    • Release date
      • September 20, 1950 (France)
    • Country of origin
      • United Kingdom
    • Languages
      • English
      • Gaelic
    • Also known as
      • Whisky Galore!
    • Filming locations
      • Castlebay, Barra, Western Isles, Scotland, UK(Todday)
    • Production company
      • Ealing Studios
    • See more company credits at IMDbPro

    Box office

    Edit
    • Gross worldwide
      • $11,444
    See detailed box office info on IMDbPro

    Tech specs

    Edit
    • Runtime
      • 1h 22m(82 min)
    • Color
      • Black and White
    • Aspect ratio
      • 1.37 : 1

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