Whisky Galore! (1949)

1949 film

Classic Ealing comedy about a Scotch-laden ship that runs aground off the coast of the Outer Hebrides during the Second World War. Stars Basil Radford, Joan Greenwood, James Robertson Justice, Gordon Jackson, Wylie Watson and more.

Repeated Sunday at 11:30am on BBC2
Streaming rank this week: 12,539

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Another production also has this name.

Whisky Galore! (2017)

Whisky Galore!. Image shows from L to R: George Campbell (Gordon Jackson), Dr. Maclaren (James Robertson Justice), Peggy Macroon (Joan Greenwood). Copyright: Ealing Studios

Genre

Film

Released

1949

Creator

Compton Mackenzie

Stars

Basil Radford, Joan Greenwood, James Robertson Justice, Gordon Jackson, Wylie Watson, Catherine Lacey, Jean Cadell, Bruce Seton and more

Writers

Compton Mackenzie and Angus MacPhail

Director

Alexander Mackendrick

Producer

Michael Balcon

Company

Ealing Studios

Amidst wartime rationing, the small Hebridean island of Todday is thrown into chaos when the whisky stocks run out.

It is fortuitous for the islanders, then, when the SS Cabinet Minister - laden with thousands of crates of export whisky - runs aground a short distance off the coast in heavy fog. Only a few of the inhabitants even begin to think twice: amongst them the stern Home Guard captain, Englishman Paul Waggett.

Determined to retrieve as much of the golden brew as possible before the ship succumbs to the waves in its entirety, the locals mount a daring mid-night liberation effort right under Waggett's nose. But this is a man determined not to go down without a fight!