Tedfoldol everything you have heard about this movie is true.

CrawlerChunky In truth, there is barely enough story here to make a film.

Plustown A lot of perfectly good film show their cards early, establish a unique premise and let the audience explore a topic at a leisurely pace, without much in terms of surprise. this film is not one of those films.

Rio Hayward All of these films share one commonality, that being a kind of emotional center that humanizes a cast of monsters.

Leofwine_draca WHISKY GALORE! is one of the films that helped to cement Ealing Studios's reputation as a fine leading purveyor of British comedies. It's a memorable production that was of course based on the true story of a cargo ship becoming wrecked off the coast of Scotland and shedding its cargo of whisky bottles to the delight of the local populace.What plays out is straightforward stuff indeed; there's not a great deal of narrative structure or plot here as this is for the most part a character piece. The viewer sits back and watches how each of the characters reacts to the unusual situation as the officials try to retrieve the stolen whisky while the locals try to hide their ill-gotten games. It's the sort of film that can write itself, if I'm honest, but the cast make it work.Basil Radford (without his comic partner Naunton Wayne for a change) is fine as the stressed-out captain tasked with retrieving the cargo. A youthful Gordon Jackson is all smiles and James Robertson Justice typically larger than life as the doctor. Joan Greenwood in particular makes an impact as the wife of one of the islanders. WHISKY GALORE! is a farce that works thanks to a fast pace and plenty of little twists in the narrative to keep you watching, and crucially it's also funny in the dated, genteel English way.

vfrizza To all that's been said by other viewers, I'd just like to add that, to me, the comedy derives not only from the sheer situation - a whole cast of beautiful Scottish island dwellers / a ship washed ashore with holds full of precious rare whiskey at a time of dire storage, but from the way this bunch of islanders deal with the 'rules' and go around all of them. A godsend shipment of whiskey in war time is one thing, the armed forces trying to apply some rule to such an unruly population is another, but they also have to deal with 2 even bigger forces, the tide and Sabbath! The inner struggles of these good people to finally manage and have the proper wedding ceremony, and the ensuing traditional ceilidh make the movie a delight of good, unpretentious comedy, while the fond memory that remains is that of mankind working around cultural/historical setting to remain what they are deep at heart, and behave accordingly. And yes, there is also the wonderful Joan Greenwood, with her ragged velvet voice and smooth acting...

John O'Neill Another brilliant movie from Ealing studios, this one based in the islands of Scotland.Due to the studios at Ealing all being used for other productions at the time, filming took place on location in Scotland and the film looks immeasurably better for it. Having the action take place on the actual beaches, countryside and buildings of the islands makes the whole thing look so much better.Based on a true story, Whisky Galore tells the tale of when whisky is rationed during WW2 and a ship is wrecked off the island coast with 50000 cases of whisky. Naturally the inhabitants want to get it before the ship completely sinks, but have to contend with the local pest Captain Wagget and the local revenue.Captain Wagget is really really nasty and wants to cause misery to everyone on the island and yet he is not actually a bad person, he just doing what he thinks is right. But as history shows untold misery has been inflicted on the world by those who do things because they think they are right. At the end, his attitude annoys everyone, even his own wife who, having stood by him throughout the entire movie, bursts in uncontrollable laughter when Wagget finds out he has inadvertently sent some whisky to the revenue.The rest of the island inhabitants are all a bunch of crooks. Particularly funny is Duncan Macrae who appears stupid, but who one suspects is a lot cleverer than most people think.It also extols the virtues of whisky, such as how it allows Mummy's boys to stand up to their domineering mothers and other such acts of bravery.Ealing Studios does it again.

MartinHafer 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.