Whisky Galore!

Released Dec 25, 1949

1h 22m

Comedy

War

List

96%

25 Reviews

Tomatometer

84%

1,000+ Ratings

Audience Score

During World War II, the tiny Scottish island of Todday runs out of whisky. When the freighter S.S. Cabinet Minister runs aground nearby during a heavy fog, the islanders are delighted to learn that its cargo consists of 50,000 cases of whisky. When officious English commanding officer Captain Waggett (Basil Radford) demands return of the liquor, shopkeeper Joseph Macroon (Wylie Watson) and his daughters Peggy (Joan Greenwood) and Catriona (Gabrielle Blunt) spearhead an island rebellion.

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Critics Consensus

A raucous caper with a dash of rebellious subtext, Whisky Galore! is a smooth comedic gem that audiences can enjoy on the rocks.

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Pauline Kael

New Yorker

[A] convivial little classic.

Apr 7, 2016

Full Review

Marc Lee

Daily Telegraph (UK)

One of three Ealing comedies released in 1949 (the others were Passport to Pimlico and Kind Hearts and Coronets), and remains by far the sharpest, freshest and most resonant.

Dec 27, 2014

Full Review

Derek Malcolm

London Evening Standard

Basil Radford, Joan Greenwood, Catherine Lacey and Gordon Jackson are among the players who got fed up with drinking cold tea and pretending it was the hard stuff.

Rated: 4/5

Jul 29, 2011

Full Review

Neely Swanson

Easy Reader (California)

Slight in nature, soft in humor, "Whisky Galore" is full of fine performances of actors who went on to greater fame.

Nov 30, 2020

Full Review

Yasser Medina

Cinefilia

This criminal comedy, directed by Alexander Mackendrick and produced by Ealing Studios, seems to me somewhat silly and insipid, but I immediately recognize an interesting subject which I identify with. [Full review in Spanish]

Rated: 6/10

Jul 19, 2020

Full Review

Roger Moore

Movie Nation

With a comedy this old, the laughs are comfort food, the giggles coming from the cheek-pinching adorability of the character "types."

Rated: 3.5/4

Mar 25, 2020

Full Review

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Blobbo X

Hard to understand sometimes - either the Scotch accents or Blobbo hearing - but nice enough, even for we who not big whiskey fans.

Rated 3.5 out of 5 stars

04/27/23

Full Review

rob b

Charming, funny and close to perfection.

Rated 5 out of 5 stars

03/30/23

Full Review

kevin w

Ealing Studios made this postwar charmer about the residents of a small British seaside town that "confiscates" the alcoholic cargo of a nearby shipwreck. The thing here is all about the adolescent thrill of "being naughty", and of "getting away with it". It's cute.

Rated 3 out of 5 stars

03/30/23

Full Review

Audience Member

I had heard that this movie was a classic, and I was anxious to see it. After all, I've seen others Ealing comedies such as "Kind Hearts And Coronets" and "The Man In The White Suit", and those were good. But this movie was an unfunny dud. Perhaps it was funnier to Britons, but my mother and I hardly laughed. The whole concept could have been good, but the humor was dry as the proverbial funeral drum, and the concept of the officer trying to retrieve the whiskey and suffering for doing his duty, well, the idea is more cruel than amusing. Avoid this one and stick to the much better, later ones which are genuinely funny.

Rated 0.5 out of 5 stars

02/22/23

Full Review

Audience Member

One of the best from the Ealing studios albeit I had to watch with subtitles as the accents can be pretty thick at times. Stick it to authority and have the odd chuckle along the way. A good film.

Rated 4 out of 5 stars

01/28/23

Full Review

paul w

Some good performances and well put together, but it's all very gentle and quaint by modern standards - a bit like an extended episode of Dad's Army. The result is a comedy which raises a few smiles but no real laughs. Ironically the scene which did make me laugh involved a doctor visiting an old man at his home. On discovering that the man's pipe has broken the doctor declares that "We can't have you giving up smoking" and promptly gives him a new pipe and some tobacco to put in it! I doubt there was meant to be anything funny about this in 1949...

Rated 3 out of 5 stars

03/31/23

Full Review

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Alexander Mackendrick

Director

Basil Radford

Captain Paul Waggett

Joan Greenwood

Peggy Macroon

Gordon Jackson

George Campbell

Catherine Lacy

Mrs. Waggett

Bruce Seton

Sergeant Odd

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Synopsis

During World War II, the tiny Scottish island of Todday runs out of whisky. When the freighter S.S. Cabinet Minister runs aground nearby during a heavy fog, the islanders are delighted to learn that its cargo consists of 50,000 cases of whisky. When officious English commanding officer Captain Waggett (Basil Radford) demands return of the liquor, shopkeeper Joseph Macroon (Wylie Watson) and his daughters Peggy (Joan Greenwood) and Catriona (Gabrielle Blunt) spearhead an island rebellion.

Director: Alexander Mackendrick
Screenwriter: Compton MacKenzie, Angus MacPhail
Distributor: Universal International Pictures
Production Co: Ealing Studios
Genre: Comedy, War
Original Language: English (United Kingdom)
Release Date (Theaters): Dec 25, 1949, Wide
Release Date (Streaming): May 5, 2017
Runtime: 1h 22m
Sound Mix: Mono

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