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Whisky Galore (novel)
''Whisky Galore'' is a novel written by the Scottish author Compton Mackenzie. It was published in 1947. It was adapted for the cinema under the title '' Whisky Galore!''. The book has sold several million copies and has been reprinted several times. Plot summary During the Second World War, the cargo vessel ''S.S. Cabinet Minister'' is wrecked off a remote fictional Scottish island group – Great Todday and Little Todday – with fifty thousand cases of whisky aboard. Due to wartime rationing, the thirsty islanders had nearly run out of the "water of life" and see this as an unexpected godsend. They manage to salvage several hundred cases before the ship sinks. But it is not all clear sailing. They must thwart the efforts of the authorities to confiscate the liquor, particularly in the shape of misguided, pompous Home Guard Captain Paul Waggett. A cat-and-mouse battle of wits ensues. Although the wreck and the escapades over the whisky are at the centre of the story, there is a ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Compton Mackenzie
Sir Edward Montague Compton Mackenzie, (17 January 1883 – 30 November 1972) was a Scottish writer of fiction, biography, histories and a memoir, as well as a cultural commentator, raconteur and lifelong Scottish independence, Scottish nationalist. He was one of the co-founders in 1928 of the National Party of Scotland along with Christopher Murray Grieve, Hugh MacDiarmid, Robert Bontine Cunninghame Graham, R. B. Cunninghame Graham and John MacCormick. He was Knight Bachelor, knighted in 1952. Background Edward Montague Compton Mackenzie was born in West Hartlepool, County Durham, England, into a theatrical family of Mackenzies, many of whose members used Compton as their stage surname, starting with his English grandfather Henry Compton (actor), Henry Compton, a well-known William Shakespeare, Shakespearean actor of the Victorian era. His father, Edward Compton (actor), Edward Compton Mackenzie, and mother, Virginia Frances Bateman, were actors and theatre company managers; h ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
SS Politician
SS ''Politician'' was a cargo ship that ran aground off the coast of the Hebridean island of Eriskay in 1941. Her cargo included 22,000 cases of malt whisky and £3 million worth of Jamaican banknotes. Much of the whisky was recovered by islanders from across the Hebrides, contrary to marine salvage laws. Because no duty had been paid on the whisky, members of HM Customs and Excise pursued and prosecuted those who had removed the cargo. ''Politician'' was completed in 1923 under the name ''London Merchant''. She was a general cargo ship that traded between Britain, the United States and Canada, and up and down the west coast of the US. In 1924—during the years of American prohibition—Oregon's state prohibition commissioner seized her cargo of whisky despite its having been approved and sealed by US federal authorities. After the British Embassy in Washington complained to the US government, the whisky was released back to the ship. During the Second World War ''Politi ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
National Theatre Of Scotland
The National Theatre of Scotland, established in 2006, is the national theatre company of Scotland. The company has no theatre building of its own; instead it tours work to theatres, village halls, schools and site-specific locations, both at home and internationally. The company has created over 200 productions and collaborates with other theatre companies, local authorities, and individual artists to create a variety of performances, from large-scale productions through to theatre specifically made for the smallest venues. Many different spaces have been used for productions, as well as conventional theatres: airports and tower blocks, community halls and drill halls, ferries and forests. The creation of a national theatre was one of the commitments of the Scottish Executive's National Cultural Strategy. Formation After Scottish devolution in 1997, long-discussed plans for a national theatre for Scotland began to come to fruition. In 2000, the Scottish Executive invited t ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Gaelic Language
The Goidelic or Gaelic languages ( ga, teangacha Gaelacha; gd, cànanan Goidhealach; gv, çhengaghyn Gaelgagh) form one of the two groups of Insular Celtic languages, the other being the Brittonic languages. Goidelic languages historically formed a dialect continuum stretching from Ireland through the Isle of Man to Scotland. There are three modern Goidelic languages: Irish ('), Scottish Gaelic ('), and Manx ('). Manx died out as a first language in the 20th century but has since been revived to some degree. Nomenclature ''Gaelic'', by itself, is sometimes used to refer to Scottish Gaelic, especially in Scotland, and so it is ambiguous. Irish and Manx are sometimes referred to as Irish Gaelic and Manx Gaelic (as they are Goidelic or Gaelic languages), but the use of the word "Gaelic" is unnecessary because the terms Irish and Manx, when used to denote languages, always refer to those languages. This is in contrast to Scottish Gaelic, for which "Gaelic" distinguishes the l ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Whisky Galore! (2016 Film)
''Whisky Galore!'' is a 2016 British film, a remake of the 1949 Ealing Comedy of the same name, itself based on the novel by Compton Mackenzie. It was directed by Gillies MacKinnon and stars Gregor Fisher, Eddie Izzard, Sean Biggerstaff and Naomi Battrick. The film premiered at the 2016 Edinburgh Film Festival and went on general release in Scotland from 5 May 2017 and the rest of the UK, Ireland and the US from 19 May 2017. The principal film location was Portsoy, Aberdeenshire, Scotland. Plot Set in the Second World War when whisky rationing is in effect, Scottish islanders on the fictional Isle of Todday try to plunder cases of whisky from a ship that is stranded on rocks just offshore. The SS ''Cabinet Minister'' was carrying 50,000 cases of Scotch whisky to the United States when she ran aground, affording the islanders the opportunity to get their hands on the "water of life". There are problems, though; the local minister (a strict Sabbatarian who will not allow work to ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Angus MacPhail
Angus Roy MacPhail (8 April 1903 – 22 April 1962) was an England, English screenwriter, active from the late 1920s. He is best remembered for his work with Alfred Hitchcock. Early life and education Son of merchant clerk Angus MacPhail and Fanny Maud (née Karlowa), he was born in Lewisham, London, and educated at Westminster School and Trinity Hall, Cambridge where he studied English and edited ''Granta''. At Cambridge, he was a close friend of fellow Old Westminsters Ivor Montagu, later a filmmaker, who described MacPhail as "a red-haired and rather gauche Scot from Blackheath", and Arnold Haskell, later a dance critic and headmaster of the Royal Ballet School. Career He began to work in the film business in 1926, writing subtitles for silent films. He began writing his own scenarios for Gaumont British Studios and later Ealing Studios under Sir Michael Balcon. During World War II, he made films for the Ministry of Information (United Kingdom), Ministry of Information. M ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Alexander Mackendrick
Alexander Mackendrick (September 8, 1912 – December 22, 1993) was an American-born director and professor, long based in Scotland. He was born in Boston, Massachusetts, and later moved to Scotland. He began making television commercials before moving into post-production editing and directing films, most notably for Ealing Studios where his films include '' Whisky Galore!'' (1949), ''The Man in the White Suit'' (1951), ''The Maggie'' (1954), and '' The Ladykillers'' (1955). After his first American film ''Sweet Smell of Success'' (1957), his career as a director declined and he became Dean of the CalArts School of Film/Video in California. He was the cousin of Scottish writer Roger MacDougall. Biography He was born on 8 September 1912 the only child of Francis and Martha Mackendrick who had emigrated to the United States from Glasgow in 1911. His father was a ship builder and a civil engineer. When Mackendrick was six, his father died of influenza as a result of a pandemic t ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Gordon Jackson (actor)
Gordon Cameron Jackson, (19 December 1923 – 15 January 1990) was a Scottish actor best remembered for his roles as the butler Angus Hudson in '' Upstairs, Downstairs'' and as George Cowley, the head of CI5, in '' The Professionals''. He also portrayed Capt Jimmy Cairns in ''Tunes of Glory'', and Flt. Lt. Andrew MacDonald, "Intelligence", in '' The Great Escape''. Early life Gordon Jackson was born in Glasgow in 1923, the youngest of five children. He attended Hillhead High School, and in his youth he took part in BBC radio shows including '' Children's Hour''. He left school aged 15 and became a draughtsman for Rolls-Royce. Early career His film career began in 1942, when producers from Ealing Studios were looking for a young Scot to act in ''The Foreman Went to France'' and he was suggested for the part. After this, he returned to his job at Rolls-Royce, but he was soon asked to do more films, and he decided to make acting his career. Jackson soon appeared in other films, ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Joan Greenwood
Joan Mary Waller Greenwood (4 March 1921 – 28 February 1987) was an English actress. Her husky voice, coupled with her slow, precise elocution, was her trademark. She played Sibella in the 1949 film ''Kind Hearts and Coronets'', and also appeared in ''The Man in the White Suit'' (1951), ''Young Wives' Tale'' (1951), ''The Importance of Being Earnest'' (1952), '' Stage Struck'' (1958), '' Tom Jones'' (1963) and ''Little Dorrit'' (1987). Greenwood worked mainly on the stage, where she had a long career, appearing with Donald Wolfit's theatre company in the years following World War II. Later, after the war, her appearances in Ealing comedies are among her memorable screen appearances: '' Whisky Galore!''; as the seductive Sibella in the black comedy ''Kind Hearts and Coronets'' (1949); and in ''The Man in the White Suit'' (1951). She opened ''The Grass Is Greener'' in the West End in 1952 and played Gwendolen in a film version of ''The Importance of Being Earnest'' released in ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Bruce Seton
Sir Bruce Lovat Seton, 11th Baronet (29 May 1909 – 28 September 1969) was a British actor and soldier. He is best remembered for his eponymous lead role in ''Fabian of the Yard''. Early life Bruce Lovat Seton was born in Simla, British India, the younger of two sons of Lieutenant-Colonel Sir Bruce Gordon Seton of Abercorn (1868–1934), 9th Baronet and his wife, Elma Armstrong (died 1960). He was educated at Edinburgh Academy and then trained at the Royal Military College, Sandhurst. Military career Seton was commissioned into the Black Watch in 1929 as a second lieutenant, but resigned his commission in 1932. A brief interruption in his acting career came during the Second World War and in November 1939 he held the rank of captain in the 10th Battalion, Cameronians (Scottish Rifles), ending the war as major (temporary). His service number was 44304 and he was awarded the Medal of Freedom. Acting Seton began his acting career in the chorus line at Drury Lane Theat ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Basil Radford
Arthur Basil RadfordAdam Greaves, "Radford, (Arthur) Basil (1897–1952)", ''Oxford Dictionary of National Biography'', Oxford University Press, May 201available online Retrieved 3 August 2020. (25 June 189720 October 1952) was an English character actor who featured in many British films of the 1930s and 1940s. He trained at the Royal Academy of Dramatic Art and made his first stage appearance in July 1924. He is probably best remembered for his appearances alongside Naunton Wayne as two cricket-obsessed Englishmen in several films from 1938 to 1949. Early life Radford was born in Chester, England, on 25 June 1897. First World War He was a commissioned officer in the British South Staffordshire Regiment in the First World War, in 1918 transferring into the Royal Air Force, ending the war as a subaltern when he was demobilised in 1920. Radford had a crescent-shaped scar on his right cheek from a wound sustained during his time in the trenches. Depending on the lighting and cam ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Ealing Studios
Ealing Studios is a television and film production company and facilities provider at Ealing Green in West London. Will Barker bought the White Lodge on Ealing Green in 1902 as a base for film making, and films have been made on the site ever since. It is the oldest continuously working studio facility for film production in the world, and the current stages were opened for the use of sound in 1931. It is best known for a series of classic films produced in the post-WWII years, including ''Kind Hearts and Coronets'' (1949), ''Passport to Pimlico'' (1949), ''The Lavender Hill Mob'' (1951), and '' The Ladykillers'' (1955). The BBC owned and filmed at the Studios for forty years from 1955 until 1995. Since 2000, Ealing Studios has resumed releasing films under its own name, including the revived ''St Trinian's'' franchise. In more recent times, films shot here include ''The Importance of Being Earnest'' (2002) and ''Shaun of the Dead'' (2004), as well as '' The Theory of Everyth ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
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