''Ring of Bright Water'' is a 1969 British

comedy-drama Comedy drama, also known by the portmanteau ''dramedy'', is a genre of dramatic works that combines elements of comedy and drama. The modern, scripted-television examples tend to have more humorous bits than simple comic relief seen in a typical ...

film starring

Bill Travers William Inglis Lindon Travers (3 January 1922 – 29 March 1994) was a British actor, screenwriter, director and animal rights activist. Prior to his show business career, he served in the British army with Gurkha and special forces units. E ...

and

Virginia McKenna Dame Virginia Anne McKenna, (born 7 June 1931) is a British stage and screen actress, author and wildlife campaigner. She is best known for the films ''A Town Like Alice'' (1956), '' Carve Her Name with Pride'' (1958), ''Born Free'' (1966), and ...

. It is a story about a Londoner and his pet

otter Otters are carnivorous mammals in the subfamily Lutrinae. The 13 extant otter species are all semiaquatic, aquatic, or marine, with diets based on fish and invertebrates. Lutrinae is a branch of the Mustelidae family, which also includes wea ...

living on the Scottish coast. The story is fictional, but is adapted from the 1960 autobiographical book of the same name by

Gavin Maxwell Gavin Maxwell FRSL FZS FRGS (15 July 19147 September 1969) was a British naturalist and author, best known for his non-fiction writing and his work with otters. He wrote the book ''Ring of Bright Water'' (1960) about how he brought an otter ...

. It featured the stars of ''

Born Free ''Born Free'' is a 1966 British drama film starring the real-life couple Virginia McKenna and Bill Travers as Joy and George Adamson, another real-life couple who raised Elsa the Lioness, an orphaned lion cub, to adulthood, and released her in ...

'', another film about a close relationship between humans and a wild animal.

Plot

Graham Merrill (

) passes a pet shop on his daily walks about London, and takes an interest in an

(specifically, a male river otter) he sees in its window; eventually, he buys the animal and names him Mijbil or "Mij" for short. The otter wreaks havoc in his small apartment, and together they leave London for a rustic cottage overlooking the sea on the west coast of Scotland. There they live as beachcombers, and make the acquaintance of Dr. Mary (

) from the nearby village, and her dog Johnny. Mij and Johnny play in the water and bound across the fields together. One episode involves Graham trying to find live eels for Mij, which is very difficult because during the winter the eels swim in deeper waters, making it tough to fish them out. Also, no fish place in town carries live eels. Mij's inquisitive and adventurous nature leads him some distance from the cottage to a female otter with whom he spends the day. Ignorant of danger, he is caught in a net and nearly killed. The humans find him and help him recover. Graham spends a significant amount of time drawing Mij, but realises that to show the true agility of the otter he must draw it underwater. He builds a large tank out of old windows so that he can do this. Not long after, Merrill goes to London to look after some affairs and leaves Mary in charge of Mij. While being exercised afield, Mij is killed by a ditchdigger, who did not realize he was a pet. Merrill returns and is crushed to discover the death of his beloved otter. Some time later, Merrill and Mary are surprised by a trio of otter youngsters, accompanied by their mother otter, approaching the cottage. He happily realizes they are Mij's mate and their children who have come to play in their father's swimming pool. Graham has been trying for years to write a novel about the Marsh Arabs; however, after seeing the baby otters playing, he takes pen and paper and begins to write about Mij and what the otter has taught him about himself.

Cast and characters

as Graham Merrill *

as Mary MacKenzie *

Peter Jeffrey Peter Jeffrey (18 April 1929 – 25 December 1999) was an English character actor. Starting his performing career on stage, he would later have many roles in television and film. Early life Jeffrey was born in Bristol, the son of Florence ...

as Colin Wilcox *

Jameson Clark Jameson Clark (8 July 1907, Kilbirnie, North Ayrshire, Scotland – 4 January 1984, Kilbirnie, Ayrshire, ScotlandHelena Gloag Helena Gloag (23 February 1909 – 15 June 1973) was a Scottish actress. She had roles as the grandmother in the television series ''My Ain Folk'' and appeared in films such as '' The Prime of Miss Jean Brodie'', ''Ring of Bright Water'', '' ...

as Mrs. Flora Elrich * W. D. Joss as Lighthouse keeper *

Roddy McMillan Roddy McMillan OBE (23 March 1923 – 9 July 1979) was a Scottish actor and playwright, possibly most famous for his comedy role as Para Handy for BBC Scotland's television series, ''The Vital Spark''. He also played the lead role in Edwa ...

as Bus driver * Jean Taylor-Smith as Mrs. Sarah Chambers * Christopher Benjamin as Fishmonger * Archie Duncan as Road mender *

Tommy Godfrey Thomas Frederick Godfrey (20 June 1916 – 24 June 1984) was an English comedian and actor who mostly played working-class Cockney characters. Variety performer He was born in London, and started his career as a tap dancer in variety shows, ...

as Ticket seller *

Phil McCall Phil McCall (born Philip McColl; 26 November 1925 – 29 January 2002) was a Glaswegian actor who appeared in numerous films and television productions over a 40-year period. Early life and education McCall's father was a labourer. He attended ...

as Frank * Joyce McClain as stunt woman for

* Two Wisconsin otters owned and trained by Tom and Mabel Beecham of

Phillips, Wisconsin Phillips is a city and the county seat of Price County, Wisconsin, United States. The population was 1,478 at the 2010 census. History The town of Phillips was platted in 1876 and named after Elijah B. Phillips, the general manager of the Wiscon ...

portrayed Mij the otter.

Filming

Part of the film was shot in

Ellenabeich Ellenabeich (Scottish Gaelic: ''Eilean nam Beitheach'', meaning "island of the birchwoods.") is a small village on the isle of Seil (Scottish Gaelic: ''Saoil'') – an island on the east side of the Firth of Lorn, 7 miles (11 km) southwest o ...

on the Isle of

Seil Seil (; gd, Saoil, ) is one of the Slate Islands, located on the east side of the Firth of Lorn, southwest of Oban, in Scotland. Seil has been linked to the mainland by bridge since the late 18th century. The origins of the island's name are ...

Reception and critical response

The film earned rentals of US$1 million in North America and US$1.4 million in other countries. After all costs were deducted it recorded an overall loss of US$615,000. In a contemporaneous review, ''

Variety Variety may refer to: Arts and entertainment Entertainment formats * Variety (radio) * Variety show, in theater and television Films * ''Variety'' (1925 film), a German silent film directed by Ewald Andre Dupont * ''Variety'' (1935 film), ...

'' called the film "engaging" and noted "Travers and McKenna unselfishly subdue their performances to the star demands of the lolloping young rascal, Mij, but keep the interest firmly alive by their tactful playing." The

National Board of Review The National Board of Review of Motion Pictures is a non-profit organization of New York City area film enthusiasts. Its awards, which are announced in early December, are considered an early harbinger of the film awards season that culminat ...

placed ''Ring of Bright Water'' on its list of the Top Ten Films for 1969. In 2005, ''

The Daily Telegraph ''The Daily Telegraph'', known online and elsewhere as ''The Telegraph'', is a national British daily broadsheet newspaper published in London by Telegraph Media Group and distributed across the United Kingdom and internationally. It was fo ...

'' called it "one of the best-loved British films of all time."

Comic book

Dell Comics Dell Comics was the comic book publishing arm of Dell Publishing, which got its start in pulp magazines. It published comics from 1929 to 1974. At its peak, it was the most prominent and successful American company in the medium.Evanier, Mark"Wh ...

published a comic-book adaptation of the film drawn by

Jack Sparling John Edmond Sparling (June 21, 1916 – February 15, 1997), was a Canadian comics artist. Biography Born in Winnipeg, Manitoba, Sparling moved to the United States as a child. He received his early arts training at the Arts and Crafts Club in New ...

in October 1969.

Documentary

The

documentary film A documentary film or documentary is a non-fictional film, motion-picture intended to "document reality, primarily for the purposes of instruction, education or maintaining a Recorded history, historical record". Bill Nichols (film critic), Bil ...

''Echoes of Camusfearna'' (1995) contains previously unseen footage of Gavin Maxwell with the otters, and is introduced and narrated by Virginia McKenna. It was released to DVD in 2007.

Home media

The film was released as a region 2 DVD in 2002, and as a region 1 DVD in 2004. Previously, it had been released as a VHS tape in 1981 and 1991.

References

External links

* * * {{rotten-tomatoes, ring_of_bright_water, Ring of Bright Water 1969 films 1969 comedy-drama films 1960s children's comedy films 1960s English-language films American children's comedy films British children's comedy films American comedy-drama films British comedy-drama films Films about otters Films adapted into comics Films based on non-fiction books Films directed by Jack Couffer Films about pets Films set in Scotland 1960s American films 1960s British films