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Whisky Galore! (1949 Film)
''Whisky Galore!'' is a 1949 British comedy film produced by Ealing Studios, starring Basil Radford, Bruce Seton, Joan Greenwood and Gordon Jackson (actor), Gordon Jackson. It was the directorial debut of Alexander Mackendrick; the screenplay was by Compton Mackenzie, an adaptation of his 1947 novel ''Whisky Galore (novel), Whisky Galore'', and Angus MacPhail. The story—based on a true event, the running aground of the SS Politician, SS ''Politician''—concerns a shipwreck off a fictional Scottish island, the inhabitants of which have run out of whisky because of Rationing in the United Kingdom, wartime rationing. The islanders find out the ship is carrying 50,000 cases of whisky, some of which they salvage, against the opposition of the local HM Customs and Excise, Customs and Excise men. It was filmed on the island of Barra; the weather was so poor that the production over-ran its 10-week schedule by five weeks, and the film went £20,000 over budget. Michael Balcon, the h ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Tom Eckersley
Tom Eckersley OBE (30 September 1914 – 4 August 1997) was an English poster artist and teacher of design. Early career Tom Eckersley was born on 30 September 1914 in Lancashire. His artistic training began in 1930 when he enrolled at Salford Art School, where his abilities were soon recognised and he was awarded the Heywood Medal for Best Student. One of his instructors was Martin Tyas. In 1934 Eckersley moved to London with the express purpose of becoming a freelance poster designer. He was accompanied by Eric Lombers (1914–1978), a fellow student and future collaborator on commissioned poster designs. He later cited poster artists Adolphe Mouron Cassandre and Edward McKnight Kauffer as major influences. Eckersley-Lombers posters were both aesthetic and functional, thereby perfectly fulfilling advertisers' criteria. Eckersley-Lombers always supplied full-size artwork with hand drawn lettering for their poster designs. Eckersley was involved not only in graphic des ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Rationing In The United Kingdom
Rationing was introduced temporarily by the British government several times during the 20th century, during and immediately after a war. At the start of the Second World War in 1939, the United Kingdom was importing 20 million long tons of food per year, including about 70% of its cheese and sugar, almost 80% of fruit and about 70% of cereals and fats. The UK also imported more than half of its meat and relied on imported feed to support its domestic meat production. The civilian population of the country was about 50 million. It was one of the principal strategies of the Germans in the Battle of the Atlantic to attack shipping bound for Britain, restricting British industry and potentially starving the nation into submission. To deal with sometimes extreme shortages, the Ministry of Food instituted a system of rationing. To buy most rationed items, each person had to register at chosen shops and was provided with a ration book containing coupons. The shopkeeper was prov ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Rèiteach
A rèiteach () was a betrothal ceremony in the older Gaelic culture of the Scottish highlands. It is also attested in Gaelic-speaking Canada. Etymology The Scottish Gaelic word ''rèiteach'', which was written ''réiteach'' until the spelling reform, means "agreement", "settlement" or "reconciliation" generally, and "wedding arrangement" in particular. ''Rèiteach'' also has the meanings "level place" and "disentangling", and the original sense may have to do with the idea of clearing away obstacles. (''Réiteach'' is also the Irish word for "agreement" or "solution", but the Irish dictionaries make no mention of the ceremony.) Traditions The custom was still in practice in the first part of the 20th century, and involved the groom's party visiting the bride's house with an offer.Margaret Bennett, ''Scottish Customs: From the Cradle to the Grave''Google Books/ref> Sometimes the rèiteach was divided into two parts, ''an rèiteach beag'' (the small rèiteach) or ''a' chiad rèi ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Home Guard (United Kingdom)
The Home Guard (initially Local Defence Volunteers or LDV) was an unpaid armed citizen militia supporting the 'Home Forces' of the British Army during the Second World War. Operational from 1940 to 1944, the Home guard, Home Guard comprised more than 1.5 million local volunteers otherwise ineligible for military service, such as those who were too young, too old or medically unfit to join the regular British Armed Forces, armed services (regular military service was restricted to those aged 18 to 41) and those in reserved occupations. Excluding those already in the armed services, the civilian police or other civil defence volunteer organisations, approximately one in five men were Home Guard volunteers. Their primary role was to act as a secondary defence force in their home locality in case of Operation Sea Lion, invasion by the forces of Nazi Germany. The Home Guard were initially ordered to observe, and report back to General Headquarters Home Forces, any airborne or seabor ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Whisky
Whisky or whiskey is a type of liquor made from Fermentation in food processing, fermented grain mashing, mash. Various grains (which may be Malting, malted) are used for different varieties, including barley, Maize, corn, rye, and wheat. Whisky is typically Aging (food), aged in wooden casks, commonly of charred white oak. Uncharred white oak casks previously used for the aging of Port wine, port, rum or sherry may be employed during storage to impart a unique flavor and color. Whisky is a strictly regulated Alcoholic spirit, spirit worldwide with many classes and types. The typical unifying characteristics of the different classes and types are the fermentation of grains, distillation, and aging in Barrel, wooden barrels. Etymology The word ''whisky'' (or ''whiskey'') is an anglicisation of the Classical Gaelic word (or ) meaning "water" (now written as in Modern Irish, and in Scottish Gaelic). This Gaelic word shares its ultimate Indo-European_vocabulary#Natural_features, ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Outer Hebrides
The Outer Hebrides ( ) or Western Isles ( , or ), sometimes known as the Long Isle or Long Island (), is an Archipelago, island chain off the west coast of mainland Scotland. It is the longest archipelago in the British Isles. The islands form part of the archipelago of the Hebrides, separated from the Scottish mainland and from the Inner Hebrides by the waters of the Minch, the Little Minch, and the Sea of the Hebrides. The Outer Hebrides are considered to be the traditional heartland of the Gaelic language. The islands form one of the 32 council areas of Scotland, which since 1998 has used only the Gaelic form of its name, including in English language contexts. The council area is called Na h-Eileanan an Iar ('the Western Isles') and its council is ('Council of the Western Isles'). Most of the islands have a bedrock formed from ancient metamorphic rocks, and the climate is mild and oceanic. The 15 inhabited islands had a total population of in and there are more th ... [...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 of the same name 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. It went on general release in Scotland from 5 May 2017 and then in the rest of the UK, Ireland and the US from 19 May 2017. The principal film location was Portsoy, Aberdeenshire, Scotland. Plot On the fictional Hebridean island of Todday during the Second World War, pompous Captain Waggett commands the local Home Guard unit, assisted by Sergeant Odd, an experienced soldier. Odd is engaged to Peggy, the daughter of Joseph Macroon, the local postmaster. Macroon's other daughter, Catriona, would like to marry George Campbell, the mild-mannered local school teacher, but he lives under the thumb of his domineering mother who opposes the match. The ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Rockets Galore!
''Rockets Galore!'' (U.S. title: ''Mad Little Island'') is a 1958 British comedy film directed by Michael Relph and starring Jeannie Carson, Donald Sinden and Roland Culver. The sequel to '' Whisky Galore!'', it was much less successful than its predecessor. It was based on the novel of the same title by Compton Mackenzie. In terms of the film's relationship to ''Whisky Galore!'', Gordon Jackson, Jean Cadell and Catherine Lacey take their same roles. Ronnie Corbett appears as 'Drooby', with cameo appearances by Richard Dimbleby, Michael Foot and Robert Boothby. It was made at Pinewood Studios with sets designed by the art director Jack Maxsted. Although not a true sequel to ''Whisky Galore!'', many of that film's locations at Castlebay and on the island of Barra were utilised again and many of the characters returned, but often played by different performers. Plot In the Cold War era of post-Second World War Britain, the government decides to establish a guided missil ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Kind Hearts And Coronets
''Kind Hearts and Coronets'' is a 1949 British crime film, crime black comedy film directed by Robert Hamer. It features Dennis Price, Joan Greenwood, Valerie Hobson and Alec Guinness; Guinness plays eight characters. The plot is loosely based on the novel ''Israel Rank: The Autobiography of a Criminal'' (1907) by Roy Horniman. It concerns Louis D'Ascoyne Mazzini, the son of a woman disowned by her aristocratic family for marrying out of her social class. After her death, a vengeful Louis decides to take the family's dukedom by murdering the eight people ahead of him in the line of succession to the title. Michael Balcon, the head of Ealing Studios and the producer of ''Kind Hearts and Coronets'', appointed Hamer as director. Filming took place from September 1948 at Leeds Castle and other locations in Kent, and at Ealing Studios. Themes of class and sexual repression run through the film, particularly love between classes. ''Kind Hearts and Coronets'' was released on 13 June ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Passport To Pimlico
''Passport to Pimlico'' is a 1949 British comedy film made by Ealing Studios and starring Stanley Holloway, Margaret Rutherford and Hermione Baddeley. It was directed by Henry Cornelius and written by T. E. B. Clarke. The story concerns the unearthing of treasure and documents that lead to a small part of Pimlico to be declared a legal part of the Duchy of Burgundy, House of Burgundy, and therefore exempt from the Rationing in the United Kingdom, post-war rationing or other bureaucratic restrictions in Britain. ''Passport to Pimlico'' explores the spirit and unity of wartime London after the war and offers an examination of the English character. Like other Ealing comedies, the film pits a small group of British people against a series of changes to the ''status quo'' from an external agent. The story was an original concept by the screenwriter T. E. B. Clarke. He was inspired by an incident during the Second World War, when the maternity ward of Ottawa Civic Hospital was Extrate ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
British Empire
The British Empire comprised the dominions, Crown colony, colonies, protectorates, League of Nations mandate, mandates, and other Dependent territory, territories ruled or administered by the United Kingdom and its predecessor states. It began with the English overseas possessions, overseas possessions and trading posts established by Kingdom of England, England in the late 16th and early 17th centuries, and colonisation attempts by Kingdom of Scotland, Scotland during the 17th century. At its height in the 19th and early 20th centuries, it became the List of largest empires, largest empire in history and, for a century, was the foremost global power. By 1913, the British Empire held sway over 412 million people, of the world population at the time, and by 1920, it covered , of the Earth's total land area. As a result, Westminster system, its constitutional, Common law, legal, English language, linguistic, and Culture of the United Kingdom, cultural legacy is widespread. ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Ealing Comedies
The Ealing comedies is an informal name for a series of comedy films produced by the London-based Ealing Studios during a ten-year period from 1947 to 1957. Often considered to reflect Britain's post-war spirit, the most celebrated films in the sequence include ''Kind Hearts and Coronets'' (1949), '' Whisky Galore!'' (1949), ''The Lavender Hill Mob'' (1951), ''The Man in the White Suit'' (1951) and '' The Ladykillers'' (1955). ''Hue and Cry'' (1947) is generally considered to be the earliest of the cycle, and '' Barnacle Bill'' (1957) the last, although some sources list '' Davy'' (1958) as the final Ealing comedy. Many of the Ealing comedies are ranked among the greatest British films, and they also received international acclaim. History Relatively few comedy films were made at Ealing Studios until several years after World War II. The 1939 film '' Cheer Boys Cheer'', featuring the rivalry between two brewing companies, one big and modernist, the other small and traditional, ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
