Cast
Basil Radford
Joan Greenwood Gordon Jackson
Credits
Written by: Compton MacKenzie
Plot
During the Second World War a ship carrying whisky runs aground off a Scottish island whose people have run dry. They set out to salvage the cargo despite the English commander of the Home Guard.
Sinekatalog’s take
Alexander Mackendrick's Ealing comedy has Scottish islanders salvaging a wrecked ship's whisky despite officialdom. Gentle, witty and delightfully eccentric, it is a classic of British comedy about small-town cunning.Sinekatalog’s own editorial review – not a user or critic quote.
Ratings
IMDb: 7.1 / 10 (7,465 votes)
IMDb rating and vote count from the IMDb ratings dataset (October 2026). Scores change over time.
If you liked this
Picked by director, genre, era and shared cast. Titles only, no spoilers.
- The Ladykillers 1955 · Alexander Mackendrick · IMDb 7.6 · Same director
- The Maggie 1954 · Alexander Mackendrick · IMDb 6.9 · Same director
- Big Deal on Madonna Street 1958 · Mario Monicelli · IMDb 7.9 · Similar genres
- Our Man in Havana 1959 · Carol Reed · IMDb 7.1 · Same movement
- Monsieur Verdoux 1947 · Charlie Chaplin · IMDb 7.8 · Similar genres
- Arsenic and Old Lace 1944 · Frank Capra · IMDb 7.9 · Similar genres
Alexander Mackendrick