More whisky Galore!
As the iconic film is remade, a letter by Compton Mackenzie is uncovered
THE story of the ship which ran aground off the Hebridean island Eriskay laden with whisky is legendary as the inspiration of one of Scotland’s most iconic comedy films. Now, ahead of a remake of the movie hitting cinemas next month, archivists have uncovered a letter written by Whisky Galore author Compton Mackenzie recording the incident in 1941, when the SS Politician ran ashore with a cargo of 246,000 bottles of Scotch. At the time, Mackenzie was living on the nearby island of Barra, where he built a house in the 1930s. He mentioned the shipwreck while writing to Avis Gurney, the daughter of the Welsh 5th Baron Tredegar, with whom he corresponded for more than 20 years.
The letter, contained in a collection recently catalogued by Gwent Archives, is dated 1941 and signed “Monty”, states: “There’s a ship ashore at Eriskay with 800 tons of whiskey [sic] on board. If she breaks up this island will be drunk till the next war. But I’m afraid she won’t.”
His fears proved, of course, to be unfounded. The SS Politician did indeed break up but the unharmed crew were given shelter by the locals, who soon began to carry out operations to salvage the whisky. With the country in the middle of war-time rationing, boats reportedly came from as far away as Lewis to help ‘liberate’ the cargo. Seven years later, Mackenzie’s novel based on the incident was published, featuring a ship named the SS Cabinet Minister and the fictional Scottish islands of Great Todday and Little Todday.
In 1949, it was turned into the film Whisky Galore! produced by Ealing Studios and widely regarded as one of Scotland’s most iconic films. Nearly 70 years later later it is being brought to a new generation of filmgoers with a remake of the classic due to be released in cinemas on May 5, starring Eddie Izzard, James Cosmo, Gregor Fisher and Ellie Kendrick. Director Gillies Mackinnon, whose work includes the films Small Faces and Hideous Kinky, said he loved the original film and there was a concern about daring to try a remake. But he said: “You have to get over that really, and I thought, we’ll get a good cast together and just go out and make this film honestly.”
Mackinnon said the enduring appeal of Whisky Galore was that it was a “simple story”, but said the female characters had been given more of a role in the modern version to bring it up to date.
Another attraction of being involved in making the project, he said, was that the screenplay was written by Peter McDougall, best known for gritty dramas such as Just Another Saturday and Down Where the Buffalo Go, which starred Hollywood actor Harvey Keitel. “Peter did a whole series of really hard-hitting dramas and he was known for a time as the Scorsese of Scotland – to the point where Harvey Keitel came over to Glasgow and was in one of his dramas,” Mackinnon said.
“The idea that Peter, who is a brilliant writer, was actually writing Whisky Galore! was so intriguing.”
The driving force behind the remake of Whisky Galore!, which was premiered at the Edinburgh International Film Festival last year, is producer Iain Maclean. He first had the idea for the remake in 2004, but struggled to secure financial backing until Peter Drayne, a farmer from Northern Ireland, stepped in to provide funding.
Maclean said: “I was brought up in the Outer Hebrides and it is the kind of film you watch as a kid – I thought it would be nice to reintroduce the film to a modern audience.
“Some people say what are we doing spoiling a classic – but I don’t think we are. I think we are actually bringing the old one back to life. It portrays Scotland in a nice way and shows the dry Scottish humour.”
One crucial difference is while the original film was shot on Barra in 1948, the new version was mainly filmed in Portsoy, Aberdeenshire – as trying to take the production to an island proved to be too expensive.
Maclean is now working on another film, The Iolaire, based on the true story of a ship that ran aground off the Western Isles on New Year’s Day in 1919. On board were hundreds of soldiers returning home to Lewis after fighting in the First World War. The disaster, which happened just metres from the shore at the entrance to Stornoway harbour during a gale, resulted in more than 200 deaths.
“It is a story that needs to be told,” Maclean added.
It is the kind of film you watch as a kid – I thought it would be nice to reintroduce the film to a modern audience. It portrays Scotland in a nice way and shows the dry Scottish humour