6.6 | / 10 |
Users | 0.0 | |
Reviewer | 4.0 | |
Overall | 4.0 |
Ealing Studios comedy set in the Scottish isles. Hollywood's Paul Douglas plays Marshall, an American businessman who becomes involved with The Maggie, a rundown old shipping vessel captained by the taciturn skipper (Alex Mackenzie), when he is trying to find a way to convey his luggage to a remote island. It doesn't take Marshall long to realise that the skipper and his crew have pulled a fast one on him - but what can he do to stop them?
Starring: Paul Douglas (I), Alex Mackenzie, James Copeland, Abe Barker, Tommy KearinsComedy | 100% |
Video codec: MPEG-4 AVC
Video resolution: 1080p
Aspect ratio: 1.37:1
Original aspect ratio: 1.37:1
English: LPCM 2.0 Mono
None
Blu-ray Disc
Single disc (1 BD)
Region A (B, C untested)
Movie | 4.0 | |
Video | 4.5 | |
Audio | 3.5 | |
Extras | 0.0 | |
Overall | 4.0 |
Note: This version of the film is available as part of Whisky Galore! / The Maggie.
If the IMDb is to be believed, Alexander Mackendrick and Charles Crichton only “officially” worked together twice, first on Whisky Galore!
where Mackendrick was the director and Crichton was the editor, and a year later on Dance Hall, where Crichton directed and Mackendrick
contributed to the screenplay. But the two men’s careers have some interesting parallels, with both of them arguably achieving their first real
renown at the venerable Ealing Studios, and both making an at least intermittently somewhat rocky transition to the perhaps slightly more rough
and tumble world of Hollywood. While there were certainly a number of other directors who helped establish Ealing’s considerable post-World War
II reputation, like Robert Hamer (Kind Hearts and
Coronets) and Henry Cornelius (Passport to
Pimlico), even a cursory listing of films helmed by either Crichton (The Lavender Hill Mob and
The Titfield Thunderbolt) or Mackendrick (aside from the two titles aggregated in this release, The Man in the White Suit and The Ladykillers) prove what a significant contribution these men made to the
emerging Ealing “style”. Something else that connects Crichton and Mackendrick is their evident love of Scotland. Many tend to assume
Mackendrick was Scottish, though perhaps surprisingly he was American born if ultimately raised in Scotland, and as a documentary
included with this release gets into, retired to the Hebrides. Crichton also reportedly spent some of his “golden years” in Scotland as well.
Mackendrick’s connection to the nation is probably more cinematically evident, with both Whisky Galore! and The Maggie
featuring Scottish locales and characters.
The Maggie is presented on Blu-ray courtesy of Film Movement Classics, an imprint of Film Movement, with an AVC encoded 1080p transfer in 1.37:1. As with Whisky Galore!, the insert booklet states only that this is a "new digital restoration". While The Maggie did get a British Blu-ray release, though unfortunately it hasn't been reviewed here yet, so I don't have access to any extra verbiage that that release may have contained. I did find a site that mentioned the restoration was funded by StudioCanal in collaboration with the BFI's Unlocking Film Heritage (and this presentation does indeed begin with both a StudioCanal and BFI masthead). To my eyes, this is an at least slightly better looking presentation than the already excellent one afforded to Whisky Galore!. Damage on Whisky Galore! was minor, but recurrent, and there's noticeably even less throughout this presentation. Densities seem more consistent, as does contrast, and detail levels are uniformly precise looking, including in some fairly dark scenes. There is occasional quasi-flicker, quite noticeable at a couple of junctures including around 1:08:00, where a few bright flashes intrude at regular intervals every second or so for a moment or two.
I'm scoring The Maggie's LPCM 2.0 mono track at the same 3.5 level I gave Whisky Galore!, but this track, like the video element, is arguably at least a bit better quality. While there's some of the same brashness evident in upper registers that I mentioned with regard to Whisky Galore!'s track, it didn't chafe against my ears quite as much. The track definitely has an overall boxy sound redolent of its recording era, but dialogue is cleanly if not always clearly presented, the latter deficit due to some extremely thick accents. Unfortunately, this presentation, like Whisky Galore!, does not offer any helpful optional English subtitles. My score is 3.75.
Aside from the About Film Movement menu option that is on most Film Movement Blu-ray discs (which includes both text and a trailer), there is no supplementary content on this disc, which is a bit of a shame. The insert booklet included with this release does contain some information on the film.
This film may not quite have the narrative momentum and gaggle of characters that Whisky Galore! does, but it's an immensely enjoyable film that scores several substantial laughs while also providing a ton of heart. Technical merits are solid (video more than audio), and even without any supplemental material, The Maggie comes Highly recommended.
(Still not reliable for this title)
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