Whisky Galore! / The Maggie Blu-ray Movie

Rating summary

Movie		4.0
Video		4.0
Audio		3.5
Extras		3.0
Overall		4.0

Whisky Galore! / The Maggie Blu-ray Movie Review

Reviewed by Jeffrey Kauffman March 25, 2020

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.

For reviews of the two films in this set, please click on the following links:

Whisky Galore! Blu-ray review

The Maggie Blu-ray review

Whisky Galore! / The Maggie Blu-ray Movie, Video Quality 

Video quality of each film is assessed in the above linked reviews.

Whisky Galore! / The Maggie Blu-ray Movie, Audio Quality 

Audio quality of each film is assessed in the above linked reviews.

Whisky Galore! / The Maggie Blu-ray Movie, Special Features and Extras 

Supplementary material on each disc of this two disc set is detailed in the above linked reviews.

Whisky Galore! / The Maggie Blu-ray Movie, Overall Score and Recommendation 

Film Movement has been bringing out a steady supply of Ealing films, and this two-fer is another hugely welcome release. If you've ever seen either or both of these films, my hunch is you'll be generally very well pleased with the technical presentations, and the supplements on the Whisky Galore! disc are outstanding. Highly recommended.