Summary
Ealing comedy starring Paul Douglas. A brash American businessman comes to regret getting mixed up with the canny Scottish skipper of a dilapidated boat.
Ealing comedy starring Paul Douglas. A brash American businessman comes to regret getting mixed up with the canny Scottish skipper of a dilapidated boat.
Ostensibly, this most underestimated of Ealing comedies is a cross between Whisky Galore! and The Titfield Thunderbolt - a whimsical story about a crew of canny Clydebankers giving a brash American a torrid time after being assigned to carry his property aboard their clapped-out steamer. Don't be fooled, however, by the leisurely pace, the gentle humour and the relatively good-natured conclusion. In reality, it's a wicked little satire on the mutual contempt that underlies Euro-American relations, and few could have handled it with such incisive insight as American-born Scot Alexander Mackendrick. The film's Ealingness somewhat draws the sting, but the overriding tone is still cruel rather than quaint.
role | name |
---|---|
Marshall | Paul Douglas |
Skipper | Alex Mackenzie |
Mate | James Copeland |
Engineer | Abe Barker |
Wee boy | Tommy Kearins |
Pusey | Hubert Gregg |
Campbell | Geoffrey Keen |
Miss Peters | Dorothy Alison |
Reporter | Andrew Keir |
Sarah | Meg Buchanan |
Laird | Mark Dignam |
Dirty Dan | Jameson Clark |
role | name |
---|---|
Director | Alexander Mackendrick |