Trivia for
Whisky Galore! (1949) More at IMDbPro »

• The story was based on a real-life incident that occurred in 1941 on the Hebridean island of Eriskay when the SS Politician ran aground. The tale of how a group of local Scottish islanders raided a shipwreck for its consignment of 24,000 cases of whisky quickly became legend. What's less well reported, however, was the fact that the ship was also carrying a sizeable amount of hard cash. According to official files recently released by the Home Office, there was nearly 290,000 ten shilling notes on board as well (this would be the equivalent of several million pounds at today's prices), not all of which was ever recovered.
  
  
• Ealing chief Michael Balcon was furious at how expensive the film was becoming (in excess of £20,000) until he finally saw the initial footage.
  
  
• Shot on the island of Barra, which boasts Britain's most unique airport - the runway is the beach.
  
  
• In the US, the novel and film were titled "Tight Little Island" as there was a ban at the time on using names of alcoholic drinks in titles.
  
  
• American censors insisted on a coda being inserted at the end of the film, stating that the stolen whisky brought nothing but unhappiness to the islanders, even though quite the opposite was true in real life.
  
  
• The main reason for the film going dramatically so over budget was not director Alexander Mackendrick's inexperience (this was his first film) but the appalling weather that the production had to endure, 1948's summer being one of the worst on record.
  
  
• In France, the film was called "Whisky a Go-Go". This proved so popular a title, it became the name of one of the leading Parisian nightclubs.
  
  
• Another reason why the film was shot on location was because all the Ealing Studios were filled with other productions at the time.
  
  
• Fourteen whisky bottles, said to be the last surviving from the wreck of the SS Politician, the real-life shipwreck that inspired the film, were sold in 1993 at a Glasgow auction for £12,012 (approximately $22,500 at 2006 conversion rates), with a bottle of Haig Dimple fetching £1,210 (the equivalent of $2,270).
  
  
• Monja Danischewsky had been working as a publicist for Ealing Studios and was bored with his job. To stop him from leaving, Michael Balcon gave him the task of producing this film.
  
  
• Producer Monja Danischewsky originally wanted Charles Crichton to direct.
  
  
• The sets were pre-built at Ealing Studios and then shipped up to Scotland. They were then constructed in a village hall for the frequent occasions when it was too wet to put them up outside.
  
  
• Local islanders were hired as extras for £1 a day.
  
  
• Joan Greenwood was a trained ballet dancer but couldn't come to grips with the Hebridean style of dancing, so a local dancer was used for close-ups of her feet.
  
  
• The plywood mock-up of the SS Politician sank before filming had even started.
  
  
• In the original novel, the island was populated with both Catholics and Calvinists. The Catholics were dropped from the film as they would have had no trouble with not observing the Sabbath to salvage the whisky-laden ship.
  
  
• Ronald Neame turned down the chance to direct.
  
  
• Debuting director Alexander Mackendrick's background was in advertising where he used the technique of storyboarding. He did this for this picture, making it the first Ealing film to be storyboarded.
  
  
• Shot in three months.
  
  

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