The Maggie (1954)

User Rating:

7.0/10   

Director:

Alexander Mackendrick

Writers:

Alexander Mackendrick (story)
William Rose (writer)

Release Date:

February 1954 (UK)

Genre:

Comedy

Tagline:

A Scotch Mist...A Girl Never Kissed...A Yank Who Missed...and Landed HIGH AND DRY

Plot:

An American businessman in Scotland is conned into shipping a valuable load of cargo to a Scottish island via a coal powered boat.

Plot Keywords:

Cargo | Vessel | Scotland | Ealing | Fog

Awards:

Nominated for 3 BAFTA Film Awards.

Cast

Paul Douglas	...	Calvin B. Marshall, the American
Alex Mackenzie	...	Mactaggart, the skipper
James Copeland	...	Mate
Abe Barker	...	Engineer
Tommy Kearins	...	Dougie, the wee boy
Hubert Gregg	...	Pusey
Geoffrey Keen	...	Campbell
Dorothy Alison	...	Miss Peters
Andrew Keir	...	Reporter
Meg Buchanan	...	Sarah
Mark Dignam	...	The Laird
Jameson Clark	...	Dirty Dan, the publican
Moultrie Kelsall	...	C.S.S. skipper
Fiona Clyne	...	Sheena
Sheila Shand Gibbs	...	Barmaid
Betty Henderson	...	Campbell's Secretary
Russell Waters	...	Hailing Officer
Duncan McIntyre	...	Hailing Officer
Roddy McMillan	...	Inverkerran Driver
Jack Macguire	...	Highland Innkeeper
John Rae	...	The Constable
Jack Stewart	...	Skipper
Eric Woodburn	...	Skipper
Douglas Robin	...	Inspector
R.B. Wharrie	...	Inspector
David Cameron	...	Hired Car Driver
Catherine Fletcher	...	Postmistress
William Crichton	...	Harbour Master
Andrew Downie	...	Aircraft Pilot
Herbert Cameron	...	Gillie (as Herbert C. Cameron)
Gilbert Stevenson	...	Davy MacDougall

Directed by
Alexander Mackendrick

Writing credits (in alphabetical order)
Alexander Mackendrick		story
William Rose		writer

Produced by
Michael Balcon	....	executive producer
Michael Truman	....	producer

Original Music by
John Addison

Cinematography by
Gordon Dines

Film Editing by
Peter Tanner

Art Direction by
Jim Morahan

Costume Design by
Anthony Mendleson

Makeup Department
Alex Garfath	....	makeup artist (as Alec Garfath)

Production Management
Hal Mason	....	production manager
L.C. Rudkin	....	unit production manager

Second Unit Director or Assistant Director
Franklin Gollings	....	assistant director (as Frank Gollings)
John Meadows	....	second assistant director (uncredited)
Tom Pevsner	....	third assistant director (uncredited)

Art Department
Bert Davey	....	assistant art director (uncredited)
Norman Dorme	....	draughtsman (uncredited)
Tony Rimmington	....	junior draughtsman (uncredited)
Jack Shampan	....	draughtsman (uncredited)

Sound Department
Stephen Dalby	....	sound supervisor
Leo Wilkins	....	sound recordist
Mary Habberfield	....	dubbing editor (uncredited)

Special Effects by
Sydney Pearson	....	special effects

Camera and Electrical Department
Chic Waterson	....	camera operator
Hugh Wilson	....	camera operator
Herbert Smith	....	focus puller (uncredited)
Ken Westbury	....	clapper loader (uncredited)

Editorial Department
Harry Aldous	....	assistant editor (uncredited)

Music Department
Dock Mathieson	....	conductor

Other crew
Barbara Cole	....	continuity
Geoffrey Dickinson	....	special processes

Production Companies

• Michael Balcon Productions (for)
• Ealing Studios

Distributors

• General Film Distributors (GFD) (1954) (UK) (theatrical)
• Universal Pictures (1954) (USA) (theatrical)
• Public Broadcasting Service (PBS) (1977) (USA) (TV) (network premiere)
• Leisureview (2002) (UK) (VHS)

Other Companies

• Philharmonia Orchestra, The  music played by
• Philharmonia Orchestra, The  orchestra
• Universal International Pictures (UI)  us releasing agent

Also Known As:

High and Dry (USA)

Runtime:

92 min

Country:

UK

Language:

English

Color:

Black and White

Aspect Ratio:

1.37 : 1

Sound Mix:

Mono (RCA Sound System)

Certification:

Iceland:L | USA:Passed (British Film Censors) | Finland:S | Sweden:Btl | UK:U

Filming Locations:

Crinan, Argyll and Bute, Scotland, UK

Company:

Michael Balcon Productions

Trivia:

Tommy Kearins, who plays Dougie, was selected for the role after being spotted in a Scouts "Gang Show", working backstage. After being interviewed by Ealing, he spent 3 months filming on Islay. He was paid 3 times what his father made in the Clyde shipyards.

Quotes:

Mactaggart, the skipper: [to prosperous merchantmen in a pub] You're very smug with your gold braid and your conventions and your five days a week, but you're no better than hirelings standing like wee bairns in front of Mr. Campbell's big Tess down yonder. You havwn't the freedom of operations that I have. You haven't the dignity of your own command. Less than my boat, there's not a finer vessel in the coastal trade! There's not a finer vessel anywhere!

Classic Ealing, Classic Writer

I feel extremely fortunate to have finally caught up with this beguiling little film. Good enough to rank among Ealing's best works, it has undoubtedly improved with age, giving us a snapshot of a time before technology shrank and homogenized our world.

It's worth noting that this film is the work of screenwriter William Rose, who had created the delightful Genevieve a year earlier, and would go on, amazingly, to pen It's a Mad Mad Mad Mad World some ten years later, and win an Oscar for Guess Who's Coming to Dinner a few years after that.

It's unfortunate that movie fans track actors and directors so much more closely than writers. The Maggie, no less than his other works, proves that Rose deserves to be remembered one of the great geniuses of film comedy.