This film is part of Rentals
Whisky Galore!
Ealing's thirstiest comedy: "the longest unsponsored advertisement ever to reach cinema screens"?
Director: Alexander Mackendrick
Overview
"The longest unsponsored advertisement ever to reach cinema screens", reckoned producer Monja Danischewski. Maybe so, but Alexander Mackendrick's debut feature is much more than that. This comic account of a real-life event pitches a priggish English army captain against the remorseless guile of an islandful of thirsty Scots defending a cache of shipwrecked whisky, and helped make ‘Ealing Comedy’ one of British cinema’s most enduring brands. It's a film of boundless mischief, and it marked Mackendrick from the start as the most complex and subtle of Ealing's directors.
The SS Politician, whose real-life shipwreck (while carrying nearly 30,000 cases of finest malt) inspired Compton Bennett's source novel, went down off the coast of Eriskay in the Hebrides. The film itself was shot on Barra - a short but sometimes treacherous boat journey away - with many islanders among the extras.
Contains no material likely to offend or harm
Related
Patrick Patrick
Drama 2019 96 mins Director: Tim Mielants
Life on the nudist colony is fairly routine for handyman Patrick (Kevin Janssens), that is until the mystery of his missing hammer sets in motion a quest of self-discovery.
Love & Friendship Love & Friendship
Comedy 2016 93 mins Director: Whit Stillman
Whit Stillman crosses the Atlantic for this irresistible Jane Austen adaptation, following the delicious and devious exploits of Lady Susan.
The Beta Test The Beta Test
Horror 2021 93 mins Director: Jim Cummings and PJ McCabe
After hit Thunder Road, Jim Cummings returns with a thriller about a Hollywood agent who becomes ensnared in a sinister world of sex, lies and murder.
Prevenge Prevenge
Comedy 2017 88 mins Director: Alice Lowe
Alice Lowe directs and stars in this riotous tale of a pregnant serial killer, hellbent on revenge.
It's Raining Men It's Raining Men
Comedy 2023 123 mins Director: Caroline Vignal
Iris (Laure Calamy) disrupts her bourgeois routine by joining a dating app and embarking on an amusing, sensual quest for identity and lost desire.
The Penguin Lessons The Penguin Lessons
Drama 2025 112 mins Director: Peter Cattaneo
Steve Coogan is superb as a disillusioned teacher whose life is turned upside-down when he rescues a penguin in turbulent 1970s Argentina.
Computer Chess Computer Chess
Comedy 2013 91 mins Director: Andrew Bujalski
Andrew Bujalski’s hilarious and surreal comedy about the birth of computer culture, set in an early 1980s conference where primitive programmers take on chess masters.
Dogtooth Dogtooth
Drama 2009 93 mins Director: Yorgos Lanthimos
Yorgos Lanthimos' scary, witty tale of a dysfunctional Greek family is original, ingenious and sadly relevant as a study of parent-child relationships
Unrelated Unrelated
Drama 2008 96 mins Director: Joanna Hogg
On a Tuscan break a fortysomething woman finds herself drawn to the company of a group of partying teens, including a young Tom Hiddleston.
Amour Fou Amour Fou
Period drama 2014 92 mins Director: Jessica Hausner
Jessica Hausner’s long-awaited follow-up to Lourdes is a devilish anti-Rom-Com in which a German poet seeks mates for a suicide pact.
The Gigolos The Gigolos
Comedy 2007 94 mins Director: Richard Bracewell
A highly original comedy following a pair of professional male escorts and their interactions with their lonely, over-50s 'regulars'.
La Grande Bouffe La Grande Bouffe
Comedy 1973 130 mins Director: Marco Ferreri
Marco Ferreri's provocative and controversial satire about four friends who retreat to a country mansion with the intention of eating themselves to death.
Sleeping Car to Trieste Sleeping Car to Trieste
Thriller 1948 95 mins Director: John Paddy Carstairs
The Orient Express plays host to a plot involving adultery, espionage, robbery and murder in this fine British thriller.
Rome Express Rome Express
Thriller 1933 91 mins Director: Walter Forde
A star-studded international cast boards the Paris-Rome express for this lavish comedy-thriller from Gainsborough Pictures.
Warn That Man Warn That Man
War 1943 82 mins Director: Lawrence Huntington
Nazi agents are pitted against a gang of plucky Brits in this exciting comedy-thriller set in a country house where danger awaits a visiting VIP.
The Captive Heart The Captive Heart
War 1946 100 mins Director: Basil Dearden
A realistic recreation of life as a prisoner of war in Germany lends credence to this moving account of wartime survival against the odds.
Mandy Mandy
Drama 1952 93 mins Director: Alexander Mackendrick
Alexander Mackendrick's drama about a deaf girl and her unstable family life is remarkably unsentimental while still packing an emotional punch.
The Maggie The Maggie
Comedy 1954 92 mins Director: Alexander Mackendrick
A wily old tugboat skipper outfoxes a wealthy American businessman in Alexander Mackendrick's underrated Ealing comedy
Rodeo Rodeo
Drama 2022 106 mins Director: Lola Quivoron
French debut director Lola Quivoron revs up with a ferocious tale of a woman kickstarting a new life in the world of guerrilla motocross racing.
Clemency Clemency
Drama 2019 112 mins Director: Chinonye Chukwu
Alfre Woodard is quietly devastating as a weary prison warden presiding over her twelfth execution, in this Sundance-winning death row drama.
Ida Ida
Drama 2014 82 mins Director: Pawel Pawlikowski
An exquisitely shot, moving drama about a Polish nun exploring her family past, which won a BAFTA for director Pawel Pawlikowski.
Plan 75 Plan 75
Science Fiction 2022 113 mins Director: Chie Hayakawa
Faced with a rapidly ageing population, a government in near-future Japan rolls out an unsettling agenda.
Cairo Conspiracy Cairo Conspiracy
Drama 2022 126 mins Director: Tarik Saleh
A fisherman’s son is offered a place at a prestigious Islamic school in Cairo and finds himself drawn into a religious and political power struggle.
The Night of the 12th The Night of the 12th
Drama 2022 114 mins Director: Dominik Moll
A newly promoted detective is assigned to a young woman’s chilling murder in this deeply arresting crime thriller based on true events.