1954 ‘The Maggie’ Directed by Alexander Mackendrick
The poor, elderly—and the wily, when it comes to parting those who can afford it from their money—Scottish skipper of a broken-down old 'puffer' boat tricks an American tycoon into paying him to transport his personal cargo. When the tycoon learns of the trick, he attempts to track down the boat and remove his possessions.
Paul Douglas Alex Mackenzie James Copeland Abe Barker Tommy Kearins Hubert Gregg Geoffrey Keen Dorothy Alison Andrew Keir Meg Buchanan Mark Dignam Jameson Clark Moultrie Kelsall Fiona Clyne Sheila Shand Gibbs Betty Henderson Russell Waters Duncan Macintyre Roddy McMillan Jack Macguire John Rae Jack Stewart Eric Woodburn Douglas Robin R. B. Wharrie Catherine Fletcher William Crichton Andrew Downie Herbert Cameron Show All…
Maggie på drift, High and Dry
Auf einem alten Puffer begeben wir uns nun auf eine lustige Schiffsfahrt durch die bewachsenen Kanäle und entlsng der rauen Küste Schottlands, getragen von der guten "The Maggie".
Das alte und mittlerweile auch nicht mehr wirklich fahrttaugliche Schifft wird durch eine List des durch und durch angetrunkenen Kapitän McTaggart mit den Gütern des amerikanischen Geschäftsmanns Marshall beladen. Die Crew erhofft sich durch das Geld für den Auftrag eine notwendige Lizenz besorgen zu können. Doch als der Schwindel auffliegt versucht Marshall höchstpersönlich zu verhindern, dass das kleine Schiff sein Ziel erreicht.
Daraus entspinnt sich eine nette Odyssee quer durch Schottland, im Mittelpunkt Marshall und die Crew der Maggie. Diese besteht aus dem mürrischen Kapitän, einem aufgeweckten Jungen und…
An odd visual marriage of documentary clarity and Jean Vigo-ish lyricism (all due shades of L’Atalante). It doesn’t obviously say ‘comedy’ - but does it have to? Humour is often in the margins, not honking centerstage.
The stark and the dreamy found in The Maggie are perhaps a minor reminder that life is never wholly one thing nor the other - except perhaps that Alexander Mackendrick was en route to the even more bitter Sweet Smell of Success. For less acridity stay here.
Ending not with a bang, but with a gentle smile, this is #10/10 in my 10-film countdown to 5,000. It's a sweet and lightly amusing movie with memorable character actors, though it doesn't make the most of its plot opportunities and we're cheated of a resolution to a marital issue that's been in the background all along. Thanks to all my LB friends for their clever suggestions. Rest assured that I plan to watch all the other contenders at some point.
Very unusual for me to come across a film i was planning on seeing randomly on TV when I had time to watch it.
Plotwise it's pretty typical Earling, a ramshackle boat ends up with a valuable cargo and tries to evade the authoriries and the cargo's american owners to complete the job.
I ended up liking it more than the same directors much heralded Whiskey Galore, it just felt more alive and I liked the performances of all of the boats crew and of well used visiting american Paul Douglas.
Excellent location shooting throughout and some quite accomplished and interesting direction keeping your interest on top of the expected gentle comedy.
This generally heartwarming, if somewhat frustrating Ealing comedy from Sweet Smell of Success and The Man in the White Suit director Alexander MacKendrick, reunites MacKendrick with his The Ladykillers collaborator, screenwriter William Rose. The story hasn't the black comic edge of their next collaboration though, with more than a touch of the Local Hero culture clashing tragicomedy about it. The film follows Calvin Marshall, an American businessman (Paul Douglas) attempting to ship some of his own furniture up the Scottish coast, and whose emissary is conned into contracting the work out to the dilapidated steamer The Maggie and her louche, conniving captain (Alex Mackenzie). The story is structured around the American industrialist being taught a lesson in what's really important,…
The purely mimetic qualities of this -- the opportunity to see boats, landscapes, villages of a certain historical period and see how people of that period and place dressed, spoke and behaved -- meant more to me than the comic elements, or anything that was scripted about the movie. (Culture clash? Life lessons? Meh...)
Oh, and it was very nicely photographed, visual texture that reminded me, for some reason, of Edwardian illustrators like Sidney Paget.
-”Well, Mr. Marshall, these old puffers are public characters in Scotland. They’re very popular.”
-”They’re not very popular with me.”
Scottish Puffer: 1, American Industrialist: 0
I’m of a mixed mindset regarding this film. It has its moments of culture clash and quiet humor, but although sure, our stereotypical American does overvalue material wealth and appearance, at a certain point, it becomes incredibly difficult to not sympathize with his frustration. Beautiful location work though, and hey, who doesn’t smile at a boat stuck on a subway?
From my Top Directors Watchlist @ letterboxd.com/collykibber/list/top-directors-watchlist/
I can never remember the exact details of Whiskey Galore. I can recall the silly grin plastered to my face throughout the 3 or 4 times I've seen it, but not any of the events. It's a similar feeling of warmth you get from I Know Where I'm Going and Local Hero, so there seems to be a direct correlation between tales of the Scottish Islands and the way the stresses and concerns of the modern world fall away, or simply fall apart. MacKendrick's films have a flinty centre to them; a piece of soft fudge with granite concealed within. Slightly different from the other chocolate-coated cyanide capsules served up by Ealing Studios.…
An American businessman accidentally charters an broken down old Scottish Puffer to transport a cargo and when he realises he's been played by the skipper he sets off after them.
Not all of the Ealing Comedies were entirely successful, there are in fact some like Davy or Who Done It? that don't deserve to stand alongside the likes of The Ladykillers or Kind Hearts and Coronets and are rightfully forgotten.
And here is another one which is often forgotten but certainly doesn't deserve to be.
With this being a story of wily old Scotsmen outsmarting foreigners it's bound to draw comparisons with Whiskey Galore and does somewhat live in that film's shadow, but there's no question that it deserves it's…
An odd tonal work which veers between bumbling farce of this sentimental little "puffer" failing to meet American capitalist demands (even if this cargo is actually a personal venture) - with such slapstick reaching its heights during a destruction of a dock - and a more somber reflection on the tycoon having his high-demands eroded by the merry locals. I feel that these goals actively work against one another here, though, as Marshall is not exaggerated or stubborn enough to be a comedic foil or even be particularly won over by the Maggie crew. The classic building blocks are all here but the script lacks something to make them work together especially memorably, mostly continuing on a low-key affair that is often charming but not as heartwarming as it needs/expects. Still there's some great blocking by Mackendrick here and gorgeous use of shadows and the open sea.
A minor but amusing film from Alexander Mackendrick, The Maggie follows a skipper and his crew who sort of con their way into transporting furniture for a wealthy American businessman, and it functions as a battle of wits between the laid back and the uptight. Rich cinematography and a delightful plot, this is a hidden gem among the Ealing comedies.
You can say this about every Ealing production and I'm at risk of sounding like a broken record, but they just don't make comedy like this anymore, gone is the wit, charm and subtlety of the days when getting a laugh was a gentler sophistication, perhaps even putting the film at risk of being too slight for its own good but rewarding those audiences that are tuned in its frequencies.
The Maggie is one of only two Ealing comedies set in Scotland and it does somewhat sentimentalise certain aspects of Scottish tradition and culture, but never maliciously and its sympathies are much more complex than it may first seem. A sort of precursor to Local Hero with its offbeat cultural…
