The Maggie [High and Dry] *** (1954, Paul Douglas, Alex Mackenzie, James Copeland) – Classic Movie Review 1652

The 1954 British comedy movie The Maggie is a small-scale, wryly amusing, spirit-lifting Ealing comedy from the brains behind The Ladykillers (1955).

Director Alexander Mackendrick’s 1954 British comedy movie The Maggie [High and Dry] from Ealing Studios stars Paul Douglas as an American financier called Calvin B Marshall who falls victim to the skipper (Alex Mackenzie) and mate (James Copeland) of a leaky tatty coastal ‘puffer’ boat when they con him into letting The Maggie carry his precious cargo to a Scottish island.

Marshall is anxious to deliver some domestic appliances, including four baths (‘What all on one island?’ asks Tommy Kearins‘s shocked wee boy Dougie) to a Scottish retreat as part of his plan to save an ailing marriage. The rascal of a captain is in dire need of £300 to renew his licence. Marshall soon realises he’s been conned by the motley crew but he doesn’t seem to be able to stop them. 

The result is a small-scale, wryly amusing, spirit-lifting Ealing comedy with a story of efficient corporate Americans being taken on  by canny Scots with local knowledge, illustrating the theme of the culture clash between a hard-driving American businessman and a wily Scottish captain.

Though not quite fast moving or polished enough to be a classic comedy, and it lacks the allure of their usual starry character actor casts, The Maggie is still quite charming and a good Ealing production, very typical of them.

The acting is most amusing, particularly from visiting American star Douglas, who is ideal for the role and fits in here perfectly. And the film is very well directed by Mackendrick and written by William Rose, Ealing Studios’ extremely talented resident Americans, who happily reunited for the following year’s true classic The Ladykillers (1955).

Abe Barker, Dorothy Alison, Hubert Gregg, Geoffrey Keen, Andrew Keir, Tommy Kearins, Mark Dignam, Jameson Clark, Moultrie Kelsall and Sheila Shand Gibbs co-star.

It was released as High and Dry in the US. The story was inspired by Neil Munro’s short stories of the boat Vital Spark and her captain, Para Handy. It is part of a cycle of films of the era using rural Scotland as a backdrop for popular light entertainment, which also include I Know Where I’m Going!, Whisky Galore!, Rockets Galore!, and Geordie.

The Maggie was played by two Hays boats, the Boer and the Inca, with much of the film shot on location at Islay. Oddly, the film uses real place names as far as the Crinan Canal, then switches to fictional ones past it.

It was released on 25 February 1954 (UK) and 30 August 1954 (US). It runs 92 minutes.

Studiocanal is re-releasing it on digitally restored Blu-ray, DVD and digital download (EST) on 24 August 2015.

The cast are Alex Mackenzie as Captain MacTaggart, Paul Douglas as Calvin B. Marshall, Tommy Kearins as wee boy Dougie, James Copeland as the Mate, Abe Barker as the Engineer, Hubert Gregg as Pusey, Dorothy Alison as Marshall’s secretary Miss Peters, Meg Buchanan as the owner of the ship Sarah MacTaggart, Geoffrey Keen as the owner of the large shipping company Campbell,  Mark Dignam as the Laird who jails Pusey, Roddy McMillan as the Inverkerran driver, Andrew Keir, Tommy Kearins, Jameson Clark, Moultrie Kelsall and Sheila Shand Gibbs.

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© Derek Winnert 2014 Classic Movie Review 1652

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