1954 - THE MAGGIE, aka High and Dry aka Highland Fling

A production from the famous Ealing Studios in England made during their top period which ran from the late 1930's to the end of the 1950's.  Ealing was noted for it's modestly budgeted but well written and directed comedies primarily set in England.  The pictures they produced were usually at a very high standard technically and creatively.

 

The Maggie was one of their best pictures directed by one of their best directors Alexander Mackendrick.  Mackendrick was an American who as a child had being raised in Scotland by his grandfather.  He eventually ended up in the British film industry where he worked his way up to directing.  He had what I would call a humanistic approach in film making concentrating on the actors and the story.  He was apparently a perfectionist which caused him to be fired off of several projects towards the end of his career, he ended up in California teaching film.

 

The Maggie is an extremely charming  and cleverly written film.  It's the story of a small just about broken down cargo ship about to be repossessed.  The captain manages to trick a rich American business man into letting him transport his cargo to a castle he has purchased.  The ship named the Maggie is in such a dilapidated condition it may sink at any moment.  The American discovering he has been tricked by the captain pursues him.  This all ends up in a series of clever and humorous encounters.

 

The film was extremely well cast with Paul Douglas as the American businessman.  Douglas was probably nobody's idea of a leading man but he was an excellent actor and knew his way around performing in dramas and comedies. The ship's captain was played by the Scottish actor Alex Mackenzie in full "old sea salt" mode.  The encounters between these two performers are very amusing.

The Maggie is an extremely enjoyable film and highly recommended.

The film was written by William Rose one of Ealing's top screenwriters, the running time is 92 minutes.