Craig D. Forrest

The Influence of Alexander Mackendrick on the Kailyard Film Sub-genre: How Whisky Galore! & the Maggie Forever Changed Scottish Cinematic Representations Craig D. Forrest

The late American-Scottish filmmaker, Alexander Mackendrick (1912-1993), directed just 9 films, his most prominent being the 1957 late noir masterpiece, Sweet Smell of Success. His early British films while staff director at London's Ealing Studios are today considered cinematic gems, especially The Ladykillers and The Man in The White Suit, both starring Sir Alec Guinness. This scholarly book explores in great detail Mackendrick's Scottish-themed films, Whisky Galore! and The Maggie. Considered benchmarks within the Celtic village film canon known as "kailyardism", both movies left lasting, indelible impressions on this pocket-sized sub-genre. Mackendrick's deft touches of mild anarchy, dark comedy, realism and use of children have often been copied, refashioned or referenced by a number of later "kailyard" filmmakers. Whimsical comedies like Local Hero, Waking Ned Devine and The Englishman Who Went Up A Hill all bear striking resemblances to Whisky Galore! & The Maggie. So does the classic horror film, The Wicker Man. This book examines how Alexander Mackendrick's cinematic devices continue to leave a creative imprint on Celtic-themed films produced on both sides of the Atlantic.