The Maggie

This article is about the 1954 film. For other uses, seeMaggie (disambiguation).

The Maggie
Original Britishquad-sizedposter
Directed by	Alexander Mackendrick
Screenplay by	William Rose
Story by	Alexander Mackendrick
Produced by	Michael Balcon Michael Truman
Starring	Paul Douglas Alex Mackenzie James Copeland
Cinematography	Gordon Dines
Music by	John Addison
Production company	Ealing Studios
Distributed by	General Film Distributors(UK) Universal-International(US)
Release dates	25 February 1954(1954-02-25)(UK) 30 August 1954(1954-08-30)(US)
Running time	92 minutes
Country	United Kingdom
Language	English

The 'Maggie'(released in the U.S. asHigh and Dry) is a 1954Britishcomedy filmproduced byEaling Studios.Directed byAlexander Mackendrickand written byWilliam Rose,it is a story of a clash of cultures between a hard-driving American businessman and a wily Scottish Clyde puffer captain.

The story was inspired byNeil Munro's short stories of theVital Sparkand her captain,Para Handy.

Plot

TheMaggieis an agedClyde puffer,a small, coal fired cargo boat. Peter MacTaggart, her rascal of a captain, is in dire need of £300 to repair the boat's plates and renew its loading licence. At the offices of a shipping company inGlasgow,he overhears Mr Pusey, an Englishman complete withbowler hatand umbrella, trying to arrange transportation of some personal furniture for his boss, American Calvin B. Marshall. The reputable shipping company has nothing immediately available, so MacTaggart gets the job when Pusey mistakenly believes that he works for the company and that the more modern vessel docked next to theMaggieis MacTaggart's.

Marshall is a wealthy industrialist, a stubborn and determinedself-made man.When he eventually learns the truth, he sets out in pursuit by aeroplane and hired car. Catching up with the puffer, he puts Pusey on board to ensure the cargo is transferred to another boat. Pusey is no match for the captain and ends up in jail on a charge ofpoaching,after pushing the Laird in the canal. Marshall realizes that he will have to handle the matter personally. After another costly chase, he boards the boat himself to hasten the cargo transfer. The route and timing of the voyage however, are governed by MacTaggart, tidal variations, fog and local community priorities.

Marshall's hostile attitude gradually softens somewhat. He is particularly touched by the loyalty of the "wee boy", Dougie, to his captain. At one point, when Marshall threatens to buy the boat from the owner, MacTaggart's sister, and sell it for scrap, Dougie releases a folding table on him, knocking him unconscious. His mood changes again when the wily MacTaggart moors the puffer under a wooden jetty; as the tide rises, the jetty (due for dismantling anyway) is damaged, making it impossible to transfer the furniture to the deeperdraughtvessel when it arrives.

At one of the unscheduled stops, the crew attend the hundredth birthday party of an islander, and Marshall chats with a nineteen-year-old girl who is pondering her future. She has two suitors, an up-and-coming, ambitious store owner and a poor fisherman. The American advises her to choose the former, but she believes she will marry the latter, explaining that he will give her his time, rather than just things. This strikes a chord with Marshall. He is having marital difficulties, and the furniture is an attempt to patch things up with his wife.

As they finally near their destination, the engine fails. Marshall uses his engineering knowledge to repair the old, poorly maintained machinery. The engine fires up but only serves to drive theMaggieonto some rocks. Marshall asks MacTaggart if they can save her by jettisoning the cargo. MacTaggart then apologetically informs him that he neglected to insure the furniture, but Marshall orders it thrown overboard anyway. TheMaggieis saved.

At journey's end, Marshall, with some prodding by Dougie, even allows MacTaggart to keep the money he so desperately needs. In appreciation of his magnanimity, MacTaggart renames the puffer theCalvin B. Marshall.

Cast

• Paul Douglasas Calvin B. Marshall
• Alex Mackenzieas Captain MacTaggart
• Tommy Kearins as Dougie, the wee boy
• James Copelandas the Mate
• Abe Barker as the Engineer
• Hubert Greggas Pusey
• Dorothy Alisonas Miss Peters, Marshall's secretary
• Meg Buchanan as Sarah MacTaggart, the owner of the ship
• Geoffrey Keenas Campbell, the owner of the large shipping company
• Mark Dignamas the Laird who jails Pusey
• Roddy McMillanas the Inverkerran driver

Production

TheMaggiewas played by two J.J. Hay boats in the film, theBoerand theInca.Much of the film was shot on location at Crinan andIslay.The film uses real place names as far as theCrinan Canal,then switches to fictional placenames once they get through it (apart from Oban, Applecross and Portree). The film's working title was "Highland Fling", during filming in the summer of 1953, but was changed toThe Maggiebefore its release in early 1954.

Reception

According toKinematograph Weeklythe film was a "money maker" at the British box office in 1954.

In 1963 Colin McArthur criticised its representation of Scotland and its relationship with Americancapital,and of the failure of contemporary commentators to interrogate the narrative about the Scotland it constructed.

Home video

Issued in the UK on VHS in 2002, a DVD followed in 2006 and was included alongside three other films inThe Definitive Ealing Studios Collection: Volume Four.A digitally-restored version was issued on Blu-ray and DVD in 2015, which contains subtitles and extra features. The Maggie was released in the US on 10 March 2020 as part of an Ealing Comedy double feature entitledWhisky Galore! & The Maggie: Two Films by Alexander Mackendrick.

Further reading

• McArthur, Colin (1983),The Maggie,in Hearn, Sheila G. (ed.),CencrastusNo. 12, Spring 1983, pp. 10 –14,ISSN0264-0856
• McArthur, Colin (2002),Whisky Galore! and the Maggie: A British Film Guide,I. B. Taurus,ASINB00XV3IS8Y

External links

• The MaggieatIMDb
• The Maggieat theBFI'sScreenonline
• 2003 interview with Tommy Kearins,who played "The Wee Boy"