The Maggie is a Scottish sailing vessel known as a puffer boat. In laymans terms it means that the puffer is a floating rust bucket and one that no one in their right mind would use as a frieght ship. Well that is until an American businessman Calvin B. Marshall employs a desperate agent Mr Pusey to hire him a ship. He has to get a load of goods up to a remote island off the coast and only boat will do. With high season and every ship out to sea, he has no other choice but to agree to the terms of the Maggies hard up captain, MacTaggart. The Maggie has gone through a very rough spell. She is old and slow but what she lacks in body, she makes up for in spirit. Her young crew hand, old sea dog and wise sage of the water, all have to come together and make this voyage count. Her crew are ready and willing to make it. So loaded up and setting sail, the crew float along to the outer islands with the Americans goods.He is not best pleased and sets out to cross the Atlantic, Scotland and then the Highlands, just to make safe his stuff. So as we set sail, let us love the antics of the crew and the following fools!

Alexander Mackendrick (The Maggies director) knew a thing or two about being a fish out of water, so to speak. He was a American Scotsman and this heavily influenced his work. Not only did this influence his work but so did the studio he was working under, for the production. Ealing Studio were the dominating force in British film. They constructed a series of films that endorsed a British identity and a British sociology. These parodied the international interaction, class bias and identity balance. This film was a later addition but it still held the perfect note. The Maggie has the clear blue comedy of its home land. By blending the idea of old Britian and the perception that it was antiquated in reflection to our colonial cousins. This culture clash dynamic explores the world of the time and the new world cousins who were in the ascent. A funny culture clash comedy also has another side. Not only does it deal with the concept of the ‘other’ but it deals with visual and verbal.

Words flow across the face of the film and yes you might need subtitles. The words are clever and comic. The film has a sharp ear and sharp tongued but with a soft heart that keeps you entertained and happy at heart. The other side is the beauty of the highlands and the country. A place that mixed nature with inhospitable, Captured by an eye of a painter. Now the DVD does complete this but it is the same print as the one you get with the collection. The restoration has more helped the sound levels and tones. Visually I compaired and they differ very little. Now the additions to the disc are not much in the way of excitement. Please do not buy it, if you have purchased this older but as good version. The film is a great piece and a great Sunday afternoon film. That will be fun for the family and for you. The film lover…