American-born Alexander Mackendrick directed this warm and funny 1949 portrait of a Scottish island thrown into a panic when the wartime allotment of whiskey runs out. Conveniently, an American ship loaded with 50,000 cases of Scotch flounders just offshore, and the islanders go to the rescue. Mackendrick’s direction of the ensemble cast is impeccable: no one character is allowed to dominate, yet each character is indispensable. The film hangs on a superb sense of community—both in the story and in its making. With Joan Greenwood, Gordon Jackson, Basil Radford, and James Robertson Justice; from a novel by Compton Mackenzie. Also known as Tight Little Island.