Rent The Maggie (1954)

Ealing's best comedy - The Maggie review by mc

The Maggie delights with understated humour throughout the 'voyage' of The Clyde 'Puffer' around Scotland's West Coast. The crew endlessly avoids the wrath of a wealthy American as they try to deliver his precious cargo. Like Whisky Galore, but in my mind more subtle and Scots authentic.

Scottish comedy. - The Maggie review by Steve

Feelgood comedy-drama from Ealing studios, shot around Glasgow and the Hebrides. There's a premise which has been pitched many times, but never better realised. A wealthy American businessman (Paul Douglas) wants to get his modern bathroom furniture to his rustic island retreat. Through a logistics mix-up, the job is snatched by the wily old skipper of a dilapidated steam puffer...

So the stressed yank busts a gut trying to get his luxury goods off the ramshackle steamboat, partly because he doesn't want to be taken for a mug. Naturally, when he spends time on the old wreck, the tycoon re-evaluates his values. Though the story arc isn't as schematic as that suggests. The protagonist was never a monster, and he doesn't become a dupe.

What we mainly witness is the gradual loosening of the grip of modern life. The troubled stranger to the islands only knows conflict. But opening up to his humanity is painful. Which takes a subtle performance from Douglas. The crew is made up of nonprofessional actors, and Alex Mackenzie as the poor, canny captain, and Tommy Kearins as the feisty child are magnificent.

The b&w photography of the old puffer and its crew is impressive, with the shots of the Scottish islands a bonus. As a comedy, it is whimsical rather than hilarious, though there are some classic lines. While the film delivers a huge emotional uplift, it is shrewd and even-handed, which offsets the sentimentality. This feels like it was made with a lot of affection.

Subtle Smiles on the Clyde - The Maggie review by griggs

Some comedies wink and nudge, but this one prefers a sly grin. The Maggie is Ealing Studios with a lighter hand, less farce and more quiet chuckle. It follows an American businessman determined to get his cargo shipped, only to find himself at the mercy of a decrepit Clyde puffer and its wily skipper. What unfolds is less about slapstick and more about cultural collision, where pride, patience, and stubborn charm all do battle.

The humour is never forced; it seeps out of the situations, the accents, the landscapes. There’s no need for pratfalls when the simple sight of that battered boat tugging along is enough to raise a smile. Compared with the broader comedies of Ealing, it feels understated, almost gentle. And yet, that restraint makes it the more enduring.

Watching it now, it’s impossible not to see the DNA of Local Hero. The same affection for eccentric locals, the same sly skewering of American bluster, the same quiet magic in windswept places. The Maggie doesn’t shout to be heard; it sails along at its own pace, and in doing so, it charms you completely.