Based on a true story. The name of the real ship, that sunk Feb 5 1941 - during WWII - was S/S Politician. Having left Liverpool two days earlier, heading for Jamaica, it sank outside Eriskay, The Outer Hebrides, Scotland, in bad weather, containing 250,000 bottles of whisky. The locals gathered as many bottles as they could, before the proper authorities arrived, and even today, bottles are found in the sand or in the sea every other year.
Based on a real incident some 8 years earlier, this film tells the story of a whisky-starved Scottish island that gets the windfall to end all windfalls - a ship carrying an enormous cargo of Scotch runs aground. The islanders are determined to salvage whatever they can, despite the best efforts of the local Home Guard Captain (an Englishman - Basil Radford) and the Excise men. This is a gentle little comedy that pulls together an experienced comic cast in a joyous and entertaining way. This was filmed on the island of Barra in the Outer Hebrides and the scenery lends much to the charm of this film.