Remake of Whisky Galore to premiere in June

A new version of the classic film Whisky Galore is to be premiered in June at the Edinburgh Film Festival.

The film is inspired by the true story of the wreck of a ship off the Scottish coast during World War II, and the recovery of its cargo of whisky by the local islanders.

The story of the shipwreck, and the salvage of the whisky on board, was fictionalised in the 1947 novel of Compton Mackenzie, and immortalised in the classic film of 1949.

The story reflects the real 1941 shipwreck of the SS Politician off the Hebridean island of Eriskay and the unauthorised removal of its cargo of whisky. The film follows the islanders’ attempts to take advantage of an unexpected windfall in the midst of wartime rationing, and their attempts to outwit the British authorities

The new version of the film, starring Gregor Fisher, James Cosmo, and Eddie Izzard, will now have its premiere as the closing attraction of this year’s Edinburgh International Film Festival on June 26th.

The SS Politician – renamed as the SS Cabinet Minister in the book and film – was an 8000-ton cargo ship sailing for Kingston, Jamaica and New Orleans with freight containing 25,000 cases of blended Scotch whisky. The haul included Johnnie Walker Red and Black label, Ballantines, Haig and MacCallum whisky.

On 5 February 1941, during gale force winds, she ran aground off the island.

In 1987 a professional diver found eight bottles of whisky in the wreck, which sold at auction for £500 each. Two of the same bottles were sold again at auction in 2013, this time making over £6,000 each.