Thursday, June 25, 2009

I Know Where I'm Going!

I Know Where I'm Going! (Criterion #94).
1945 The Rank Organisation & Janus Films.
Starring: Wendy Hiller, Roger Livesey, Pamela Brown, Finlay Currie, George Carney, Nancy Price
Directors: Michael Powell & Emeric Pressburger
Available from Amazon.

From her infant days, Joan Webster (Hiller) always possessed an independent spirit, and always knew where she was going, or at least she thought so. As an adult, she leaves home in Manchester, planning to travel to the Hebrides to marry the very wealthy and much older industrialist Sir Robery Bellinger (voiced by Norman Shelley), settling down on the island of Kiloran. Bad weather keeps her stuck for a week on the Isle of Mull, and Joan waits in a small community of people whose values are foreign to her.

During the wait, Joan meets a naval officer named Torquil MacNeil (Livesey), who is also trying to make his way to Kiloran for shore leave. Over the next few days, she falls for MacNeil, but she still doesn't want her original plan to go to waste. Joan unsuccessfully tries to sail to Kiloran, but Torquil, who invited himself aboard after hearing that she was making the trip, manages to bring the boat back into a safe harbor. Only then does Joan learn that her future does not lie in a marriage of convenience on a small island, but it resides on the mainland with Torquil.

Highly recommended.

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