Page 9 - Compton Mackenzie News Today

A FORMER pub in Renton used to shoot scenes for the remake of the classic film Whisky Galore has been put up for auction. The Central Bar in Main Street was the setting for some scenes in the 2016 version of Compton Mackenzies 1947 novel, starring Gregor Fisher and Eddie Izzard. Central Bar is now up for grabs A fixture in the centre of the village since the 1890s, the Central Bar has been a well-loved watering hole for many locals since then. But after the coronavirus pandemic deva...

How Keats lives on His radical depictions of desire and oblivion changed the course of English poetry – and, 200 years after his death, they disarm us still. As Jonathan Bate observes, the American critic Edmund Wilson “never allowed his friendship to dull his critical intelligence”. He had been close to F Scott Fitzgerald as a student, but, writing in 1924 about Fitzgerald’s first novel, This Side of Paradise, he was unforgiving towards what he saw as its central weaknesses – a la...

Alan Riach takes a look beyond the titles of two of Hugh MacDiarmid’s most controversial essays. IT was disappointing to read Fintan O’Toole describing the origins of the Scottish National Party like this: “The SNP itself was a strange beast. Its roots lay in a semi-fascist 1930s racialised nationalism.” (‘Nicola Sturgeon’s staunch ally in her push for independence – Boris Johnson’, Irish Times, January 16, 2021). And it was characteristically encouraging to read Joanna Ch...

"I think it has become,” said Compton Mackenzie, “if I may say so, a kind of folk tale. Rather like Dick Whittington or Aladdin or something. Because it goes on and on… that’s the fantastic thing.” This was how the writer, whose novel Whisky Galore went a long way towards creating that folk tale and exporting it, via a classic Alexander Mackendrick Ealing comedy, to the world, described the story of the wrecking and plundering of the SS Politician when it was lost off Eriskay.  I...

© StudioCanal/Shutterstock Sign up for our newsletter and let our nostalgia team take you on a trip back in time Thank you for signing up to our Nostalgia newsletter. Something went wrong - please try again later. Sign Up It is one of the most cherished films in the cinematic canon. But would it have enjoyed such success if the studio bosses had stuck to their original title of Golden Treasure or Liquid Treasure? You might have an inkling of the movie in question from its French nomencl...

With local resident, Alan Dearling Firstly, a hands-up. I’ve not been able to access viewings of all these films and TV programmes. And in a few cases, I don’t want to! But, it has still been interesting to try and piece together this collection – all of which include at least momentary glimpses of the Scottish/English border coastal areas, from Berwick-upon-Tweed in England to St Abbs in Scotland. It’s been fun and interesting talking to lots of locals in order to put the article toget...

Had your fill of Dry January? Even Veganuary? Then might I suggest Burns Night as a celebratory opportunity to see off both. Today is the day that Scots, the Scottish diaspora and an arguably more niche cohort who just love sheep’s guts dishes celebrate the birth of Scotland’s national poet, Robert Burns. My husband and I tick all three of the above boxes. After a dry ten days or so of January, we will savour a wee dram alongside our haggis, neeps and tatties. Whisky can be dangerous stuff,...

Whisky Galore! (2016) This remake of the 1949 original features scenes filmed at the Central Bar in Renton and at Luss Village Hall. The film is adapted from Compton MacKenzie’s 1947 novel of the same name. It follows residents on the fictional Isle of Todday, who try to seize the opportunity when a cargo ship becomes stranded nearby during World War II whisky rationing. MacKenzie’s book was based on true events which occurred six years earlier, when the SS Politician ran aground of...

TV Editor Tonights top TV includes The Pembrokeshire Murders (from the makers of Line of Duty), Eoin McGee advising small business owner Samantha Rawson, The Graduate’s Mike Nichols as the focus of The Directors, and Sinead Quinlan’s new comedy Seriously Sinead? Pick of the Day Given that it’s from the makers of Line of Duty, there’s a fair chance that this three-part miniseries is well worth a look. It’s based on the real-life investigation into the killing of Peter and Gwenda Dixon...

The Wicker Man was a cult classic starring Christopher Lee. Sign up for our newsletter and let our nostalgia team take you on a trip back in time Thank you for signing up to our Nostalgia newsletter. Something went wrong - please try again later. Sign Up Scotland has never lacked for myths and legends and ample places of natural beauty with a wow factor which doesn’t require CGI. So it’s no surprise that many film-makers have been drawn to the more picturesque and transcendent locati...