I Know Where I'm Going!: Difference between revisions

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VERY small role, not enough for the lede, and not her first role either.
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| country = United Kingdom
| country = United Kingdom
| language = English<br>[[Scottish Gaelic language|Gaelic]]
| language = English<br>[[Scottish Gaelic language|Gaelic]]
| budget = £200,000 (est.)
| budget = £230,000<ref>MacDonald p 248</ref>
| gross =
| gross =
}}
}}
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==Production==
==Production==
===Development===
⚫
The original story and the whole screenplay were written in less than a week. Pressburger said it just flowed naturally.<ref>{{Cite book | author = Kevin Macdonald | authorlink = Kevin Macdonald (director) | title = Emeric Pressburger: The Life and Death of a Screenwriter | year = 1994 | publisher = [[Faber and Faber]] | isbn = 978-0-571-16853-8 }}</ref>
Powell and Pressburger wanted to make ''[[A Matter of Life and Death]]'' but filming was held up because they wanted to do the film in colour and there was a shortage of color cameras. (Technicolor cameras and technical specialists were mostly in Hollywood during WWII).


Pressburger suggested that instead they make a film which was part of the "crusade against materialism", a theme they had tackled in ''The Canterbury Tale'', only in a more accessible romantic comedy format.<ref>MacDonald p 242</ref>
⚫
The movie was originally meant to star Wendy Hiller and [[James Mason]].<ref>{{cite news |url=http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article59326759 |title=GINGER ROGERS' RETURN TO MUSICAL COMEDY |newspaper=[[Sunday Times (Perth)]] |issue=2442 |location=Western Australia |date=3 December 1944 |accessdate=29 October 2017 |page=11 (SUPPLEMENT TO "THE SUNDAY TIMES") |via=National Library of Australia}}</ref>


The story was originally called ''The Misty Island''. Pressburger wanted to make a film about a girl who wants to get to an island, but by the end of the film she no longer wants to go there. Powell suggested an island on the west coast of Scotland. He and Pressburger spent several weeks researching locations then decided on the Isle of Mull.
⚫
The film was shot in black and white while Powell and Pressburger were waiting for a [[Technicolor]] camera to begin making their next film, ''A Matter of Life and Death'' (Technicolor cameras and technical specialists were mostly in Hollywood during WWII). It was the second and last collaboration between the co-directors and [[cinematographer]] [[Erwin Hillier]] (who shot the entire film without using a [[light meter]]).<ref name="IKWIG Revisited">In the documentary ''I Know Where I'm Going Revisited'' (1994) on the Criterion DVD</ref>

⚫
Pressburger wrote the screenplay in four days. "It just burst out you couldn't hold back," he said.<ref>{{Cite book | author = Kevin Macdonald | authorlink = Kevin Macdonald (director) | title = Emeric Pressburger: The Life and Death of a Screenwriter |page=243| year = 1994 | publisher = [[Faber and Faber]] | isbn = 978-0-571-16853-8 }}</ref>

⚫
The movie was originally meant to star [[Deborah Kerr]] and [[James Mason]].<ref>MacDonald p 245</ref> But Kerr could not get out of her contract with MGM so [[Wendy Hiller]] agreed to play it instead.<ref>{{cite news |url=http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article59326759 |title=GINGER ROGERS' RETURN TO MUSICAL COMEDY |newspaper=[[Sunday Times (Perth)]] |issue=2442 |location=Western Australia |date=3 December 1944 |accessdate=29 October 2017 |page=11 (SUPPLEMENT TO "THE SUNDAY TIMES") |via=National Library of Australia}}</ref>

Six weeks before filming Mason pulled out of the movie saying he did not want to go on location. [[Roger Livesey]] read the script and asked to play the role. Powell thought he was too old and portly but Livesey lost 20 kilos and changed his appearance. Livesey was appearing in a play, ''Bunbury Nose'' during the shoot so was unable to go on location.<ref>MacDonald p 243</ref>
===Filming===
Shooting took place on the Isle of Mull and at Denham Studios.

⚫
It was the second and last collaboration between the co-directors and [[cinematographer]] [[Erwin Hillier]] (who shot the entire film without using a [[light meter]]).<ref name="IKWIG Revisited">In the documentary ''I Know Where I'm Going Revisited'' (1994) on the Criterion DVD</ref>


From various topographical references and a map briefly shown in the film, it is clear that the Isle of Kiloran is based on [[Colonsay]]. The name Kiloran was borrowed from one of Colonsay's bays, Kiloran Bay. The heroine of the film is trying to get to ''Kiloran'' (Colonsay), but nobody ever gets there. No footage was shot on Colonsay.
From various topographical references and a map briefly shown in the film, it is clear that the Isle of Kiloran is based on [[Colonsay]]. The name Kiloran was borrowed from one of Colonsay's bays, Kiloran Bay. The heroine of the film is trying to get to ''Kiloran'' (Colonsay), but nobody ever gets there. No footage was shot on Colonsay.
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Other music heard in the film is either traditional Scottish and Irish songs<ref>[http://www.powell-pressburger.org/Reviews/45_IKWIG/Music.html Music in IKWIG]</ref> or original music composed for the film by [[Allan Gray (composer)|Allan Gray]].
Other music heard in the film is either traditional Scottish and Irish songs<ref>[http://www.powell-pressburger.org/Reviews/45_IKWIG/Music.html Music in IKWIG]</ref> or original music composed for the film by [[Allan Gray (composer)|Allan Gray]].


The film was budgeted at £200,000 and went £30,000 over budget. £50,000 of the budget went on the actors, of which one third went to Hiller. The whirlpool cost £40,000.
==Locations==
==Locations==
* On the [[Isle of Mull]]
* On the [[Isle of Mull]]
Line 93: Line 105:


==Reception==
==Reception==
===Box Office===
The film was a hit at the box office and recovered its cost in the UK alone.<ref>MacDonald p 249</ref>
===US Release===
The film was one of the first five movies from the Rank Organisation to receive a release in the US under a new arrangement. The others were ''[[Caesar and Cleopatra (film)|Caesar and Cleopatra]]'', ''[[The Rake's Progress]]'', ''[[Brief Encounter]]'' and ''[[The Wicked Lady]]''.<ref>{{cite news |url=http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article62872042 |title=D-DAY FOR BRITISH FILMS |newspaper=[[Townsville Daily Bulletin]] |volume=LXVII |location=Queensland, Australia |date=19 December 1945 |accessdate=29 October 2017 |page=3 |via=National Library of Australia}}</ref>
The film was one of the first five movies from the Rank Organisation to receive a release in the US under a new arrangement. The others were ''[[Caesar and Cleopatra (film)|Caesar and Cleopatra]]'', ''[[The Rake's Progress]]'', ''[[Brief Encounter]]'' and ''[[The Wicked Lady]]''.<ref>{{cite news |url=http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article62872042 |title=D-DAY FOR BRITISH FILMS |newspaper=[[Townsville Daily Bulletin]] |volume=LXVII |location=Queensland, Australia |date=19 December 1945 |accessdate=29 October 2017 |page=3 |via=National Library of Australia}}</ref>
===Critical===
===Critical===
Line 103: Line 118:
*The film critic [[Molly Haskell]] included it among her 10 greatest films of all time, in the 2012 Sight & Sound poll.
*The film critic [[Molly Haskell]] included it among her 10 greatest films of all time, in the 2012 Sight & Sound poll.


Pressburger said when he visited Paramount Pictures in 1947 the head of the script department told him they regarded the film's screenplay as perfect and they would frequently watch it for inspiration.<ref>MacDonald p 249</ref>
==References==
==References==


Revision as of 14:24, 5 May 2019

This article is about the 1945 romance film. For other uses, see I Know Where I'm Going.

I Know Where I'm Going!
theatrical poster
Directed byMichael Powell
Emeric Pressburger
Written byMichael Powell
Emeric Pressburger
Produced byMichael Powell
Emeric Pressburger
George R. Busby (associate producer)
StarringWendy Hiller
Roger Livesey
CinematographyErwin Hillier
Edited byJohn Seabourne Sr.
Music byAllan Gray
Distributed byGeneral Film Distributors
Release dates
16 November 1945 (UK)
9 August 1947 (US)
Running time
88 minutes
CountryUnited Kingdom
LanguagesEnglish
Gaelic
Budget£230,000[1]

I Know Where I'm Going is a 1945 romance film by the British-based filmmakers Michael Powell and Emeric Pressburger. It stars Wendy Hiller and Roger Livesey, and features Pamela Brown and Finlay Currie.

Plot

Joan Webster (Wendy Hiller) is a young middle class Englishwoman with an ambitious, independent spirit. She knows where she's going, or at least she thinks she does. She travels from her home in Manchester to the Hebrides to marry Sir Robert Bellinger, a very wealthy, much older industrialist, on the (fictitious) Isle of Kiloran.

When bad weather postpones the final leg of her journey—a boat trip to Kiloran—she is forced to wait it out on the Isle of Mull, among a community of people whose values are quite different from hers. There she meets Torquil MacNeil (Roger Livesey), a naval officer trying to go home to Kiloran for some shore leave. They are sheltered for the night in the nearby home of Torquil's friend, Catriona Potts (Pamela Brown).

The next day, on their way to catch a bus into town, they come upon the ruins of Moy Castle. Joan wants to take a look inside, but Torquil refuses to go in. When she reminds him that the terrible curse only applies to the Laird of Kiloran, Torquil introduces himself: he is the laird, and Bellinger has only leased his island. As the bad weather worsens into a full-scale gale, Torquil takes advantage of the delay to woo Joan, who becomes increasingly torn between her ambition and her growing attraction to him.

Desperate to salvage her carefully laid plans, Joan tries to persuade Ruairidh Mhór (Finlay Currie) to take her across to the island immediately, but the experienced sailor knows conditions are far too dangerous. Joan manages to bribe young Kenny (Murdo Morrison) into attempting it by offering him enough money to buy a half share in Ruairidh's boat and marry Ruairidh's daughter Bridie (Margot Fitzsimons). Torquil learns of the scheme and tries to talk Joan out of it, but she proves adamant and they have a blazing row. After Joan has gone down to the boat, Catriona tells MacNeil that Joan is actually running away from him. Armed with this knowledge, he races to the quayside and invites himself aboard. The boat's engine gets flooded and they are caught in the Corryvreckan whirlpool, but Torquil is able to restart the motor just in time and they return safely to Mull.

At last, the weather clears. Joan asks Torquil for a parting kiss before they go their separate ways. Torquil enters Moy Castle, and the curse takes effect almost immediately. A narrator relates that, centuries earlier, Torquil's ancestor had stormed the castle to capture his unfaithful wife and her lover. He had them bound together and cast into a water-filled dungeon with only a small stone to stand upon. When their strength gave out, they dragged each other into the water, but not before she placed a curse on the Lairds of Kiloran. Any who dared to step over the threshold would be chained to a woman to the end of his days. From the battlements, Torquil sees Joan with three pipers marching resolutely toward him. They embrace.

Cast

Cast notes:

Production

Development

Powell and Pressburger wanted to make A Matter of Life and Death but filming was held up because they wanted to do the film in colour and there was a shortage of color cameras. (Technicolor cameras and technical specialists were mostly in Hollywood during WWII).

Pressburger suggested that instead they make a film which was part of the "crusade against materialism", a theme they had tackled in The Canterbury Tale, only in a more accessible romantic comedy format.[3]

The story was originally called The Misty Island. Pressburger wanted to make a film about a girl who wants to get to an island, but by the end of the film she no longer wants to go there. Powell suggested an island on the west coast of Scotland. He and Pressburger spent several weeks researching locations then decided on the Isle of Mull.

Pressburger wrote the screenplay in four days. "It just burst out you couldn't hold back," he said.[4]

The movie was originally meant to star Deborah Kerr and James Mason.[5] But Kerr could not get out of her contract with MGM so Wendy Hiller agreed to play it instead.[6]

Six weeks before filming Mason pulled out of the movie saying he did not want to go on location. Roger Livesey read the script and asked to play the role. Powell thought he was too old and portly but Livesey lost 20 kilos and changed his appearance. Livesey was appearing in a play, Bunbury Nose during the shoot so was unable to go on location.[7]

Filming

Shooting took place on the Isle of Mull and at Denham Studios.

It was the second and last collaboration between the co-directors and cinematographer Erwin Hillier (who shot the entire film without using a light meter).[8]

From various topographical references and a map briefly shown in the film, it is clear that the Isle of Kiloran is based on Colonsay. The name Kiloran was borrowed from one of Colonsay's bays, Kiloran Bay. The heroine of the film is trying to get to Kiloran (Colonsay), but nobody ever gets there. No footage was shot on Colonsay.

One of the most complex scenes is the small boat battling through the Corryvreckan whirlpool. This was a combination of footage shot at Corryvreckan between the Hebridean islands of Scarba and Jura and the Gray Dogs (Bealach a'Choin Ghlais) between Scarba and Lunga.[9]

  • There are some long distance shots looking down over the area, shot from one of the islands.
  • There are some middle distance and close-up shots that were made from a small boat with a hand-held camera.
  • There were some model shots, done in the tank at the studio. These had gelatin added to the water so that it would hold its shape better and would look better when scaled up. Usually the way that waves break and the size of water drops is a give-away for model shots done in a tank.
  • Then there were also the close-up shots of the people in the boat. These were all done in the studio, with a boat on gimbals being rocked in all directions by some hefty studio hands while other studio hands threw buckets of water at them. These were filmed with the shots made from the boat with the hand-held camera projected behind them.
  • Even then, there was further trickery where they joined together some of the long and middle distance shots with those made in the tank in a single frame.[10]

Despite the fact that much of the film was shot in the Hebrides, Roger Livesey was not able to travel to Scotland, as he was performing in a West End play, The Banbury Nose by Peter Ustinov at the time of filming. Thus, all of his scenes were shot in the studio at Denham and a double was used in all of his scenes shot in Scotland. These shots were then mixed so that the same scene would often have a middle distance shot of the double and then a closeup of Livesey, or a shot of the double's back followed by a shot showing Livesey's face.

John Laurie was the choreographer and arranger for the cèilidh sequences.[11] The puirt à beul "Macaphee"[12] was performed by Boyd Steven, Maxwell Kennedy and Jean Houston of the Glasgow Orpheus Choir.[13]

Other music heard in the film is either traditional Scottish and Irish songs[14] or original music composed for the film by Allan Gray.

The film was budgeted at £200,000 and went £30,000 over budget. £50,000 of the budget went on the actors, of which one third went to Hiller. The whirlpool cost £40,000.

Locations

Reception

Box Office

The film was a hit at the box office and recovered its cost in the UK alone.[15]

US Release

The film was one of the first five movies from the Rank Organisation to receive a release in the US under a new arrangement. The others were Caesar and Cleopatra, The Rake's Progress, Brief Encounter and The Wicked Lady.[16]

Critical

The film has received accolades from many critics:

  • "I've never seen a picture which smelled of the wind and rain in quite this way nor one which so beautifully exploited the kind of scenery people actually live with, rather than the kind which is commercialised as a show place." – Raymond Chandler, Letters.[17]
  • "The cast makes the best possible use of some natural, unforced dialogue, and there is some glorious outdoor photography." – The Times, 14 November 1945
  • "[It] has interest and integrity. It deserves to have successors." – The Guardian, 16 November 1945
  • "I reached the point of thinking there were no more masterpieces to discover, until I saw I Know Where I'm Going!" – Martin Scorsese[8]
  • The film critic Barry Norman included it among his 100 greatest films of all time.
  • The film critic Molly Haskell included it among her 10 greatest films of all time, in the 2012 Sight & Sound poll.

Pressburger said when he visited Paramount Pictures in 1947 the head of the script department told him they regarded the film's screenplay as perfect and they would frequently watch it for inspiration.[18]

References

Notes

  1. ^ MacDonald p 248
  2. ^ Erik at IMDb, Spangle at IMDb
  3. ^ MacDonald p 242
  4. ^ Kevin Macdonald (1994). Emeric Pressburger: The Life and Death of a Screenwriter. Faber and Faber. p. 243. ISBN 978-0-571-16853-8.
  5. ^ MacDonald p 245
  6. ^ "GINGER ROGERS' RETURN TO MUSICAL COMEDY". Sunday Times (Perth). No. 2442. Western Australia. 3 December 1944. p. 11 (SUPPLEMENT TO "THE SUNDAY TIMES"). Retrieved 29 October 2017 – via National Library of Australia.
  7. ^ MacDonald p 243
  8. ^ a b In the documentary I Know Where I'm Going Revisited (1994) on the Criterion DVD
  9. ^ "Corryvreckan Whirlpool in Scotland". Retrieved 15 April 2007.
  10. ^ Powell, Michael (1986). A Life in Movies. London: Heinemann. p. 480. ISBN 978-0-434-59945-5.
  11. ^ Powell (1986: 537–538)
  12. ^ Macaphee song
  13. ^ Internet Movie Database
  14. ^ Music in IKWIG
  15. ^ MacDonald p 249
  16. ^ "D-DAY FOR BRITISH FILMS". Townsville Daily Bulletin. Vol. LXVII. Queensland, Australia. 19 December 1945. p. 3. Retrieved 29 October 2017 – via National Library of Australia.
  17. ^ "An interesting letter". Retrieved 15 November 2006.
  18. ^ MacDonald p 249

Bibliography

External links

DVD reviews

Region 1
  • Review by DVD Savant
  • Review by Megan Ratner at Bright Lights
Region 2
  • Review by Noel Megahey at DVD Times (UK)
  • Review (in French) at DVD Classik (France)
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