Laxdale Hall

Laxdale Hall is a 1953 British romantic comedy film directed by John Eldridge and starring Ronald Squire, Kathleen Ryan, Raymond Huntley and Sebastian Shaw, with Prunella Scales and Fulton Mackay in early roles. Released in the U.S. as Scotch on the Rocks, it was adapted from the 1951 novel Laxdale Hall by Eric Linklater.

Laxdale Hall
British quad poster by Lancaster
Directed by	John Eldridge
Written by	Alfred Shaughnessy John Eldridge
Based on	novel Laxdale Hall by Eric Linklater
Produced by	Alfred Shaughnessy
Starring	Ronald Squire Kathleen Ryan Raymond Huntley Sebastian Shaw
Cinematography	Arthur Grant Ken Hodges
Edited by	Bernard Gribble
Music by	Frank Spencer
Production company	Group 3 Films
Distributed by	Associated British-Pathé (UK)
Release dates	April 1953 (1953-04) (UK) 5 June 1954 (1954-06-05) (USA)
Running time	77 minutes
Country	United Kingdom
Language	English

The story is one of the few to touch on the British Town Planning system – mocking the New Towns Act 1946 (9 & 10 Geo. 6. c. 68).

Plot

The few car owners of Laxdale, a remote village near the Isle of Skye at Applecross, refuse to pay their Road Fund taxes, in protest against the poor state of the only road to the village. A series of summonses, sent out via the local police, mysteriously disappear. The government sends a delegation to investigate. It is led by Samuel Pettigrew, a pompous politician and industrialist, whose mother was born in Laxdale. He is accompanied by another MP, Hugh Marvell, and Andrew Flett from the Scottish Office.

Pettigrew presents plans to abandon the village and set up a New Town, Brumley Dumps, 100 miles away. But the villagers are unimpressed.

Flett, a former teacher, begins romancing the local schoolteacher. Marvell spends his time with the daughter of the Laird, a retired General.

The villagers see everything differently. In the middle of torrential rain, the local poacher chats casually with the undertaker saying "och, there's a bit of mist on the hill". The hearse is used to transport his poached stag. Later, in the pouring rain, they hold an open air production of Macbeth. The play is abandoned when news arrives that there are poachers from Glasgow on the estate (only local poachers are tolerated). They ambush the poachers and the police arrest them.

By the time the delegation is ready to leave, Pettigrew has accepted the viewpoint of the villagers; they must have a new road.

Production

Applecross House

The external scenes were shot in Applecross and "Laxdale Hall" is in fact Applecross House, an early 18th century laird's house of formal composition.

Cast

• Ronald Squire as General Matheson
• Kathleen Ryan as Catriona Matheson
• Raymond Huntley as Samuel Pettigrew, M.P.
• Sebastian Shaw as Hugh Marvell, M.P.
• Fulton Mackay as Andrew Flett of the Scottish Office
• Jean Colin as Lucy Pettigrew
• Jameson Clark as Roderick McLeod the local poacher
• Grace Gavin as Mrs. McLeod
• Keith Faulkner as Peter McLeod
• Prunella Scales as Morag McLeod
• Kynaston Reeves as Reverend Ian Macaulay
• Andrew Keir as McKellaig
• Nell Ballantyne as Nurse Connachy
• Roddy McMillan as Willie John Watt
• Rikki Fulton as First Poacher
• Eric Woodburn as Gamlie, leader of the Poachers
• Archie Duncan as Police Sergeant at Kyle of Lochalsh
• Ian MacNaughton as Police Constable
• Howard Connell as the postman

Critical reception

The Radio Times wrote, "The huge success of director Alexander Mackendrick's Whisky Galore! meant it was inevitable that film-makers would cast around for more stories of wily Scots running rings around the stiff-necked English. However, lightning didn't strike twice and this tale of the battle between Whitehall and a tiny Hebridean island, whose inhabitants won't pay a hated road tax, lacks the magic sparkle of Mackendrick's classic"; whereas TV Guide wrote, "The humor is subtle and gentle, but often very funny, in much the same way as that in Bill Forsyth's pictures (Local Hero, Comfort and Joy) three decades later."

External links

• Laxdale Hall at IMDb