Customer Reviews

Geordie

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I remember seeing "Geordie" with my parents in England when the film was first released in 1955. I was just a kid, but I never forgot it. It's one of those films that leaves you with a warm glow inside. It was a big hit in the UK, and deservedly so. I believe the film was entitled "Wee Geordie" for the North American audience.

In the highlands of Scotland, a young boy, Geordie, is teased by other children (and even adults who should know better) for being small. Even his best friend, a young girl named Jean, unwittingly makes him feel tiny. So he sends away for a body-building course offered by a Mr. Samson in London. Over the next few years, he follows the course instructions religiously and grows up to be a Scottish Hercules ! Geordie is "wee" no more ! At the same time, his preoccupation with training has caused a strain on his friendship with Jean, now an attractive young woman. With the encouragement of the local Laird, Geordie enters the Olympic Games in Melbourne--he has become very proficient with the hammer throw--but, while "down under" complications arise that may adversely affect life back home, and his relationship with Jean.

The film is full of wonderful performances--Alastair Sim is a born scene-stealer as the bird-loving and very eccentric Laird--Norah Gorsen is just right as feisty Jean--Francis De Wolff is hilarious as Samson--but, as Geordie, Bill Travers is--in a word--unforgettable. Mr. Travers went on to make other films--"Born Free" was probably the most famous one--but if ever there was a role that he was born to play it was the stubborn, naive but thoroughly charming Geordie.

After so long, I am delighted that "Geordie" has been released on DVD. I had no problems with the quality--full screen--colour--enhanced sound--the gorgeous Scottish scenery is a huge plus with this film.

I am thrilled to add this film to my collection. After so many years, "Geordie" has lost none of its magic--a quiet, irresistable gem from Britain's golden age. Finally, for you readers with even the smallest drop of Scottish blood in your veins, you will get a very special feeling as you watch a movie that is like a breath of fresh, highland air !

Oh yes--what do you call a male and a female badger ? Order your copy of "Geordie" and find out !

Right off the bat I must say that I was not expecting the dvd to be much good. I assumed that they'd find some old beat up print of the movie and source the dvd from that. Happily (and wonderfully) that is not the case. A beautiful British print was used (which looks almost as good as the original Technicolor it was filmed in) and the resulting dvd is, as others have said, a must for your library.

I wont repeat what other appreciative viewers have said but will only point out that GEORDIE shows how superior, both in intelligence and humor, the films of the past were. You will not find too many movies more charming. The music of William Alwyn must be pointed out with especial appreciation (a lovely suite of which was recently recorded onto CD by conductor Rumon Gamba in a collection of Alwyn's film scores). His use of both traditional and newly composed Scottish melodies is a constant delight. When a fine score graces a fine movie you know you have a winner. Alwyn was enormously talented and his list of excellent film scores would go on to several pages. Among his scores are ODD MAN OUT, SWISS FAMILY ROBINSON, THE RAKE'S PROGRESS, A NIGHT TO REMEMBER, SVENGALI, THE FALLEN IDOL and THE CRIMSON PIRATE.

The hand-picked cast? As others have said, they were all perfect, their individual roles beautifully done. As always a special nod of appreciation to Alastair Sim for his always eccentric, always delightful performance. Travers is a picture perfect Geordie. He was always so good and never gave a substandard performance. In pictures like THE SMALLEST SHOW ON EARTH, BORN FREE and the very well-made GORGO he never let an audience down. Those who like that quirky British - and Scottish - sense of humor will find much in GEORDIE to like.

Sidney Gilliat and Frank Launder were the men responsible for this picture, and they have a list of cinematic achievements that is impressive. They wrote the screenplay to Hitchcock's enjoyable THE LADY VANISHES and went on to become a successful producer/director team that gave us some good pictures: WATERLOO ROAD, GREEN FOR DANGER, LONDON BELONGS TO ME, CAPTAIN BOYCOTT, THE HAPPIEST DAYS OF YOUR LIFE, I SEE A DARK STRANGER, LADY GODIVA RIDES AGAIN. They had good heads on their shoulders. Frank Launder directed GEORDIE with just the right note of understated humor as well as serious drama.

How could I have come this far and failed to mention the photography of Wilkie Cooper? It is such an integral part of the movie's impact. Cooper was a truly unsung hero of cinematography who never disappointed. While his black and white work was always first class (see I SEE A DARK STRANGER, GREEN FOR DANGER or THE MAN IN THE MIDDLE) he really shone when working with color. He had a terrific sense of color and composition, both traits of which are on full display in GEORDIE. And it's not just the gorgeous Scottish Highlands that he so creatively photographed; it's the simple interiors of little Scottish cottages that he made look so warm and so homey. Cooper has done some beautiful color photography in pictures (see FIRST MEN IN THE MOON, RUN WILD RUN FREE, JASON AND THE ARGONAUTS, ADMIRABLE CRICHTON and THE 7th VOYAGE OF SINBAD to name a few) but in GEORDIE he gave us some unforgettable images.

Do yourself a big favor and buy the GEORDIE dvd. In these increasingly worrisome times we live in we all need to be reminded of our links with the past, our ancestors and just how much fun can be had in older, better movies.

"I'm not keen on competitions as competitions, Mr. McNabb," says Geordie MacTaggart, a very big young Scot. Asks Mr. McNabb, the local minister, "Why? Where's the harm in them?" "Where's the use in them?" says Geordie.

This Frank Launder/Sidney Gilliat movie from 1955 (Launder directed. They collaborated on the screenplay and produced) is one of the most sweet-natured stories you can hope to see. There's not much drama and there's no question how the innocent romance will turn out. The movie is all character driven, and the character is Geordie. He was a puny highland lad at school who by chance heard of the mail-order Henry Samson Body Building Course. His parents encouraged him and he exercised with a passion. Now grown, he has become the biggest and strongest lad in his glen. His father is the head gameskeeper for the local laird (played by Alastair Sim). When death occurs, Geordie (Bill Travers) becomes the head gameskeeper at 21. And then Mr. Samson writes Geordie that his next exercises should be throwing the hammer. Mr. McNabb shows him how...and it's not long before the laird and Mr. McNabb have persuaded Geordie that competing in the Highland Games is a worthy endeavor...especially if he beats all those lowland Glasgow policemen. Geordie wins, but not without some charming drama. He's recruited to join the British Olympic team for the 1956 summer games in Melbourne. And there he meets the Swedish women's shot put champion, a blonde who kisses almost as well as she puts the shot. And the rest...is just as sweet natured as what has gone before.

Geordie is an honest and forthright young man, not swayed by attractions beyond his glen. He and his almost sweetheart, Jean (Norah Gerson), are obviously meant for each other if Geordie can only figure it out. With all this good-natured charm there also is the rugged scenery of highland Scotland to enjoy. Geordie must come from behind to win at the Olympics. His Black Watch kilt plays a role. And, back in his glen, the final resolution involves true love and an awful hat with artificial flowers. It takes 45 minutes to bring Geordie to compete, but the journey is well worth it as we come to appreciate the glen and the people who live there., all friends of Geordie. There's heather on the hill, mist in the glen and, when the laird is around, always a wee dram of Scotch in the glass.

This sweet-natured charmer creates smiles. Bill Travers, a big actor who can look in some roles as a man not to be messed with, carries Geordie's honest and simple character as effortlessly as Travers himself throws the hammer. Travers makes Geordie's stubborn innocence believable. Sim as the laird is, as usual, likeably eccentric, but he doesn't overdo it. The character actors all are fine, and it was especially nice to see Miles Malleson and Raymond Huntley, two of my favorites. There's even, in a small but important role, Mr. Ramshaw as The Eagle. Mr. Ramshaw, some may recall, made his acting debut in Powell and Pressburger's I Know Where I'm Going


Frank Launder and Sidney Gilliat were Britain's most original and successful movie teams, overshadowed only by The Archers, Michael Powell and Emeric Pressburger. The two wrote, directed and produced, in various combinations, some wonderful movies. Try, for instance, The Lady Vanishes and Night Train to Munich (scriptwriters only), I See a Dark Stranger, Green for Danger, The Belles of St. Trinian's, The Happiest Days of Your Life...and Geordie.

The color DVD transfer is nothing special. The Scottish scenery deserves better. There are no extras. The movie was released in the U. S. as Wee Geordie.

Wee Geordie, as it was known in the US, is surely the sweetest movie we had ever seen and remained a favorite. Ned Devine is a close second!

"Geordie," or "Wee Geordie," (1955) as you may know it, has been considered another of the classic comedies Britain made and exported in the 1950s. It's a 93-minute comedy/drama/romance, with a strong sports element, set in Scotland, although it was filmed in Shepperton Studios. It was taglined "A Giant among Comedies." And, surprisingly enough, it's in full glorious Technicolor, giving us Scottish heather in its purple prime, sparkling lochs, verdant glens and green fields.

Wee Scottish lad Geordie, who hopes to win his classmate Jean, undertakes a body building program guaranteed to pack on muscles, and indeed he does grow a treat. He successfully gains height, weight and strength, wins Jean; also a slot as a hammer thrower on the British Olympics team preparing to compete in the 1956 games in Melbourne, Australia. However, even as he wins his event, wearing his kilt, radio reports from down under mistakenly broadcast that the gold medal winning athlete has a new love; Geordie must clear that up when he gets home.

Geordie Mac Taggart is well played by Bill Travers, (Born Free). The great British comic actor Alastair Sim (A Christmas Carol (Ultimate Collector's Edition)) turns in a yeoman supporting performance as the Laird. Geordie's mail order physical culture guru Henry Samson (Francis DeWolff) is obviously an affectionate spoof of real life mail order muscle building he-man Charles Atlas. Other stalwarts of British 1950s comedy, such as Raymond Huntley,(Passport To Pimlico: 1949) as an Olympic selector, and Miles Malleson ( Kind Hearts and Coronets (The Criterion Collection)) as Lord Paunceton, also appear. Frank Launder directed. The film does an excellent job of memorializing its set time and place; the postman doing his rounds on a heavy old bicycle, the old house, built of local stone outside and in, in which Geordie's family lives, and in which his Mum darns socks, surely a lost art or craft; the multi-layer tweeds locals wear in their chilly weather, horse and donkey carts.

The film is lovely to look at, but someone has been foolish in the extreme. These actors are talking their best Scottish dialect, and there are no subtitles. Alastair Sim's presumably funny dialog went right by me, as I suppose it will go by many others on my side of the pond. What a waste, and what a case of being penny wise and pound foolish. I remember this film with delight from my childhood, but I can`t recommend it now.

We saw this movie back in the 60's (or was it the 50's) - and it is delightful, and CLEAN!!!Certainly great for family viewing, ALL ages!

A quality, Family movie. I had seen the movie on TV several years ago and decided to purchase the DVD. Very enjoyable love story the entire family can enjoy.

Every bit as good as I remembered, and I remembered it as one of the most entertaining movies released in 1955. I also got a pleasant surprise on viewing the DVD: the actors speak so clearly that I suspect only those with pretty badly impaired hearing would really need subtitles. That's despite the dialect barrier between an American listener and Scottish or English characters. The contrast between that and the frequently incomprehensible mumbling so common in more recent films is striking.

I watched this movie as a child growing up in Chicago and found it inspirational, especially since I had just got interested in bodybuilding, martial arts, and gymnastics.

Now, as a dad with a daughter entering college, I would like her to see this film, particularly since she threw discus and shot in high school, and may be adding both hammer (which Geordie throws in this film) and javelin.

I loved Geordie's motivations, his challenges, temptations, and ultimately, his core values.

Funny, sweet and touching. An old movie that was not widely seen, but a must-see for anyone who enjoys British humor.