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List Price: $24.95 | | Label: Televista
Salesrank: 28571
Released: September 30, 2008 |
| Our Price: $14.99 |
| Used Price: $14.96 |
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MPAA Rating:
Media: DVD |
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Editorial Review:
As a boy rather small for his age, Geordie responds to an advertisement for a bodybuilding course, determined to improve his stature and thus win the heart of the girl of his dreams, Jean. Becoming the course's star pupil, Geordie (played by Bill Travers
Geordie Reviews:
In this sweet-natured movie, Geordie wins his girl, the hammer throw and our smiles 
2009-12-08 - "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.
Come awa'!
2009-11-22 - 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.
a lovely dvd of a lovely movie
2009-07-25 - 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.
Wee Geordie
2009-07-12 - 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!
Inspirational, Charming and Touching
2009-06-16 - 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.
