I Know Where I'm Going!

I KNOW WHERE I'M GOING has lots of Scottish atmosphere so that you can almost feel the cold dampness of the highlands, the mists, the wind, the raging surf, the cosy inns before the fire--yes, all that is present but the plot is a slight thread of a romance between a headstrong girl (WENDY HILLER) and a handsome sea captain (ROGER LIVESEY). Their romance is kindled when she's unable to cross the sea to an island where she's supposed to meet her fiancé, a wealthy older man whom she's arranged to wed. Unfortunately, Hiller's character is rather prim, proper and headstrong, trying hard not to be conflicted about her marriage plans when she realizes she's attracted the eye of Livesey, a genial man who obviously enjoys her company and doesn't mind being stranded during what appears to be a squall that never ends. I kept thinking how much more enjoyable the film would have been with someone like DEBORAH KERR in Hiller's role, for although Hiller is a good character actress she lacks the warmth one would expect to come through at least midway through the story. Livesey is charming enough in a romantic role but Hiller's character makes it unlikely that such a man is going to fall instantly in love with the dour girl who seems to be rebuffing all his advances until the very end. I have to confess I missed much of the dialog, what with the Scottish or Gaelic accents being on the heavy side. I was hoping TCM would show it with subtitles so I could catch every word, but this was not the case for a film that really needed some captioning. At any rate, having heard so much advance word about this one I was expecting a bit more in the way of satisfying romance or comedy/drama. Instead, I was annoyed by the male supporting characters (among them, FINLAY CURRIE) who added ethnic atmosphere but seemed to have no actual bearing on what little plot there was. PAMELA BROWN does a nice understated job as an inn owner and PETULA CLARK can be seen briefly as the rather precocious young girl with the glasses. All in all, a disappointment, considering that it comes from Powell and Pressburger. If atmosphere is all it takes for you to enjoy a slender romance, this has it in spades.

"I Know Where I'm Going!" is like other Powell and Pressburger films thematically: forces beyond the control of humans intervene and determine to a large extent the destiny of the heroine. But if you're expecting a dazzling, vivid and energetic film like "The Red Shoes" or "Black Narcissus," you're bound to be disappointed by this one. I couldn't get into this movie at all. The filmmakers seemed unable to settle on a tone or mood, so I wasn't ever sure if I was watching a romantic comedy or a darker, more psychologically complex character study. Wendy Hiller is good in her role, but her character drove me over the edge. I couldn't stand her--bad news for a movie in which she's in virtually every scene. And that theme song.....UGH! To this day I have moments where that awful song plays on a constant loop through my mind, over and over and over. I really like Powell and Pressburger over all, so I choose to see this movie as an anomaly in their body of work rather than representative of it. Grade: C

Made while waiting for the Technicolour cameras they needed to make 'A Matter of Life and Death' to become available, this film remains my favourite among Powell and Pressburger's impressive list of accomplishments. There is no nudity (except for Roger Livesey's knees glimpsed beneath the hem of his kilt), no violence except for the implacable hostility of the weather towards Wendy Hiller's plans for getting to the island of Kiloran in order to marry her rich man, no sex scenes. And yet this is a sexy film. The silences and looks exchanged between the patient islander, Torquil MacNeil and the frantic city girl, Joan Webster as she begins to succumb to the charm of the location and the young laird are very potent. Hiller's character is played to perfection, outward sophistication and purpose hiding a loving and romantic heart and Roger Livesey is more than a match, bringing vigour, humour and passion to his performance. This has a simple story line and yet it says a lot about the people who made money from the Second World War and those who did the fighting; about the value of the things money can't buy against the simple acquisition of wealth; and about the joy of being different, eccentric and free. Beautful to look at, it has powerful charm and warms my blood far more than any overtly romantic movie since has ever managed.

British film by the estimable team of Michael Powell and Emeric Pressburger has sharp, straight-forward young woman (stylish yet tomboyish Wendy Hiller) about to marry "the wealthiest man in London", traveling from England to the Western Isles for the ceremony, but held back on a neighboring Scottish isle by the bad weather (first fog, then wind, then rain). Since we never meet the woman's intended, there isn't much at stake when Hiller is befriended by a gregarious Lieutenant; the Scotsman introduces her to all the locals and slowly she finds herself having feelings for him. The cinematography is lovely (and the trick photography during a boat-crossing is especially well accomplished), but the film is really all externals. Hiller, curt and clipped, has inquisitive, old-lady eyes and a smile I didn't trust. There's a cursed castle in the hillside which is a dandy, and the local chit-chat and music is fun for awhile, but there isn't enough steam in this story to make for engrossing dramatic fare. ** from ****

Powell and Pressburger's romance of the Scottish isles has Wendy Hiller as Joan Webster, seeking money and a marriage of advantage to the (unseen) Sir Robert, out on the mysterious isle of Killoran. Of course, the Scottish climate makes sure she breaks her journey, which is where the dashing laird Torquil (Roger Livesey) comes in, with falcons, fog-bound locations, and sinister family curses. Perhaps the best scene of all is at the Campbell's wedding anniversary ceildh, where Torquil translates a Gaelic ballad for Joan. This is a black and white vision of a heavenly Scotland which probably never existed, but in Powell's expert direction that doesn't matter. Lovely.

I love old movies, old British movies, movies with Wendy Hiller...but this one isn't all it's cracked up to be. The set-up is fun and the direction is good, but Wendy Hiller is charmless and shrill. She also seems about ten years too old for her role, which is a problem since other characters are supposedly looking askance at her marrying an older man. I didn't sense any chemistry between her and the leading man, who was charming, which made the whole romance rather mystifying. It seems taken for granted that he's supposed to fall in love with her, because...why? There are other more fetching female characters in the story--ones that aren't materialistic, arrogant, selfish...

The plot and entire story can be summed up in about 10 minutes. This is so highly predictable. As Joan, the future Dame Wendy Hiller, appeared too old in 1945 to tackle the part of a young adventuress, who from early childhood knew where she was going, or at least she thought so. Her screen companion in this unbelievably dull film is Roger Livesey. He sounds like he has hot potatoes in his mouth, and his voice resembles Nigel Bruce, foil to Basil Rathbone in the "Sherlock Holmes" films. You know that the constant rough winds will not allow Joan and her fiancée to meet, and you know where this is going. Livesey, as a lieutenant, falling for her. Everyone keeps mentioning Kilcoran. You have no idea where this is and what they're talking about. True love is discovered on the high seas. The supporting characters in this disappointing film are very boring as well. While it is true that money isn't everything, neither is this picture worth the money or anything.

Oh, dear, here we go again; where everyone else apparently sees a monarch attired in velvet and ermine I see a gent naked as a jaybird but try saying the king has no clothes on here. On the other hand this one is easier to take than most of the Powell/Pressburger stuff that's been surfacing lately but perhaps perversely I note only sloppy writing. In the gimmicky opening sequence which illustrates the single-mindedness of the heroine she is shown emerging from school (in 1945 that would have been around 3.30/4.00 pm) and instead of waiting for a bus like the other kids, charming a passing milkman into giving her a lift on his float, a float that is about two-thirds full of undelivered milk a good four hours or so after the average milk round is long finished. A tad later she is shown asking an elderly man for money in an inept attempt to establish her gold-digging credentials; after a moment or so of deception it is revealed that the man is 1) her father and 2) a bank manager and 3) she is clearing her account at his bank. She then announces blithely that she is getting married the next day which is total news to her father, who is not invited to the wedding anymore than his wife and her mother, assuming this person is still living, we don't know as no mention is made of wife/mother and how distressed/angry she might be at missing a daughter's wedding. Once on the sleeper - the wedding is scheduled to take place on an island off the coast of Scotland - she unpacks a very expensive-looking wedding dress in silk/satin, fabrics almost unobtainable in 1945. I'm sure that fans of the film will defend all of these charges but the point is I shouldn't be noticing things like this if the movie was even a fifth as enchanting/beguiling as the rave reviews would have it. I detected nil chemistry between Wendy Hiller as the social climber and Roger Livesy who causes her to settle for less. The location shooting was fine, especially for 1945 and the supporting cast was up to snuff but it's definitely over-hyped.

'I Know Where I'm Going!' (1945) ** (out of 4) Michael Powell/Emeric Pressburger film has a middle-class woman (Wendy Hiller) marrying for money and not love but when she gets stuck in a small village she starts to rethink her choices in life. Ho-hum. I'm rather shocked to see how highly respected this film is because I see it as pure hogwash from start to finish. On a technical level the film is quite beautiful with some terrific cinematography but we've seen this story before in countless films. The performances are all good but the story is just too cute for its own good.

Superlatives cannot suffice to give justice, or homage, to 'I Know Where I'm Going'. This is, simply, one of the most delightful and enchanting films. Ever. Expect it to remain so. On screen Wendy Hiller is always luminous, and her acting superb. Here, in Roger Livesey's brilliantly understated company - which all of today's leading men (with the exceptions of Tom Hanks, Denzel Washington, and Morgan Freeman) would do well to study and emulate, Hiller devotes an unforgettable performance. But I most loved Pamela Brown's glowing effort as Catroina Potts, whom Emeric Pressburger mistook to think ugly: for Brown is one of the loveliest, most entrancing women ever to have graced the screen; in fact, I feel she's in a class by herself, a class never to be entered by another. As radiantly and a sun, a moon, a star, a galaxy, Brown's face and eyes are sheer, transfixing magic. The location filming yielded an exemplar of black & white cinematography, and the editing in 'I Know Where I'm Going' is its happy equal. The supporting cast, the marvleous special effects, and the whimsical inventiveness of Michael Powell and Emeric Pressburger all conspired congenially to bait and hook me forever: when I die I hope the afterlife, if there is one, will be of their black & white splendor. I shall watch again and again this dear, splendid film and always appreciate and enjoy its goodness. Never mind the plot, my dears, just do not miss this cinema jewel. Let 'I Know Where I'm Going' steal your breath away, and then swell your breast with fresh, heady gales of atmosphere. Be enchanted.