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Katrina
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Hi, I really enjoyed looking at your Powell & Pressburger site, having fallen in
love with 'I Know Where I'm Going' (such a good life motto!) several years ago.
I think the film casts a spell over the viewer (or me at least) to such an extent
that even the fact the hero has a name like 'Torquil' doesn't seem silly. And it
really does stir the imagination to know what happened next...e.g. how will a city
girl like Joan really adapt to life on Kiloran? Catriona surely has strong
feelings for Torquil and on the face of it they have much more in common than he and
Joan do. What happens when the unromantic sounding Mr Potts comes home from the
Middle East? Col. Barnstaple is surely not all he claims to be (his accent just isn't
quite right for a colonel somehow)? Torquil's own past in the Navy...The
possibilities for a follow up are endless but thankfully have been resisted as it
would be difficult to follow such a little gem.
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Steve
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You're not alone in falling in love with it Katrina, many have even
made the trip to Mull to visit the places where it was filmed.
The story of Nancy Franklin (Editor on the New Yorker magazine) and
her trips there is on the Criterion DVD and there are a few others on
the PaPAS web site.
But is it really a good life motto? :)
Joan thought she was sure she knew where she was going and look
at what happened to her!
There's a documentary about Powell & Pressburger I've got where
Martin Scorsese (an admirer of their films) was asked how he would
do a remake of IKWIG. He mentioned a few things but then said he
couldn't see why anyone would really want to, it's just about
perfect as it is.
But a "What happened next?" could be interesting. And maybe some
more background stories of the characters.
It has been suggested that Catriona & Torquil were more than just
childhood friends. But are Catriona & Mr Potts still married?
I can't imagine her with anyone so staid. But there are the
children to think of (at boarding school).
I think Joan would manage OK. She'd have her love to keep her warm.
I've known a few "city girls" who have made the transition to
living in the countryside very effectively. And they didn't have
a hero such as Torquil who had risked his life to save theirs.
Torquil's own past in the Navy shouldn't cause any problems. He
was in the RNVR (Royal Navy Volunteer Reserve) so was signed
up for "hostilities only" and as soon as he gets a few days leave
he heads back to (or towards) Kiloran.
Col. Barnstaple is a little odd isn't he (who isn't?)?. In the film
he's meant to have a background in the Indian Army (hence the curried
rabbit).
What about Kenny & Bridie as well. Did they marry?
Was the comedy overdone?
Ruairidh Mor & his hat nearly blowing off?
Col. Barnstaple at the phone box and when he's on the cliff,
swinging his lure so that it gets tangled in the bush (something
no real falconer would do - nor would they try to fly a falcon
in that wind).
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Katrina
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Catriona and Mr Potts: yes I do think they are still married, isn't it
mentioned somewhere he's in the Middle East, or have I got that wrong? And
we don't know he's 'staid', or anything about him, really. I think the
producers used a humdrum English name to indirectly suggest this perhaps,
and tease the viewer's imagination with wondering how the wild and wonderful
Catriona ended up with a man called Potts. It's a real contrast...fiery
Celtic woman and down to earth Anglo-Saxon. Maybe the same could be said
for Romantic Celtic Torquil and Determined & Down To Earth Saxon Joan (with
a good dose of romance in her too of course). And maybe it suggests
combining the two to find the right balance.
Col. Barnstaple: thanks for the interesting information on his real life
background. I was not criticising him as a character or anything like that,
just noticed his accent which (to my ears anyway) veers from landed gentry
regimental to Home Counties shopkeeper, at a time in the military when you
needed the correct upper class background to become a colonel (and possibly
still do). I thought that if one were speculating on writing a sequel there
is a ready-made hint there to weave a story around his past. (Was he
actually a cook in the Indian Army, and on retirement, played up his past a
bit to get respect from the locals?)
Joan the city girl on Kiloran: yes, her love for Torquil and the
landscape would keep her warm, but I still think there would be adaptation
required on her part, and in the marriage on both sides - two such strong
characters might need to learn the gracious art of giving and receiving from
each other.
Torquil's Navy background: in this unwritten sequel I thought how this
could provide material, perhaps for some life-changing experiences of war,
or undisclosed heroism which helped make him the man he is, and which Joan
gradually learns of during their marriage.
Comedy aspect: no I loved it actually. Eg 'There ought to be a law
against trees!'...'Yes, yes, 'tis a fine day,' [as he puts his head out of
the door and nearly gets blown off his feet in a Force 10 gale]...the
spaniels having virtual heart failure at the bridge-playing Englishwoman's
supersonic shriek.
And finally...yes, I do realise none of these characters exists. It is
just a testament to what a good film it is that the characters take on a
life of their own, and appear to have past histories and future
possibilities, when in actual fact they just existed on celluloid for the
period of filming - but that's the boring way of looking at things (maybe a
bit 'Potts'?)!!
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Steve
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Catriona and Mr Potts:
You're not wrong, Mr Potts is serving in the Middle East.
I just assumed he's staid, especially compared to Catriona.
Remember when she's talking about the concrete foundation that
the RAF "boys" left behind and she has to decide whether to take
the money or get them to put it back to how it was? That's
summed up as "Maclaine versus Potts" and she decides "Up the
Maclaine's".
And of course that tells us that her maiden name was Maclaine
so she was Catriona Maclaine - which is the name of the woman
who laid the curse on Castle Moy!
Col. Barnstaple:
Well he was only a Captain in real life, maybe he wasn't posh enough
to be made a Colonel.
There's a thought though, shades of David Niven's major in Separate
Tables? Claiming a rank he had no real right to.
Torquil's Navy background:
Oh I like the idea of undisclosed heroism. Yes, he'd be too modest
to mention it. Joan would probably hear about it from someone
else. How the Laird had to meet the King to get his medal.
Comedy aspect:
And the brilliant put-down by the young Petula Clark when she's
asking Joan about Sir Robert:
Cheril: He's very rich isn't he?
Joan: Well... I haven't counted his money.
Cheril: Are you rich?
Joan: No
The look from Cheril that says "OK, I've got your number"
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Katrina
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'Maclaine versus Potts' - Actually I hadn't interpreted it to mean she
favoured doing up her ancestral house again versus her husband's desire to
take the money instead. I had sort of thought Maclaine versus Potts was two
sides of herself: as a proud Maclaine she'd want her house restored to its
former glory, as sensible but poverty stricken Mrs Potts, who is reduced to
going rabbit hunting for food, she would prefer cash. So I thought the
'Maclaine versus Potts' bit was a sort of internal wrangling.
But your explanation makes much more sense. I can just imagine the furious
telegrams flying between her and the Middle East: 'Take the money stop.' 'No
stop. House needs it more stop.' 'Stop being so silly stop. House would be
OK if you only kept all the Irish wolfhounds off the settee & Col.
Barnstaple's eagle out of the drawing room. And stop bringing in dead
rabbits. Stop' etc. etc.
The redoubtable Cheril. Yes, clearly a child with an early talent for put
downs. And I also loved the sidelong glance the manservant dishing out
breakfast gives Joan at this point, as if to say, 'This is the sort of lip
we have to put up with all the time, you know.'
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Steve
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'Maclaine versus Potts':
Oh I love it!
And don't forget the other dietary supplement "the odd hiker or
two"
The redoubtable Cheril:
Mind you, with parents like that, "Oh, Cheril knows everything of
course", it's no wonder she's a bit of a brat.
What does Sir Robert do when he realises he's been dumped?
Did Joan tell him before she went back to Torquil? She was always
one for doing the proper thing.
When they go to the Western Isles Hotel and she asks to sit at
separate tables (before the film of the same name which she was
in), Torquil says she's the most proper young lady he's ever
met. She says she'll take that as a compliment, which is good as
I'm sure it's meant as one.
And how did she ever get engaged to Sir Robert in the first place?
She was working at CCI as an analytical chemist. Was it just
chemistry between them? :)
Kenny & Bridie were obviously made for each other so would get
married and live happily ever after.
What about the "English Family Robinson"? How long would they
remain marooned in the Western Isles. They don't fit in with
anyone there.
Rebecca Crozier & the old postmistress are the types that go on
forever. Or would Rebecca try to tame Col. Barnstaple? :)
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Katrina
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A thought about Cheril: when we see her are we in fact seeing what Joan was
like as a child? They both appear to know where they are going and weren't
afraid to express it in their behaviour.
Is Cheril really a 'brat'? She just seems really precocious to me, and like
a lot of kids says things that adults are thinking but not saying (eg 'Are
you rich?') But a bit wearing to have about of course! And having a cheeky
ten year old around for a few hours makes you think there might be something
to be said for corporal punishment after all.
Her parents, 'English Family Robinson': in the way they are presented is
there just a hint of inter-war snobbery coming into play? Eg are they seen
as nouveau riche upstarts in comparison with Torquil's aristocratic poverty
and the other characters who are presented as down to earth sons & daughters
of the soil?
But they could be new blood in the area if they stay and could have the same
sort of function as Linda and Robert Snell in The Archers!
[This is a reference to characters in the long running BBC Radio 4
series "The Archers", not the film-makers of the same name]
I can see Cheril growing up into quite a fascinating young lady; perhaps she
might develop a crush on older man Kenny who is of course happily
married to Bridie by now. Or a crush on even older man Torquil! Plenty of
room for drama/comedy if that happened. (Was there some story about Petula
Clark being desperate to go to the loo throughout this scene? Great
acting!)
I think with Kenny and Bridie and family, the possibilities I can see for
follow up would be in connection with Rory (not sure how to spell his name
the proper Gaelic way). As he gets older he will have to start to
relinquish control over the boat business to make way for Kenny to have his
turn and this wouldn't come easily to him. And Bridie would experience a
real conflict of loyalties if this were the case.
Rebecca Crozier and the postmistress and Col. Barnstaple: I don't think it's
necessary to have everyone paired off in a film (or in real life) - I like
to think of them cutting their own individual swathe through life.
And about Sir Robert: I agree Joan would want to do the decent thing and
tell him her decision, but is there a long enough time gap for her to get to
Kiloran, break the news to Sir Robert, and get back to Moy Castle? I
thought not, that she'd had second thoughts in the boat and turned back. Or
(terrible thought!) did she do the deed via the radio link with the
postmistress et al standing by: 'Hello Kiloran. Hello Kiloran. Wedding's
off. Over to you.' 'Splutter!!! splutter!!***!!'
No I'm sure she wouldn't.
Is it the postmistress who does the voice over at the end relating the
legend of Moy Castle? And why does Torquil finally break the taboo and go
into the castle at the end when his forefathers never did?
I wonder what Joan's father is going to make of the whole set up when he
comes to meet his prospective son in law? Another ulcer on top of all the
others Joan and his job as bank manager have given him over the years?
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Steve
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Cheril:
Now there's a thought.
And Joan as a schoolgirl demanding silk stockings would probably
fit Cheril as well.
Yes, 'brat' is probably a bit strong but certainly wearing to have
around. That's why I like being an uncle - when you get fed up
with them, you can give them back!
The 'English Family Robinson':
Yes definitely nouveau riche upstarts. There are hints that Sir Robert made a lot of his
money providing war materials while people like Torquil were
away fighting. And Mr Robinson has done work for Sir Robert so
is tarred with the same brush.
The Robinsons seem to treat their servants quite well but there
isn't the full understanding of and knowledge about them that
Torquil & Rebecca Crozier show.
I love the comparison of them with Linda and Robert Snell in The Archers!
Mrs Robinson could organise the Christmas Panto every year :)
But as is always the way with small communities, they will still
be regarded as "incomers" however much they do.
Cheril/Petula:
Yes, that's the story, and she tells it so well.
She wasn't just desperate to go, she wet her jodhpurs and had
to take them off to dry before the scene where they go to
see "Auntie Crozier" at Achnacroish.
As for her crushes, back to the analogy with the other Archers,
is Cheril more a Lizzie Archer or a Debbie Aldridge? Both seem
to like older men & get into trouble with them.
Sir Robert:
Brilliant!
But the post office is up at the north end of the island in
Tobermory and the harbour at Carsaig is at the southern end.
So Joan wouldn't have time to get there.
I thought that she knew after she kissed Torquil but didn't tell
him until she had sent a message by the boat. Remember that the
boat she was waiting for at the beginning was one sent from
"Kiloran" by Sir Robert. She only went to Ruairidh Mor when that
boat didn't come to Carsaig.
Nanny's voice at end:
I'm fairly (but not 100%) sure it's not the postmistress. I was
brought up on the Home Service and radio plays so I'm usually
very good at identifying voices even when they try to change
them.
As for why Torquil goes into the castle, surely it's because
he *wants* to be chained to Joan for the rest of his life.
Maybe his forefathers weren't quite so willing to get married.
Joan's father:
Well he doesn't seem to understand Joan's desires and is shocked
by her drinking Gin & Dubonnet (who wouldn't be?) and doesn't
like being seen in public. So yes, I think he'd just stay at home
and wouldn't visit them much. I don't imagine he'd do very well at
a ceilidh or a ceildhe.
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Katrina
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Is it perhaps a bit of an anomaly to say
it's OK for Torquil to go off and fight in WWII but not OK for Sir Robert
and his firm to provide war materials for Torquil to fight with? Or am I
missing something more subtle??
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Steve
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Sir Robert:
Making the materials was OK, but did Sir Robert make an excessive
profit from them?
He did have enough money to take a lease on Kiloran at a high
enough price to keep Torquil for some time. And he buys all
the expensive fishing gear - but the fish do not know it.
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Katrina
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Re Sir Robert's armaments money - yes, but Torquil didn't seem to have any
qualms about taking it as rent, and as I'm sure you'll agree, Torquil can do
no wrong!!!!
And that's about when we thought it might be nice to see if anyone
else had any additional thoughts or suggestions. If you have, please
post them to the
PaPAS EMail Group or email them to
Steve.
