Shot on the island of Barra, which boasts Britain's most unique airport - the runway is the beach.
The author of the original novel, Compton MacKenzie, plays the captain of the ship that runs aground on the island. In reality, Mackenzie took great exception to the number of takes that director Alexander Mackendrick made him do.
The main reason for the film going dramatically so over budget was not director Alexander Mackendrick's inexperience (this was his first film) but the appalling weather that the production had to endure, 1948's summer being one of the worst on record.
The plywood mock-up of the SS Politician sank before filming had even started.
The sets were pre-built at Ealing Studios and then shipped up to Scotland. They were then constructed in a village hall for the frequent occasions when it was too wet to put them up outside.
The shipwreck that brings whisky to the isle of Todday happens 20 minutes into the film. In the original novel, it occurs halfway through.
The story was based on a real-life incident that occurred in 1941 on the Hebridean island of Eriskay when the SS Politician ran aground. The tale of how a group of local Scottish islanders raided a shipwreck for its consignment of 24,000 cases of whisky quickly became legend. What's less well reported, however, was the fact that the ship was also carrying a sizeable amount of hard cash. According to official files recently released by the Home Office, there was nearly 290,000 ten shilling notes on board as well (this would be the equivalent of several million pounds at today's prices), not all of which was ever recovered.