Wendy Hiller plays a character who is swirling around in her own whirlpool, who, like Molly Brown, is determined not to let anybody pull her down. She's engaged to marry a Scottish nobleman, but when she shows up in the sea-side village to catch a boat to the island where this unseen character lives, she must face some facts about herself when blowing gales (gusty sea winds) prevent her from getting to that island which spookily looms way out in the middle of the sea. She falls in love with Roger Livesey, a resident of the village she is stuck in, but his brooding nature (like the Moorish Heathcliff of "Wuthering Heights") haunts both of them. Determined not to betray her promise, she makes an attempt to get to the island but a force of nature greater than themselves threatens to take them both down when he tries to take her to the island himself.
This moody darkly filmed atmospheric drama with slight comic overtones is a testament to the creative visions of the production team who take a rather ordinary story and make it unique. Hiller is an interesting actress in the cannon of cinematic history in their fact that in America, her somewhat plain appearance could never have made her a star, but she was a favorite of British filmmakers. Her plucky heroine is possessed with inner beauty that makes her seem much more physically attractive than she actually is and as an actress, she is magic. Many stage performers of less than movie goddess like appearance became stars in the theater but character actresses on screen. Actresses like Hiller were appreciated by serious film viewers because they truly looked "real" and represented who the world really was dominated by.
This moody darkly filmed atmospheric drama with slight comic overtones is a testament to the creative visions of the production team who take a rather ordinary story and make it unique. Hiller is an interesting actress in the cannon of cinematic history in their fact that in America, her somewhat plain appearance could never have made her a star, but she was a favorite of British filmmakers. Her plucky heroine is possessed with inner beauty that makes her seem much more physically attractive than she actually is and as an actress, she is magic. Many stage performers of less than movie goddess like appearance became stars in the theater but character actresses on screen. Actresses like Hiller were appreciated by serious film viewers because they truly looked "real" and represented who the world really was dominated by.