gavin6942 Joan Webster is an ambitious and stubborn middle-class English woman determined to move forward since her childhood. She meets her father in a fancy restaurant to tell him that she will marry the wealthy middle-aged industrial Robert Bellinger in Kiloran island, in the Hebrides Islands, Scotland.Martin Scorsese has said, "I reached the point of thinking there were no more masterpieces to discover, until I saw I Know Where I'm Going!" Now, with all due respect to Scorsese, I would not call this a masterpiece. But it is definitely a solid entry in Michael Powell's filmography. The story is very moving.What was interesting is that I watched this as a double feature with "Edge of the World", completely by accident. But they go together perfectly, both focused on the seaside world of the Outer Hebrides. While the plots do not necessarily go together, the atmosphere does, and that makes it perfect.

bkoganbing Although Roger Livesey is usually not your typical leading man he steps out of class here and delivers as a fine performance as the rugged Scot sea captain who makes Wendy Hiller his own. As for Wendy Hiller. I Know Where I'm Going is one of her best films, she delivers a fine performance as a young woman who up to her mid 20s knows exactly what she wants.What she wants to get to a private island in the New Hebrides up in Scotland, privately owned by a titled millionaire who has her as a trophy bride in his declining years. But she gets stuck on one the mainland as the seas get rough and no Scot with a brain in his head is willing to risk any kind of sea craft in a storm. Especially since there's a nasty old whirlpool that's sucked many craft to Davy Jones locker.So Hiller is spending some enforced time in Scotland and while it might not be the green Scotland of Brigadoon the sea coast and the people do have a charm of their own. This is the greatest strength of I Know Where I'm Going, the accurate and colorful depiction of the Scottish fisher folk and their ways.The second are some really hair raising sequences involving Hiller and Livesey when they finally do make an attempt to get to that private island. By that time both of them are having second thoughts.This is one pleasant and charming film, a must for fans of Wendy Hiller. s

accidentaldays Have you ever fallen in love with a movie? In love with a film that speaks to your heart and your sense of whimsy? I have tried to recall what led me to this movie, to no avail. But, ohhh, I am so glad this movie came into my life. Because I have waited for such a movie all my life. It's a simple story: A youngish woman travels far from home to marry a rich man. But choppy waters delay her trip from the mainland to her intended's island. It's the atmosphere that makes it somewhat like a fairytale. Gaelic is spoken here and there. The fog moves in and out. The winds stir up the water and the grasses and trees. You can here the "seels" baying nearby. At a ceilidh, folk music is sung and two young lovers reconnect. In a mansion nearby, new money meets old money and the new money is looked down upon in subtle ways. I guess it was the fog that shrouds the landscape. It obscures the romantic tendencies in almost every character. Sometimes emotions erupt, as when a young girl pleads for a boat journey to be aborted so her lover won't die. So many things to watch for in this movie. Roger Livesey is at his best as the correct and courteous Torquil MacNeil, the master of the island he is renting out to Wendy Hiller's "rich man." As Joan Webster, Hiller, is an upward climber. The old money knows this and she resents it. The class undercurrents are numerous. I fell in love with this movie, perhaps, as the dock. When somber music wafts and fog shrouds the bay and the seafarers retreat to their homes, leaving Joan alone on the dock. When the wind snatches her itinerary into the water, its symbolism is not overdone. Perhaps that is what I like about this movie. Nothing much is overdone. People speak like people. Well, Gaelic people. And the upper crust is as much at home with the lower crust. And outsiders have to earn their way into that society. Poor Joan, she can't see that right away. I fell in love with this movie. I think, if you give it a chance, you will too.

cinnamonbrandy If I was putting it in a double bill, it would be, not with another Scottish film, but with 'The Peaceful Man', set in Ireland, or 'Gone to Earth', set on the English/ Welsh border country.Heck, let's call it a triple bill!The essential qualities are: beautiful countryside: real people, albeit some a little unusual: excellent acting from fine actors - and, most importantly, a story that may not be new but is neither hackneyed nor trite.If you want a period film that's not a 'just-so' story - where there aren't necessarily good guys who always do the right thing, and bad guys who are obvious villains, and macguffins round every corner - well, here it is.