Geordie MacTaggart (played by Paul Young as a child and Bill Travers as an adult) spends his Highland childhood regretting he is so small – but after secretly enrolling in Professor Sampson’s Physical Culture bodybuilding course by correspondence, his prowess as an athlete becomes astonishing.
When he displays a talent for hammer-throwing, he is selected to represent Great Britain in the 1956 Olympic Games in Melbourne, Australia.
Alastair Sim is hilarious as the Laird (the owner of the estate where Geordie works as a gamekeeper) with a crotchety exterior and a heart of gold and Francis De Wolff is wonderful as Professor Henry Sampson. Norah Gorsen plays Geordie’s childhood sweetheart, Jean Donaldson.
This wonderful low-key comedy – beautifully photographed against a Scottish landscape of hills, streams and glens – was released in some markets as Wee Geordie.
The Laird
Alastair Sim
Geordie MacTaggart
Bill Travers
Jean Donaldson
Norah Gorsen
Geordie’s Mother
Molly Urquhart
Professor Henry Sampson
Francis De Wolff
Geordie’s Father
Jameson Clark
Reverend McNab
Jack Radcliffe
Harley (Olympic selector)
Brian Reece
Rawlins (Olympic selector)
Raymond Huntley
Helga
Doris Goddard
Lord Paunceton
Miles Malleson
Postman
Stanley Baxter
Schoolmaster
Duncan Macrae
Young Geordie
Paul Young
Young Jean
Anna Ferguson
Laird’s housekeeper
Margaret Boyd
Macrimmon
Alex Mackenzie
Director
Frank Launder
