The Edge of the World
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1:00:02
high on the side of a wall
without any need of hands.

1:00:05
And the Hoevdi was still breaking.
1:00:07
But there was likely to be
a lull before the next gale.

1:00:10
We no longer had to wonder how
25 people over the normal population

1:00:14
were possibly to be fed
for another week.

1:00:17
Or perhaps six weeks.
1:00:20
(Christie) As the real storm raged
1:00:22
and made the film makers feel
1:00:25
that they might never
see the mainland again,

1:00:28
and they heroically continued
to try to film during it,

1:00:31
they were getting,
unbeknownst to them,

1:00:34
fantastic advance publicity
for the film.

1:00:37
The Daily Mail ran a headline:
1:00:39
Film Party Marooned
On Storm-swept Island;

1:00:42
Wireless SOS For Supplies.
1:00:45
As Michael Powell suggests
in the book,

1:00:47
there was a hideous photograph
of Belle Chrystall,

1:00:50
looking coy and blonde,
to illustrate that sequence.

1:00:59
Powell had originally intended
to shoot this dramatic scene

1:01:02
of the doctor operating
on the sick baby

1:01:05
in the cabin of the film's
supply ship, the Vedra,

1:01:08
as part of his philosophy
of making the whole film on location.

1:01:12
But with all the pressure
to complete the exteriors

1:01:15
and bad weather closing in,
there was no time.

1:01:17
Indeed, we might wonder how authentic
the real thing would have looked

1:01:22
if he'd carried through
the original plan.

1:01:25
In the end,
1:01:26
a cabin set was built
in the London studio.

1:01:30
(Dialogue) This way, Doctor.
1:01:32
(Christie) The larger point
being made in this scene is that

1:01:37
in a medical emergency,
1:01:39
as in this case of diphtheria,
1:01:41
the big trawlers could
make a vital difference.

1:01:43
So it's really part of showing us
1:01:47
that the issue isn't simply
a choice between traditional ways

1:01:51
and new-fangled ways
which are all bad.

1:01:54
In fact, the story really turns on
the trawler coming to the rescue.


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