The 1949 Ealing Studios comedy "Whisky Galore!" was filmed on Barra. The film is based on the novel "Whisky Galore" by Sir Compton Mackenzie, itself a fictionalised telling of the story of the SS "Politician", which ran aground with a cargo of some 50,000 cases of whisky on board in 1941. Mackenzie, who lived near the airport and died in 1972, is buried in a grave marked by a simple cross at cemetery, which is situated a little way up the hillside overlooking Eoligarry jetty. The sequel "Rockets Galore!" was also filmed in and around the island.