Ring of Bright Water

Ring of Bright Water - 1969 | 107 mins | Drama | Colour

The Production Team

Director: Jack Couffer.
Producer: Joseph Strick.
Script: Jack Couffer and Bill Travers. (adapted from the book by Gavin Maxwell)
Cinematography: Wolfgang Suschitzky.
Film Editing: Reginald Mills.
Art Direction: Kenneth Ryan.
Makeup Department: Hilda Fox and Catherine Shirley.
Sound Department: Mike Hart and Ivan Sharrock.
Original Music: Frank Cordell.

The Cast

Bill Travers - Graham Merrill
Virginia McKenna - Mary MacKenzie
Peter Jeffrey - Colin Wilcox
Jameson Clark - Storekeeper

Plot Synopsis

Heart warming, amusing and romantic, Ring of Bright Water is loosely-adapted from the autobiographical best seller by Gavin Maxwell and stars the husband-and-wife acting talents of Bill Travers and Virginia McKenna of Born Free fame. The funny and moving semi-documentary story with accomplished wildlife photography is from a cast and crew who are old hands at animal adventure yarns.

Civil servant Graham Merill's (Bill Travers) life changes forever when he buys Mij the otter from a pet shop he passes everyday. A London flat is no place for an otter, so Merill throws in his desk job to become a writer and buys a derelict crofter’s cottage on the west coast of the Scottish Highlands. Soon both man and beast are at home in the wild but beautiful landscape. Mij amuses Merill with his antics as he adapts to his new and exciting life in the burns and mountains. And Merill finds a close friend in local veterinarian Mary MacKenzie (Virginia McKenna). Life is so perfect that it seems that nothing can spoil it...