 Most of the cast were Scottish—with the exception of two of the lead actors, Basil Radford and Joan Greenwood—and many of the islanders from Barra were used as extras.In May 1950 the British Film Institute's monthly publication, "Sight & Sound", estimated the film's budget to be around £100,000.The following month, Balcon wrote to the magazine to complain that "Your estimate of the cost is wrong by more than a thousand or two".