Themes: Unlikely Criminals, Double Life, Woman In Jeopardy
Main Cast: Charles Laughton, Maureen O'Hara, Hay Petrie, Emlyn Williams, Robert Newton, Leslie Banks, Basil Radford, Frederick Piper
Release Year: 1939
Country: UK
Run Time: 98 minutes
Plot
Alfred Hitchcock directed this disappointing misfire, memorable solely for the fact is that it is the final film from Hitchcock's early British period before he left for the Hollywood studio system and David O. Selznick. In the England of the 1800s, a group of ruthless smugglers, led by Sir Humphrey Pengallon (Charles Laughton), prey on ships by blacking out warning signals. When the ships crash on the rocks, the nefarious group loots the remains and kills the sailors. The plot kicks in when the beautiful orphan Mary Yelland (Maureen O'Hara) goes to visit her uncle Joss Merlyn (Leslie Banks) at a creepy hotel called the Jamaica Inn, the home of the gang of smugglers. Mary doesn't realize that Uncle Joss is one of them. Meanwhile, Lloyd's of London sends one of their ablest men, Jem Trahearne (Robert Newton), to investigate the recurring shipwrecks. Jem checks in to the Jamaica Inn, and when the coven of smugglers finds out who he is, they capture him and attempt to kill him. But Mary comes to his rescue and saves him. Through the inn, the smugglers try to recapture Jem -- along with Mary. Thrown together by dire circumstances, the two fall in love. Meanwhile, all the shenanigans occurring at the Jamaica Inn appear to be driving Pengallon insane. ~ Paul Brenner, All Movie Guide
Review
Jamaica Inn is definitely lesser Alfred Hitchcock, but it's not the terrible film it's often assumed to be. True, it suffers considerably from the fact that star Charles Laughton was also the producer, interfering mightily with Hitchcock and not allowing the director the free hand he needed to salvage what was admittedly a rather dull script. In spite of this, however, there are a number of Hitchcockian touches, including an amoral, misanthropic man who teeters on (and goes over) the brink of madness (think Strangers on a Train and Psycho). And the director does very well with his large-scale action sequences, as well as guiding new leading lady Maureen O'Hara in an impressive star performance. (For the record, O'Hara also looks simply stunning.) Laughton is a much bigger problem, giving a performance that is ludicrous and over the top; it's true that he holds your attention (even when the character shouldn't be doing so), but Laughton becomes tiresome very quickly. Robert Newton, as the hero/love interest, is also a bit stiff. Still, even with Hitchcock operating at less than his best, he does manage to make Jamaica reasonably entertaining -- especially when Laughton gets out of the way. ~ Craig Butler, All Movie Guide
Mervyn Johns - Thomas; Marie Ney - Patience Merlyn; Wylie Watson - Salvation Watkins; Stephen Haggard - Boy; William Devlin - Pengallan's Tenant; Jeanne de Casalis - Pengallan's Guest; Robert A'Dair; Marie Ault; O.B. Clarence; George Curzon - Pengallan's Guest; Morland Graham - Sea-Lawyer Sidney; Edwin Greenwood - Dandy; Clare Greet - Pengallan's Tenant; Horace Hodges - Chadwick, the Butler; Mary Jerrold; Harry Lane; Herbert Lomas - Pengallan's Tenant; John Longden - Capt. Johnson; Aubrey Mather; Philip Ray; Mabel Terry-Lewis - Pengallan's Guest; William Fazan; Sam Lee; Alan Lewis; Bromley Davenport - Pengallan's Guest; George Gurzon; Archie Harradine; George Smith
Credit
Tom N. Moraham - Art Director, Molly McArthur - Costume Designer, Alfred Hitchcock - Director, Robert Hamer - Editor, Eric Fenby - Composer (Music Score), Frederick Lewis - Musical Direction/Supervision, Ern Westmore - Makeup, Bernard Knowles - Cinematographer, Harry Stradling - Cinematographer, Hugh Perceval - Production Manager, Charles Laughton - Producer, Erich Pommer - Producer, Tom N. Moraham - Set Designer, Thomas H. Morahan - Set Designer, Harry Watts - Special Effects, Sidney Gilliat - Screenwriter, J.B. Priestley - Screenwriter, Joan Harrison - Screenwriter, Alma Reville - Screenwriter, Daphne du Maurier - Book Author
Jamaica Inn starred Charles Laughton and Maureen O'Hara. Critics disparaged the film and today it is considered one of Hitchcock's lesser films.[1] However, the film still garnered a large profit (3.7 million dollars, a huge success, at the time) at the box office.[2]
Charles Laughton was a co-producer as well, and he interfered greatly with Hitchcock's direction.
Laughton was originally cast as the uncle, but he cast himself in the role of villain, which was originally to be a hypocritical preacher, but was rewritten as a squire because unsympathetic portrayals of the clergy were forbidden by the Production Code in Hollywood.[3]
Laughton then demanded that Hitchcock give his character, Squire Pengallon, greater screen time. This forced Hitchcock to reveal that Pengallon was a villain in league with the smugglers earlier in the film than Hitchcock had initially planned.[2]
Laughton's acting was a problem point as well for Hitchcock. Laughton portrayed the Squire as having a mincing walk, to the beat of a German waltz which he played in his head,[4] while Hitchcock thought it was out of character.
Some good did come out of Laughton's meddling, though. He demanded that Maureen O'Hara be given the lead after watching her screen test (her acting in the screen test was sub par, but Laughton could not forget her eyes). After filming finished, Charles Laughton brought her to Hollywood to play Esmeralda opposite his Quasimodo in The Hunchback of Notre Dame, where she became an international star. In March 1939, Hitchcock moved to Hollywood to begin his contract with David O. Selznick, so Jamaica Inn was his last British picture, as well as one of his most successful.[4]
Daphne Du Maurier was not pleased with the finished production, and for a while she considered withholding the film rights to Rebecca.[4]
Plot
“
OH LORD, WE PRAY THEE - NOT THAT WRECKS SHOULD HAPPEN - BUT THAT IF THEY DO HAPPEN, THOU WILT GUIDE THEM TO THE COAST OF CORNWALL FOR THE BENEFIT OF THE POOR INHABITANTS. SO RAN AN OLD CORNISH PRAYER OF THE EARLY NINETEENTH CENTURY, BUT IN THAT LAWLESS CORNER OF ENGLAND, BEFORE THE BRITISH COASTGUARD SERVICE CAME INTO BEING...
”
Jamaica Inn is headquarters to a gang of smugglers, led by the innkeeper Joss (Leslie Banks). The smugglers conceal coastal beacons in order to cause ships to run aground. Then they loot the wrecks and kill the surviving sailors.
Mary (Maureen O'Hara), the orphaned niece of Joss's wife Patience (Marie Ney) comes to live at the inn, and saves the life of Traherne (Robert Newton), a gang member lynched by his fellow smugglers for embezzling. Traherne is actually an inside man, trying to bring down Joss' gang. They flee the inn and seek the protection of Sir Humphrey Pengallon, the local magistrate, little knowing that that he actually protects Joss' gang, as he needs the loot in order to maintain his lavish lifestyle.
Traherne and Mary must race against time to stop a ship from being wrecked, and an unlikely love affair blossoms.
Character actors
Besides Laughton and O'Hara, secondary characters are played by several notable stage-and-screen character actors of the time, including "bruiser-type" actor Leslie Banks (who played General Zharov in The Most Dangerous Game) as Joss Merlin, and Robert Newton in an uncharacteristic role as Jem Trahearne, a suave young secret-police agent with no trace of Irish accent.
Copyright status
Like other Hitchcock works made for British International Pictures, the copyright status of this film is unclear at present, meaning that it is widely accepted as being in the public domain. This status means that it is widely available in both the VHS and DVD format at very modest prices but that the quality of most available copies tends to be quite poor, as there is little profit motive for any would-be restorer of the work.
References
^Spoto, Donald (1999). The Dark Side of Genius: The Life of Alfred Hitchcock. Da Capo. pp. 184–185. ISBN 030680932X.
