Jamaica Inn (film)
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| Jamaica Inn | |
|---|---|
 original film poster |
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| Directed by | Alfred Hitchcock |
| Produced by | Erich Pommer Charles Laughton |
| Written by | Daphne du Maurier Sidney Gilliat Joan Harrison Sidney Gilliat Alma Reville J.B. Priestley |
| Starring | Charles Laughton Maureen O'Hara Emlyn Williams |
| Music by | Eric Fenby |
| Cinematography | Bernard Knowles Harry Stradling |
| Distributed by | Mayflower Pictures Corporation Ltd. |
| Release date(s) | 1939 |
| Running time | 98 min. |
| Language | English |
| IMDb profile | |
Jamaica Inn is a film made by Alfred Hitchcock adapted from Daphne du Maurier's novel of the same name, in 1939, the first of three of du Maurier's works that Hitchcock adapted. It is an eerie period piece set in Cornwall in 1820. The score was written by Eric Fenby.
Jamaica Inn starred Charles Laughton and Maureen O'Hara and is considered one of his lesser films. However, it was very successful at the box office.
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[edit] Laughton and Hitchcock
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 Hays Code in Hollywood.
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 at the start of the film, while it would have been much more effective to leave this as a secret to be revealed at the dénouement, as was Hitchcock's initial intention.
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 certain German waltz which he played in his head, while Hitchcock thought it was out of character.
Some good did come out of Laughton 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. Hitchcock would also move to Hollywood soon after, as Jamaica Inn was his last British picture.
[edit] Plot
| “ | OH LORD, WE PRAY THEE - NOT THAT WRECKS SHOULD NOT 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 home to a gang of smugglers, led by the innkeeper Joss (Leslie Banks). The smugglers conceal coastal beacons to cause ships to run aground, then 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 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.
[edit] 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.
