A High Wind in Jamaica

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A High Wind in Jamaica
Author	Richard Hughes
Country	United Kingdom
Language	English
Genre(s)	Novel
Publisher	Chatto and Windus
Publication date	1929
Media type	Print (Hardcover)
Pages	283 pp
ISBN	NA

A High Wind in Jamaica
original film poster
Directed by	Alexander Mackendrick
Produced by	John Croydon
Written by	Stanley Mann Ronald Harwood Denis Cannan
Starring	Anthony Quinn James Coburn Lila Kedrova
Music by	Larry Adler
Cinematography	Douglas Slocombe
Distributed by	Twentieth Century-Fox
Release date(s)	1965
Running time	103 min.
IMDb profile

A High Wind in Jamaica is 1929 novel by Richard Hughes and a 1965 film.

1 Plot
2 Film
3 Critical Reception
4 External links

[edit] Plot

The Bas-Thornton children are raised on a plantation in Jamaica during the late 19th century. A hurricane destroys their home and the family must leave the island. With other residents of the island, they leave on a ship that is immediately seized by pirates. The children are treated as adults in both respect and wrongs and commit crimes themselves of an adult nature. The pirate ship is seized by British authorities and the pirates are subsequently executed for the crimes they committed against the children. The murder they are convicted of and lynched for was actually committed by one of the children.

[edit] Film

The book was turned into a film in 1965 by director Alexander Mackendrick for the 20th Century-Fox studio, starring Anthony Quinn and James Coburn as the pirates who capture the children (an interesting note: one of the child actors is the author Martin Amis). Other cast members include Deborah Baxter, Nigel Davenport, Isabel Dean, Lila Kedrova, Kenneth J. Warren, and Gert Frobe.

The film is regarded highly today because of Mackendrick's direction and Anthony Quinn's lead performance as the pirate captain whose relationship with the children betokens a subtle change in his character, finally leading to his downfall and the pirates' end.

Mackendrick (1912-1993) was best known as a director of the Ealing comedies The Man in the White Suit (1951) and The Ladykillers (1955). The material in A High Wind in Jamaica afforded the director an opportunity to combine a light touch with serious drama. Essentially, what makes the film fascinating is the theme of children growing up and their contact with a world of adults (the pirates) who act as if they are grown-up children.

[edit] Critical Reception

The book received much criticism for its content at the time of release. Many critics responded negatively to the behavior and treatment of the children as written by Hughes ranging from sexual abuse to murder.

Hughes was also lauded for confronting the Victorian romances of childhood through expressing the children without emotional reduction. The book is often given credit for influencing and paving the way for novels such as Lord of the Flies by William Golding.