Jamaica Inn

Attention all admirers of Hitchcock films! This is the great forgotten Hitchcock film, along with Under Capricorn! 2 must haves for every admirer of Hitckcock films. Both very different than the usual suspence/wrong man Hitchcock film, but both brilliant and beautiful. I'm actually writing this review to warn the buyer NOT to buy the "Laserlight" version, because it is missing about 10 minutes from the film (from the scene right after Mr. Tremain reveals to Squire Pengalen who he really is, to the scene where they show up together at Jamaica Inn). Buy the "Kino" version instead! I can't say enough about both of these 2 films, but I'll leave it up to you, lovers of great cinema, to discover them for yourselves. Especially is you're a fan of Charles Laughton and/or Joseph Cotten and Ingred Bergman. It's worth every extra penny of the difference in price to have the full version of the film. Take a chance, my friend. Be astounded and amazed by these lost treasures, and rejoice at their salvation (and yours!)!

Laughton plays the leader of a band of plundering pirates in this adventure yarn based upon Daphne DuMaurier's soapy gothic novel. He was originally cast as a licentious parson, but, because of a possible (and most likely) run-in with the notorious Hays Office, was switched to the squire role. The ravishingly beautiful but unknown Maureen O'Hara was eighteen here, in her film debut. Laughton informed the other cast members that they should all get behind Maureen and help her: "Two days later, we were fighting for our scenes. That child was stealing our scenes from us!". Also in the cast is playwright Emlyn Williams (THE CORN IS GREEN & NIGHT MUST FALL) and Basil Radford, who had charmed audiences the previous year in Hitchcock's THE LADY VANISHES. This was the last film Hitchcock made in pre-war Britain; he would soon after set sail for America, where he was destined for enormous fame.

Jamaica Inn (1939) is noteworthy for being Alfred Hitchcock's last British motion picture. While it does not merit a place among the master's greatest films and lacks your typical Hitchcockian suspense, it's still a perfectly entertaining film that just so happens to introduce Maureen O'Hara to the world. Charles Laughton steals the show -- in more ways than one -- and probably antagonized Hitchcock to no end; in fact, one could argue that it is as much Laughton's film as it is the Great Director's.

The story is taken from Daphne Du Maurier's novel of the same name, but the story ultimately deviates significantly from its source material. The setting is 1820 Cornwall, a coastal town making the most of shipwrecks along its dangerous coastline. Actually, a group of local ruffians are causing the shipwrecks, luring ships in during storms and then dowsing the light once they approach the coast. The men then kill any survivors of the wreck and steal everything of value on the ship. It makes for a pretty lucrative business, that's for sure. Locals treat the Jamaica Inn, which serves as the headquarters of the ruffians, like it's Dracula's castle, refusing even to stop anywhere near the place. That is why young Mary (Maureen O'Hara) first encounters Squire Humphrey Pengallan (Charles Laughton) before gracing the doorstep of her new home. With the loss of her mother, she has come to live at the Jamaica Inn with her Aunt Patience (Marie Ney). Uncle Joss (Leslie Banks) isn't too high on the idea, but he figures he can handle her unwelcome presence. Things move much too quickly, in my opinion, as Mary almost immediately discovers Joss' true nature and involves herself in the murderous shenanigans her aunt seems content to ignore.

The film would have been much more effective if the identity of the man running this whole operation had not been revealed to us at the very beginning of the movie. The premature release of this information robs the film of a great deal of suspense. You can't pin the blame for this on Hitchcock, however, for that blame falls fully on Charles Laughton. Yes, Laughton is a hoot to watch in his over-the-top performance as Squire Pengallan, and his insistence that an unknown actress named Maureen O'Hara should land the role of Mary despite her somewhat lackluster audition was definitely a good call, but his drastic story-changing demands (from his position as co-producer) have a discernibly negative impact on how the story plays out. The film made money, but it was far from a critical success. For her part, Daphne Du Maurier reportedly hated the film.

No doubt glad to have put this troubled production (which he was never all that excited about to begin with) behind him, Hitchcock was soon on his way to America to adapt another Du Maurier classic, Rebecca, to great acclaim and an Academy Award for Best Picture.