Jamaica Inn

Film Details

Cast

Robert Newton, Maureen O Hara

Technical Details

Not Hitch's best but still very entertaining & rarely shown

Hitchcock's parting shot before leaving for Hollywood and greater fame is the least successful of ... more >

Not Hitch's best but still very entertaining & rarely shown

Hitchcock's parting shot before leaving for Hollywood and greater fame is the least successful of his three Daphne du Maurier screen adaptations (the other two, of course, are Rebecca, 1940 and The Birds, 1963).

A classic gothic tale of Cornish skullduggery, smugglers and coming-of-age drama, with a then very young and very beautiful Maureen O'Hara as the heroine staying with her aunt at Jamaica Inn, which doubles as an HQ for a shady ring of pirates.

Charles Laughton is wonderfully over the top as the wicked Squire Penhaligon; Hitch gave up trying to 'direct' the great man and simply allowed a fine actor to dominate proceedings, something he rarely (if ever) allowed again. Terrific entertainment and a real curio in the Hitchcock canon which is well worth a try if you have never seen it. < less

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