Jamaica Inn
original film poster
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. Image File history File links 258880. ... Sir Alfred Joseph Hitchcock, KBE (13 August 1899 – 29 April 1980) was a highly influential director and producer who pioneered many techniques in the suspense and thriller genres. ... Charles Laughton (1 July 1899 – 15 December 1962) was an English stage and film actor. ... Daphne du Maurier DBE (13 May 1907 – 19 April 1989) was one of the most successful Cornish novelists of all time. ... Sidney Gilliat (February 15, 1908 – May 31, 1994) was a British film director, producer and writer. ... Joan Harrison (June 26, 1907 - August 14, 1994) was a film producer and screenwriter. ... Sidney Gilliat (February 15, 1908 – May 31, 1994) was a British film director, producer and writer. ... Alma Reville (August 14, 1899 – July 6, 1982 in Bel-Air, Los Angeles, California) was an actress, assistant director and the wife of Alfred Hitchcock, whom she met while working as an assistant director on one of his first films. ... John Boynton Priestley (September 13, 1894, Bradford, England - August 14, 1984, Stratford-upon-Avon) was a British writer and broadcaster. ... Charles Laughton (1 July 1899 – 15 December 1962) was an English stage and film actor. ... Maureen OHara Maureen OHara (born Maureen FitzSimons) on August 17, 1920 is an Irish film actress. ... Emlyn Williams (Agust, 1994 - August 6, 1987) was a Welsh dramatist and actor. ... Eric Fenby (1906–1997) is best known for transcribing the works of Frederick Delius from 1928 to 1934. ... Harry Stradling Sr. ... 1939 (MCMXXXIX) was a common year starting on Sunday (link will take you to calendar). ... Film is a term that encompasses motion pictures as individual projects, as well as the field in general. ... Sir Alfred Joseph Hitchcock, KBE (13 August 1899 – 29 April 1980) was a highly influential director and producer who pioneered many techniques in the suspense and thriller genres. ... Daphne du Maurier DBE (13 May 1907 – 19 April 1989) was one of the most successful Cornish novelists of all time. ... Jamaica Inn is a novel by the Cornish writer Daphne du Maurier, first published in 1936. ... 1939 (MCMXXXIX) was a common year starting on Sunday (link will take you to calendar). ... In the performing arts, a period piece is a work set in a particular era. ... Cornish Flag Cornwall (Cornish: Kernow) is a county in South West England on the peninsula that lies to the west of the River Tamar. ... 1820 was a leap year starting on Saturday (see link for calendar). ... Eric Fenby (1906–1997) is best known for transcribing the works of Frederick Delius from 1928 to 1934. ...

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. Charles Laughton (1 July 1899 – 15 December 1962) was an English stage and film actor. ... Maureen OHara Maureen OHara (born Maureen FitzSimons) on August 17, 1920 is an Irish film actress. ... The term box office can refer to either: A place where tickets are sold to the public for admission to a venue The amount of business a particular production, such as a movie or theatre show, does. ...

Laughton and Hitchcock

Charles Laughton was a co-producer as well, and he interfered greatly with Hitchcock's direction.

Laughton was orginally 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. Preacher is a colloquial term for a clergyman, in particular a local priest, pastor or Minister; one who preaches. ... Clergy is the generic term used to describe the formal religious leadership within a given religion. ... The Production Code (also known as the Hays Code) was a set of guidelines governing the production of motion pictures. ... ...

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. The waltz (G.: Walzer, It. ...

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. ... Look up emerald in Wiktionary, the free dictionary. ... Quasimodo as depicted in the 1996 Disney animation The Hunchback of Notre Dame Quasimodo is the protagonist of the 1831 novel The Hunchback of Notre Dame (Notre Dame de Paris in French) by French author Victor Hugo. ... The Hunchback of Notre Dame is a 1939 American monochrome motion picture. ...

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. Image File history File links Cquote1. ... Image File history File links Cquote2. ... Leslie Banks (June 9, 1890 – 21 April 1952) was a British theatre and film actor, director and producer. ... Robert Newton as Long John Silver. ...

Traherne and Mary must race against time to stop a ship from being wrecked, and an unlikely love affair blossoms.

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. Associated British Picture Corporation (ABPC), originally British International Pictures (BIP), was a British film production company active from 1927 until 1970. ... This articles section called History of Copyright does not cite its references or sources. ... The public domain comprises the body of all creative works and other knowledge—writing, artwork, music, science, inventions, and others—in which no person or organization has any proprietary interest. ... Top view of VHS cassette with U.S. 25c coin for scale Bottom view of VHS cassette with magnetic tape exposed Top view of VHS cassette with front casing removed The Video Home System, better known by its abbreviation VHS, is a recording and playing standard for video cassette recorders... This article is becoming very long. ...

External links

• Jamaica Inn at the Internet Movie Database