Jamaica Inn
Short description
Mary Yellan, a young orphan, travels to the coast of Cornwall to live with her aunt Patience and her aunt's husband, Joss Merlyn, who keeps the remote Jamaica Inn. She soon learns that the inn serves as a meeting place for a gang of criminals who profit by causing ships to run aground on the rocky shore. The local magistrate, Sir Humphrey Pengallan, appears respectable, while Joss is involved in the gang's activities. Mary also encounters James "Jem" Trehearne, a newcomer to the group whose situation becomes entangled with hers, and she finds herself in danger as she tries to understand what is happening around her.
The film is an adaptation of Daphne du Maurier's novel. Alfred Hitchcock directed it as his twelfth feature in chronological order, between The Lady Vanishes and Rebecca, from a screenplay by Sidney Gilliat and Joan Harrison, with Erich Pommer and Charles Laughton producing. Charles Laughton plays Sir Humphrey Pengallan, Maureen O'Hara plays Mary Yellan, and Robert Newton plays Jem Trehearne, alongside Leslie Banks as Joss Merlyn and Marie Ney as Patience Merlyn. The credited cast numbers thirty-five.
On IMDb the film holds a critics' rating of 5.7 out of 10 from 25 reviews, while on TMDB it has a rating of 6.1 out of 10 from 257 votes, indicating a modest reception from both critics and audiences.
What's left behind the scenes
- When Charles Laughton (1899-1962) was cast as Squire Pengallan, he insisted that Maureen O'Hara (1920-2015) be cast as Mary.
- In the original screenplay by Sydney Gilliat (1908-1994) and Joan Harrison (1907-1994), the villain was a hypocritical preacher. Considering that depicting preachers in a negative light was prohibited by the so-called Hays Code (the ethical code for film production in Hollywood adopted in 1930), it was decided to replace the preacher with a squire. Charles Laughton was initially cast for another role, but he independently took on the role of the villainous squire. As he was also a producer, Laughton demanded more screen time for his character from director Alfred Hitchcock (1899-1980). This forced Hitchcock to reveal the connection between the villain and the smugglers earlier than he had originally planned. Hitchcock also had problems with Laughton's performance. (For example, Laughton portrayed the squire with a slightly effeminate gait – in time with a waltz that the actor hummed to himself – while the director believed that such a gait did not quite suit the villain's image.)
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