In <I>Jamaica Inn</I>--a rip-roaring melodrama drawn from a Daphne du Maurier potboiler set in 1820s Cornwall--an innocent young orphan (the 19-year-old Maureen O'Hara in her first starring role) arrives at her uncle's remote Cornish inn to find it a den of reprobates given to smuggling, wrecking, and gross overacting. They're all out-hammed, though, by Charles Laughton at his most corseted and outrageously self-indulgent as the local squire to whom O'Hara runs for help. Since his star was also the coproducer, Alfred Hitchcock couldn't do much with the temperamental actor. He contented himself with adding a few characteristic touches--including a spot of bondage (always a Hitchcock favorite)--and slyly sending up the melodramatic absurdities of the plot. <I>Jamaica Inn</I> hardly stands high in the Master's canon, but it trundles along divertingly enough. Hitchcock fanatics will have fun comparing it with his two subsequent--and far more accomplished--du Maurier adaptations, <I>Rebecca</I> and <I>The Birds</I>. <I>--Philip Kemp</I>
Viewer Reviews The poor residents along the Cornish coast would benefit from the flotsam and jetsam that washed ashore from shipwrecks. Sometimes beacon lights would be fixed to draw a ship to wreckage upon the rocks. There were never any survivors to these planned wrecks. One happy laborer whistles while he works. A coach does not excel in customer service. A young woman May is going to her relatives who own Jamaica Inn. We soon learn about Sir Humphrey and his connection to the gang at Jamaica Inn. May hears and sees what they are doing! May saves Trehearne and they escape together. [This is a common theme in Hitchcock's films.]
Sir Humphrey dispenses the law in these parts. Trehearne's discloses his identity to Sir Humphrey, and they go to search Jamaica Inn. But the gang surprises and overpowers them. Will the hero escape from his captivity? Will the wreckers be frustrated in their crimes? Will the evil villain be brought to justice? Soldiers arrive to capture the gang. There is a dramatic ending to this story, which was adapted from a Daphne Du Maurier novel.
One advantage of this film is the demonstration on how to load a flintlock pistol. Hitchcock's films often used an authority figure as the villain. His films were improved after he moved to Hollywood and got a bigger budget.
