Jamaica Inn (1939)

Regisseur:

Alfred Hitchcock

Drehbuchautoren:

Sidney Gilliat (screenplay) &
Joan Harrison (screenplay) ...

Premierendatum:

13. Oktober 1939 (USA)

Genre:

Abenteuer | Krimi

Plot:

In Cornwall, around 1800, a young woman discovers that she's living near a gang of criminals who arrange shipwrecks for profit.

Plot Keywords:

Suspense | Pirate | Nobility | Murder | Police

Nutzerkommentare:

No Bad Clergymen in America

Besetzung

Charles Laughton	...	Sir Humphrey Pengallan
Horace Hodges	...	Chadwick - his Butler
Hay Petrie	...	Sam - his Groom
Frederick Piper	...	Davies - his Agent
Herbert Lomas	...	His Tenant
Clare Greet	...	Granny Tremarney - Sir Humphrey's tenant
William Devlin	...	His Tenant
Jeanne De Casalis	...	His Friend (as Jeanne de Casalis)
Mabel Terry-Lewis	...	Lady Beston - Sir Humphrey's friend (as Mabel Terry Lewis)
A. Bromley Davenport	...	Ringwood - Sir Humphrey's friend (as Bromley Davenport)
George Curzon	...	Captain Murray - Sir Humphrey's friend
Basil Radford	...	Lord George - Sir Humphrey's friend
Leslie Banks	...	Joss Merlyn
Marie Ney	...	Aunt Patience Merlyn
Maureen O'Hara	...	Mary Yellen

Alternativ:

Riff-Piraten (Österreich) (Bundesrepublik Deutschland) [de]
Taverne von Jamaika, Die (Bundesrepublik Deutschland) [de]

Länge:

108 Min | Canada:90 Min (Ontario) | USA:98 Min

Produktionsland:

UK

Sprache:

Englisch

Farbe:

Schwarzweiss

Seitenverhältnis:

1.37 : 1

Tonverfahren:

Mono (RCA Photophone System)

Altersfreigabe:

USA:Approved (PCA #02483) | Australia:G (TV rating) | UK:A (original rating) | France:U | USA:Passed (National Board of Review) | Canada:PG (Ontario) | Finland:K-12 (1995) | Finland:K-15 (2006) | Argentina:13 | Australia:PG | Finland:K-16 | Germany:12 | Sweden:15 | UK:U

Drehorte:

Associated British Elstree Studios, Shenley Road, Borehamwood, Hertfordshire, England, UK

Firma:

Mayflower Pictures Corporation

Dies und das:

This was the first of three Daphne Du Maurier tales that Alfred Hitchcock made into movies. The other two were Rebecca (1940) and The Birds (1963).

Pannen:

Abfolgefehler: In the first scene where the wreckers are assembled at the inn, Dandy's many tattoos are shown in close-up and feature prominently as he recalls a past love affair commemorated in one of them. Yet in one tableau view of the gang from that same scene, there's not a single tattoo to be seen on his chest under his open coat.

Dialogzitate:

Sir Humphrey Pengallan: [to Mary after murdering her Aunt Patience] Good clean shot, wasn't it? I'm sorry. Poor creature, she had suffered so much, but I was forced to do it! You see, she was going to tell you about me. I didn't like that. I wanted to tell you myself.

Bezüge zu anderen Titeln:

Neufassung von Auberge de la Jamaïque, L' (1995) (TV)

No Bad Clergymen in America

According to Maureen O'Hara's memoirs, Alfred Hitchcock never liked to do period costume pieces, he felt those were not suitable to his particular talents. But he did this one for Daphne Du Maurier because he wanted to film Du Maurier's Rebecca later on. Which as we all know Hitchcock did and was very successful.

There are elements of Jamaica Inn that certainly might have appealed to Hitchcock. Maureen O'Hara arrives at the Jamaica Inn on Great Britain's Cornwall coast to stay with her aunt. The Inn however is the headquarters for a gang that wrecks ships on the coast, kills everyone on board and steals the cargo. Leslie Banks is the head of the group there. We also have a Georgian dandy in the person of Charles Laughton who has a lascivious eye for Maureen O'Hara. He's not what he appears to be. The whole idea of this innocent among the cutthroats not knowing who to trust would definitely have appealed to Hitchcock.

The original novel had Laughton's character as a hypocritical parson, but for American distribution his character was changed to a local nobleman. The Hays office forbade a man of the cloth be shown in such a light.

Parson or nobleman unfortunately Hitchcock did not rein in Laughton. In this particular film, he's just too hammy. Then again he was the co-producer of this so no one was in a position to tell him anything.

O'Hara credits Laughton for launching her career. He brought her to America right after this and had RKO sign her to play Esmerelda in The Hunchback of Notre Dame. A far better film than Jamaica Inn.

Robert Newton and Emlyn Williams have roles of substance here as well. Jamaica Inn might be worth a look.