Old Film Review. Hitchcock Series: ‘Jamaica Inn’ (1939)

picture edited by Laura Lai

 

by Laura Lai/ Review 

Film’s Title: Jamaica Inn

Lead Actors: Charles Laughton (Sir Humphrey Pengallan), Maureen O’Hara (Mary), Robert Newton (James Trehearne), Laslie Banks (Joss), Mary Ney (Patience). 

Director: Alfred Hitchcock 

The movie is based on the novel Jamaica Inn by Daphne Du Maurier.

Jamaica Inn is the story of Pengallan…legend. The action is placed on the cost of Cornwell, at the beginning of the 19^th century. A group of wreckers, thieves, and murderers was luring ships to the rocks of the coast stealing all the goods on the ship. The constant repetition of the wrecks grew suspicion among officials who sent an officer to work undercover – James Trehearne (Robert Newton). He mixed with the gang at Jamaica Inn, led by Joss (Laslie Banks) and his wife, Patience (Mary Ney).

            At the inn arrived the niece of Patience, from her recently deceased sister – Mary (Maureen O’Hara). She was a beautiful young woman, with principles and lots of character. Officer Trehearne was convinced that this gang had an informer that provided precise information on the ships to be lured to their doom on the rocks of the Cornish Coast. And the entire movie is a great story involving Mary’s character, James' undercover operation, and Sir Humphrey's (Charles Laughton) duplicity. Laughton made a fabulous role. Absolutely magnificent!

From a technical point of view, the wrecking scenes are impressive with the 1939 technique movie. Both the images and the sound are clear – and this fascinates me to dig more and find out the way the director did it. In the scene of the dialogue between Sir Humphrey and Joss (min. 38-39) the camera shots are suggestive in determining the hierarchy of the characters. It is usually said that each person has his own shadow. Well, Sir Humphrey was such an important person, that he was depicted with two shadows. J I would not disconsider this little detail because Alfred Hitchcock is a film mastermind for whom, theoretically, each detail matters.

From a cultural point of view, or better said from a linguistic point of view, officer Trehearne’s short speech while he was tied up is memorable. It is a one-two minutes scene in which he made an appeal to the consciousness of Patience to release him. His words are well-chosen and they made her consciousness clash with her devotion to her husband. 

This scene from a 1939 movie reminded me of more recent movies. See, for example, Al Pacino, ‘Inch by Inch’ speech, Any Given Sunday here, or Al Pacino, ‘I’ll Show You Out of Order!’ speech, Scent of a Woman here, and Leonardo di Caprio, The Wolf of Wall Street speech here). 

Enjoy the movie!

P.S.: See you in the next Hitchcock movie review! J