''A High Wind in Jamaica'' is a 1965

DeLuxe Color DeLuxe Color or Deluxe color or Color by DeLuxe is Deluxe Laboratories brand of color process for motion pictures. DeLuxe Color is Eastmancolor-based, with certain adaptations for improved compositing for printing (similar to Technicolor's "sele ...

film, based on the 1929 novel of the same name by Richard Hughes, and directed by

Alexander Mackendrick Alexander Mackendrick (September 8, 1912 – December 22, 1993) was an American-born director and professor, long based in Scotland. He was born in Boston, Massachusetts, and later moved to Scotland. He began making television commercials befor ...

for the

20th Century-Fox 20th Century Studios, Inc. (previously known as 20th Century Fox) is an American film production company headquartered at the Fox Studio Lot in the Century City area of Los Angeles. As of 2019, it serves as a film production arm of Walt Dis ...

studio. It stars

Anthony Quinn Manuel Antonio Rodolfo Quinn Oaxaca (April 21, 1915 – June 3, 2001), known professionally as Anthony Quinn, was a Mexican-American actor. He was known for his portrayal of earthy, passionate characters "marked by a brutal and elemental v ...

and

James Coburn James Harrison Coburn III (August 31, 1928 – November 18, 2002) was an American film and television actor who was featured in more than 70 films, largely action roles, and made 100 television appearances during a 45-year career.AllmoviBi ...

as the pirates who capture five children. Other cast members include

Deborah Baxter Deborah Baxter (born 1954) is an English actress who appeared in the films '' A High Wind in Jamaica'' and ''The Wind and the Lion''. Career Born in England, Baxter was selected from 1,000 applicants for the starring role of Emily Thornton in ...

Nigel Davenport Arthur Nigel Davenport (23 May 1928 – 25 October 2013) was an English stage, television and film actor, best known as the Duke of Norfolk and Lord Birkenhead in the Academy Award-winning films '' A Man for All Seasons'' and '' Chariots of F ...

Isabel Dean Isabel Dean (born Isabel Hodgkinson, 29 May 1918 – 27 July 1997) was an English stage, film and television actress. Life and career Born in Aldridge, Staffordshire, Dean studied painting at Birmingham Art School. In 1937, she joined the Che ...

, Lila Kedrova,

Kenneth J. Warren Kenneth John Warren (25 September 1929 – 27 August 1973) was an Australian actor. Bald and heavily built, Warren went to North Sydney Boys High School. He started acting in 1949. He emigrated to the UK in the late 1950s, after appearing in t ...

, and

Gert Frobe Gert is a mainly masculine given name ( short form of Gerrit, Gerard, etc.) with some female bearers (short for Gertrude). Since 1993 no one in Sweden has been baptised as Gert according to the Swedish Bureau of Census, so the name is becomin ...

. One of the child actors is the author

Martin Amis Martin Louis Amis (born 25 August 1949) is a British novelist, essayist, memoirist, and screenwriter. He is best known for his novels ''Money'' (1984) and ''London Fields'' (1989). He received the James Tait Black Memorial Prize for his memoir ' ...

Plot

A hurricane hits

Jamaica Jamaica (; ) is an island country situated in the Caribbean Sea. Spanning in area, it is the third-largest island of the Greater Antilles and the Caribbean (after Cuba and Hispaniola). Jamaica lies about south of Cuba, and west of Hispa ...

in 1870. The Thorntons (

and

), parents of five children, feel it is time to send them to England for a more civilized upbringing and education. During the voyage, pirates board the ship and the children end up accidentally leaving on the pirate ship. The pirate captain, Chavez (

) and first mate Zac (

) do not wish to risk a kidnapping charge and decide to sail to

Tampico Tampico is a city and port in the southeastern part of the state of Tamaulipas, Mexico. It is located on the north bank of the Pánuco River, about inland from the Gulf of Mexico, and directly north of the state of Veracruz. Tampico is the fifth ...

and leave the children in the safe keeping of Rosa ( Lila Kedrova), a brothel madam with a good heart. Rosa warns the pirates that the law is after them. Since they are innocent of the crimes attributed to them by the authorities — namely, the murder of the children — Chavez and Zac are unconcerned. But then one of the children, John (

), slips from a window of the brothel and falls to his death. Rosa does not want any involvement in a potential murder case and tells Chavez to take the remaining children away. The crew feel that the children are unlucky and demand that they be abandoned on the next island. When Emily (

) falls ill, Chavez refuses to attack a passing

Dutch Dutch commonly refers to: * Something of, from, or related to the Netherlands * Dutch people () * Dutch language () Dutch may also refer to: Places * Dutch, West Virginia, a community in the United States * Pennsylvania Dutch Country People E ...

vessel, wishing to ensure that it remain undamaged and fully crewed in order to take Emily to be treated and the children to safety. His men mutiny, lock up Chavez, seize the Dutch boat, and capture its captain (

Gert Fröbe Karl Gerhart "Gert" Fröbe (; 25 February 1913 – 5 September 1988) was a German actor. He was best known in English-speaking countries for his work as Auric Goldfinger in the James Bond film '' Goldfinger'', as Peachum in ''The Threepenny Ope ...

). A

Royal Navy The Royal Navy (RN) is the United Kingdom's naval warfare force. Although warships were used by English and Scottish kings from the early medieval period, the first major maritime engagements were fought in the Hundred Years' War against Fr ...

cutter appears and the pirates re-board their own ship in panic. Emily is awakened by the bound Dutch captain, who storms frantically into her room holding a knife and, speaking only Dutch, is imploring her to cut his bindings. Terrified, and dazed by the sleeping draughts she has been given by Chavez to soothe her pain, she mistakes his intentions, and stabs him to death. The shocked Chavez intervenes too late and is left with blood on his hands. He and his former crew are taken prisoner and shipped to Britain for trial. Under questioning in court, the barrister twists Emily's words to imply she blames Chavez for killing the Dutch captain. The pirates are sentenced to hanging for this death, instead of merely being imprisoned for piracy. In the final scene children play innocently by a lake. Emily stands amongst them—staring at a model ship with adult eyes.

Cast

as Chavez *

as Zac *

as Emily *

Dennis Price Dennistoun Franklyn John Rose Price (23 June 1915 – 6 October 1973) was an English actor, best remembered for his role as Louis Mazzini in the film '' Kind Hearts and Coronets'' (1949) and for his portrayal of the omnicompetent valet Jeeve ...

as Mathias * Lila Kedrova as Rosa *

as Frederick Thornton *

as Alice Thornton *

as Capt. Marpole * Ben Carruthers as Alberto (as Benito Carruthers) *

as Dutch Captain (as Gert Frobe) * Brian Phelan as Curtis *

Trader Faulkner Ronald "Trader" Faulkner (7 September 1927 – 14 April 2021) was an Australian actor, raconteur and flamenco dancer, best known for his work in the UK on the stage and television. Early life Faulkner was born in Manly, Australia, the son of ...

as Pirate * Charles Laurence as Tallyman *

Charles Hyatt Charles Eglerton Hyatt (14 February 1931 – 01 January 2007) was a Jamaican actor, playwright, director, author and broadcaster. Hyatt was best known as a character actor and comedian who appeared in numerous films and television shows, beginni ...

as Pirate * Dan Jackson as Pirate The title song was produced and written by Larry Adler and sung by Mike LeRoy.

Reception

Reviews were mixed to positive, with some critics expressing disappointment that aspects of the novel were lost in the transition to film.

A. H. Weiler Abraham H. Weiler (December 10, 1908 – January 22, 2002) was an American writer and critic best known for being a film critic and motion picture editor for ''The New York Times''. He also served a term as chairman of the New York Film Critics ...

of ''

The New York Times ''The New York Times'' (''the Times'', ''NYT'', or the Gray Lady) is a daily newspaper based in New York City with a worldwide readership reported in 2020 to comprise a declining 840,000 paid print subscribers, and a growing 6 million paid ...

'' wrote, "Although hands involved are either experienced or willing, a good deal of the nuance, philosophy and insight into the human condition for which the book was lauded, appear to be missing on the screen. This is simply a voyage full of sound and fury but one without much conviction or meaning."

Richard L. Coe Richard Livingston Coe (New York City, November 8, 1914 – Washington, D.C., November 12, 1995) was a theater and cinema critic for The Washington Post for more than forty years. Coe became known as one of the most influential theater critics outsi ...

of ''

The Washington Post ''The Washington Post'' (also known as the ''Post'' and, informally, ''WaPo'') is an American daily newspaper published in Washington, D.C. It is the most widely circulated newspaper within the Washington metropolitan area and has a large n ...

'' called it "an absorbing, unusual and fit-for-the-family film, though it will not satisfy those who treasure the Richard Hughes novel ... By shifting the focus onto the pirate-captain, the film all but buries the role the children play." Philip K. Scheuer of the ''

Los Angeles Times The ''Los Angeles Times'' (abbreviated as ''LA Times'') is a daily newspaper that started publishing in Los Angeles in 1881. Based in the LA-adjacent suburb of El Segundo since 2018, it is the sixth-largest newspaper by circulation in the ...

'' wrote, "it is a good movie, an entertaining movie, but it lacks the dirk-sharp bite of the author's prose, and the antic madness that made it such an astonishing delight now cuts through only fitfully." ''

Variety Variety may refer to: Arts and entertainment Entertainment formats * Variety (radio) * Variety show, in theater and television Films * ''Variety'' (1925 film), a German silent film directed by Ewald Andre Dupont * ''Variety'' (1935 film), ...

'' was generally positive, noting a "warm screenplay" and "often spectacular treatment" given to the color photography. A review in ''

The Monthly Film Bulletin ''The Monthly Film Bulletin'' was a periodical of the British Film Institute published monthly from February 1934 to April 1991, when it merged with ''Sight & Sound''. It reviewed all films on release in the United Kingdom, including those with a ...

'' stated that although Hughes' novel had "undergone a softening process," it was "surprising how well the film manages to suggest the feeling that the children are living in a world of their own as they play happily throughout their ordeal ... Equally good is the atmosphere of superstitious terror among the native crew, fed by the children's innocent teasing."

Box office

According to Fox records, the film needed to earn $6,300,000 in rentals to break even and made $2,260,000, meaning it made a loss.

References

External links

* * * * {{DEFAULTSORT:High Wind In Jamaica, A 1965 films 1965 drama films 1960s historical adventure films 20th Century Fox films CinemaScope films British historical adventure films British adventure drama films British coming-of-age films Pirate films British swashbuckler films Films directed by Alexander Mackendrick Films shot at Pinewood Studios Films based on British novels Films set in 1870 Films set in the Caribbean Films shot in Jamaica Films with screenplays by Ronald Harwood Films with screenplays by Stanley Mann 1960s English-language films 1960s British films