''Jamaica Run'' is a 1953 American

Technicolor Technicolor is a family of Color motion picture film, color motion picture processes. The first version, Process 1, was introduced in 1916, and improved versions followed over several decades. Definitive Technicolor movies using three black-and ...

adventure An adventure is an exciting experience or undertaking that is typically bold, sometimes risky. Adventures may be activities with danger such as traveling, exploring, skydiving, mountain climbing, scuba diving, river rafting, or other extreme spo ...

drama film In film and television, drama is a category or genre of narrative fiction (or semi-fiction) intended to be more serious than humorous in tone. The drama of this kind is usually qualified with additional terms that specify its particular ...

directed by Lewis R. Foster and starred

Ray Milland Ray Milland (born Alfred Reginald Jones; 3 January 1907 – 10 March 1986) was a Welsh-American actor and film director. He is often remembered for his portrayal of an alcoholic writer in Billy Wilder's ''The Lost Weekend'' (1945), which wo ...

Arlene Dahl Arlene Carol Dahl (August 11, 1925 – November 29, 2021) was an American actress active in films from the late 1940s. Born in Minnesota to parents of Norwegian descent, Dahl started her acting career in musicals before transitioning to film, wh ...

and

Wendell Corey Wendell Reid Corey (March 20, 1914 – November 8, 1968) was an American stage, film, and television actor. He was President of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences and a board member of the Screen Actors Guild, and also served on the ...

. Much of the personnel in this movie worked on the previous year's '' Caribbean Gold''. The plot concernsownership of an old estate set on the island in the Caribbean.

Plot

Pat Fairlie is out of the Navy now and travels to Jamaica to renew acquaintance with Ena Dacey, an old flame. Ena lives on a stately sugar plantation with her brother, Todd, and their mother. Land baron Montague comes to collect the rent. The mother speaks arrogantly about the family's wealth. In reality, the Daceys have financial woes, but pay a mere one pound per year to lease the place, due to a long-ago bargain made after documents proving the rightful owner's purchase were lost at sea. Montague comes to Pat with a proposition. He believes the chest containing the documents can be recovered from the ocean floor and wants Pat to be his diver. Janice and Robert Clayton have put in claims to Montague that the property should be legally theirs. Pat refuses to help, but Montague explains that some other diver will, so Pat might as well be there to look out for his Ena's family interests. Mysterious events begin to occur. Todd appears to fall in love with Janice, but when she nearly drowns until Pat rescues her, Todd's behavior seems suspicious. Robert is then found by Pat, dead on the ocean floor. Inspector Mole of the island police arrives to investigate and soon concludes it's not an accident but a murder. A treasure chest is found, presumably containing the vital documents. After an attempt on Pat's life, he and Ena do some investigative work on their own. They find an antique dealer who recently sold such a chest to a customer. Montague is identified as the culprit, trying to pull an elaborate land swindle using forged documents. He is arrested for Robert's murder, while the others must rush to save the plantation after the delusional Mrs. Dacey sets fire to it.

Cast

as Patrick Fairlie *

as Ena Dacey *

as Todd Dacey *

Patric Knowles Patric Knowles (born Reginald Lawrence Knowles; 11 November 1911 – 23 December 1995) was an English film actor. Born in Horsforth, West Riding of Yorkshire, he later changed his name to reflect his Irish heritage. He made his film debut ...

as William Montague * Kasey Rogers as Janice Clayton * Carroll McComas as Mrs. Dacey *

William Walker William Walker may refer to: Arts * William Walker (engraver) (1791–1867), mezzotint engraver of portrait of Robert Burns * William Sidney Walker (1795–1846), English Shakespearean critic * William Walker (composer) (1809–1875), American Bap ...

as Human *

Murray Matheson Sidney Murray Matheson (1 July 1912 – 25 April 1985) was a U.S.-based Australian actor. He appeared on stage and in films and television programs until 1983. Biography Matheson was born in Casterton, Australia in 1912 where he grew up on a 3 ...

as Inspector Mole *

Clarence Muse Clarence Muse (October 14, 1889 – October 13, 1979) was an American actor, screenwriter, director, singer, and composer. He was the first African American to appear in a starring role in a major studio film, 1929's '' Hearts in Dixie''. ...

as Mose *

Michael Moore Michael Francis Moore is an American film director, producer, screenwriter, and author. Moore's work frequently addresses various Social issue, social, political, and economic topics. He first became publicly known for his award-winning debut ...

as Robert Clayton *Rex Evans as Judge Henry *

Robert Warwick Robert Warwick (born Robert Taylor Bien; October 9, 1878 – June 6, 1964) was an American stage, film and television actor with over 200 film appearances. A matinee idol during the silent film era, he also prospered after the introduction ...

as Court Judge *

Lester Matthews Arthur Lester Matthews (6 June 1900 – 5 June 1975) was an English actor. Career In his career, the handsome Englishman made more than 180 appearances in film and on television. He was erroneously credited in later years as Les Matthews. M ...

as Judge *

Leonard Mudie Leonard Mudie (born Leonard Mudie Cheetham; April 11, 1883April 14, 1965) was an English character actor whose career lasted for nearly fifty years. After a successful start as a stage actor in England, he appeared regularly in the US, and made ...

as Dr. Spaddons * Davis Roberts as Rob *

Roy Glenn Roy Edwin Glenn, Sr. (June 3, 1914 – March 12, 1971) was an American character actor. Early life Glenn was born in Pittsburg, Kansas on June 3, 1914. Career Glenn's career spanned five decades, beginning in radio in the 1940s with multiple ...

as Court Announcer

Production

The film was based on a 1950 novel, ''The Neat Little Corpse'' by Max Murray, which was originally published as a magazine serial. The ''New York Times'' called it "highly agreeable". Film rights were bought by

Pine-Thomas Productions Pine-Thomas Productions was a prolific B-picture unit of Paramount Pictures from 1940–1957, producing 81 films. Co-producers William H. Pine (February 15, 1896 – April 29, 1955) and William C. Thomas (August 11, 1903 – April 2, 1984) were kno ...

who announced it as a vehicle for

in January 1952. Lewis Foster was given the job of directing and writing the script. In March

signed to co star. The following month

agreed to do the film. Ray Milland had a contract to make one film a year with Paramount (who released Pine-Thomas films). He was wanted by producer Harold Popkin to make '' The Thief'' but Paramount insisted he make ''Jamaica Run'' under their contract instead. The impasse was resolved by the intervention of Milland's agents at MCA and filming for ''Jamaica Run'' was pushed back. Filming started 1 May 1953. Pine-Thomas made the film as a "Clarion" Production, a company they sometimes used for their more expensive films.

References

External links

*
''Jamaica Run''
at

TCMDB Turner Classic Movies (TCM) is an American movie-oriented pay-TV network owned by Warner Bros. Discovery. Launched in 1994, Turner Classic Movies is headquartered at Turner's Techwood broadcasting campus in the Midtown business district of ...

Review of film
at ''Variety''
Jamaica Run @ allmovie.com
{{DEFAULTSORT:Jamaica Run 1953 films Films directed by Lewis R. Foster Paramount Pictures films Films set in Jamaica Seafaring films Underwater action films 1950s English-language films American adventure drama films 1950s American films Films scored by Lucien Cailliet