Rent Jamaica Inn (1939)

Cornish melodrama (spoiler). - Jamaica Inn review by Steve

I've seen this on a list of worst ever films. It's nowhere near that bad, but there isn't much of Alfred Hitchcock's signature style. It was made by Charles Laughton's production company as a vehicle for the actor and it's not obvious why the Master got involved. They clashed throughout.

It's the first of three adaptations by Hitchcock of stories by Daphne Du Maurier; this one about wreckers on the Cornish coast who lure cargos onto the rocks. It was filmed on location including the actual Jamaica Inn and there is some nice atmosphere drawn from the scenery. But it's ultimately a bit of a drag.

This is historical melodrama, rather than a thriller. And Hitch doesn't give us many classic visual touches. The best moment is when Laughton as the ringleader of the smugglers jumps to his death from the rigging of a merchant ship, viewed from above. The star overacts shamefully.

There is something wrong when the most restrained performance is by Robert Newton. Margaret O'Hara is feisty in her first leading role (Laughton took her to Hollywood to star in Hunchback of Notre Dame). It doesn't take Hitch long to get her down to her underclothes and into bondage. Which is at least one of his recurring motifs.