A High Wind in Jamaica (film)
Encyclopedia
A High Wind in Jamaica is a 1965 film, based on the novel of the same name, and directed by Alexander Mackendrick
for the 20th Century-Fox studio. It starred Anthony Quinn
and James Coburn
as the pirates who capture the children.
Other cast members include Deborah Baxter
, Nigel Davenport
, Isabel Dean
, Lila Kedrova
, Kenneth J. Warren
, and Gert Frobe
. One of the child actors is the author Martin Amis
.
The film is regarded highly today because of Mackendrick's direction and Quinn's lead performance as the pirate captain whose relationship with the children betokens a subtle change in his character, finally leading to his downfall and the pirates' end.
Mackendrick (1912-1993) was best known as a director of the Ealing
comedies The Man in the White Suit
(1951) and The Ladykillers
(1955). The material in A High Wind in Jamaica afforded the director an opportunity to combine a light touch with serious drama. Essentially, what makes the film fascinating is the theme of children growing up and their contact with a world of adults (the pirates) who act as if they are grown-up children.
During the voyage, pirates board the ship and take the children captive. The pirate captain, Chavez, takes an immediate liking to young Emily, and decides to sail to Tampico and leave the kids safely with a woman there named Rosa, 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 all the children—Chavez and his first mate (James Coburn) are unconcerned. But then one of the children, John, slips from a window of the brothel and falls to his death. Chavez doesn't wish any more harm to come to the young ones so he refuses to attack a Dutch vessel that comes into view. But his men mutiny, seize the Dutch boat and capture its captain.
Seeing him come toward her with a knife, which he wants her to use to cut his ropes and set him free, Emily instead stabs the Dutch captain and kills him. Not long thereafter, the pirates are captured by British sailors and brought to trial. Under questioning in court, Emily places the responsibility on Chavez instead of on herself. The pirates are hanged.
The title song was produced and written by Larry Adler and sung by Mike LeRoy.
Alexander Mackendrick
Alexander Mackendrick was a Scottish American director and teacher. He was born in Boston, Massachusetts and later moved to Scotland...
for the 20th Century-Fox studio. It starred Anthony Quinn
Anthony Quinn
Antonio Rodolfo Quinn-Oaxaca , more commonly known as Anthony Quinn, was a Mexican American actor, as well as a painter and writer...
and James Coburn
James Coburn
James Harrison Coburn III was an American film and television actor. Coburn appeared in nearly 70 films and made over 100 television appearances during his 45-year career, and played a wide range of roles and won an Academy Award for his supporting role as Glen Whitehouse in Affliction.A capable,...
as the pirates who capture the children.
Other cast members include Deborah Baxter
Deborah Baxter
Deborah Baxter is an English actress who appeared in the films A High Wind in Jamaica and The Wind and the Lion.Born in England, at aged twelve she was selected from 1,000 applicants for the starring role of Emily Thornton in the film A High Wind in Jamaica, after having been discovered by talent...
, Nigel Davenport
Nigel Davenport
Nigel Davenport is an English stage, television and film actor.- Early life :Davenport was born Arthur Nigel Davenport, however he goes by the first name of Nigel. Davenport was born in Shelford, Cambridgeshire, the son of Katherine Lucy and Arthur Henry Davenport. Davenport's father was a bursar...
, Isabel Dean
Isabel Dean
Isabel Dean was an English film and television actress.Born as Isabel Hodgkinson on 29 May 1918 in Aldridge, Staffordshire. She studied painting at the Birmingham Art School and from 1937 joined the Cheltenham Repertory Company as a scenic artist...
, Lila Kedrova
Lila Kedrova
Lila Kedrova was a Russian-born French actress.-Biography:Kedrova claimed to have been born in 1918, in Saint Petersburg, Russia. Her parents were Russian opera singers. Lila Kedrova's brother was Nikolay Kedrov, Jr...
, Kenneth J. Warren
Kenneth J. Warren
Kenneth John Warren was an Australian actor.-Selected Filmography:*Long John Silver *I Was Monty's Double *The Criminal *The Double Man *S*P*Y*S...
, and Gert Frobe
Gert Fröbe
Karl Gerhart Fröbe, better known as Gert Fröbe was a German actor who starred in many films, including the James Bond film Goldfinger as Auric Goldfinger, The Threepenny Opera as Peachum, Chitty Chitty Bang Bang as Baron Bomburst, and in Der Räuber Hotzenplotz as Hotzenplotz.-Life:Born in...
. One of the child actors is the author Martin Amis
Martin Amis
Martin Louis Amis is a British novelist, the author of many novels including Money and London Fields . He is currently Professor of Creative Writing at the Centre for New Writing at the University of Manchester, but will step down at the end of the 2010/11 academic year...
.
The film is regarded highly today because of Mackendrick's direction and Quinn's lead performance as the pirate captain whose relationship with the children betokens a subtle change in his character, finally leading to his downfall and the pirates' end.
Mackendrick (1912-1993) was best known as a director of the Ealing
Ealing Studios
Ealing Studios is a television and film production company and facilities provider at Ealing Green in West London. Will Barker bought the White Lodge on Ealing Green in 1902 as a base for film making, and films have been made on the site ever since...
comedies The Man in the White Suit
The Man in the White Suit
The Man In The White Suit is a 1951 satirical comedy film made by Ealing Studios. It starred Alec Guinness, Joan Greenwood, and Cecil Parker, and was directed by Alexander Mackendrick. It followed a common Ealing Studios theme of the "common man" against the Establishment...
(1951) and The Ladykillers
The Ladykillers
The Ladykillers is a 1955 British black comedy film made by Ealing Studios. Directed by Alexander Mackendrick, it stars Alec Guinness, Cecil Parker, Herbert Lom, Peter Sellers, Danny Green, Jack Warner and Katie Johnson...
(1955). The material in A High Wind in Jamaica afforded the director an opportunity to combine a light touch with serious drama. Essentially, what makes the film fascinating is the theme of children growing up and their contact with a world of adults (the pirates) who act as if they are grown-up children.
Plot
A hurricane hits the isle of Jamaica in 1870. The 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 take the children captive. The pirate captain, Chavez, takes an immediate liking to young Emily, and decides to sail to Tampico and leave the kids safely with a woman there named Rosa, 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 all the children—Chavez and his first mate (James Coburn) are unconcerned. But then one of the children, John, slips from a window of the brothel and falls to his death. Chavez doesn't wish any more harm to come to the young ones so he refuses to attack a Dutch vessel that comes into view. But his men mutiny, seize the Dutch boat and capture its captain.
Seeing him come toward her with a knife, which he wants her to use to cut his ropes and set him free, Emily instead stabs the Dutch captain and kills him. Not long thereafter, the pirates are captured by British sailors and brought to trial. Under questioning in court, Emily places the responsibility on Chavez instead of on herself. The pirates are hanged.
Cast
- Anthony QuinnAnthony QuinnAntonio Rodolfo Quinn-Oaxaca , more commonly known as Anthony Quinn, was a Mexican American actor, as well as a painter and writer...
- Chavez - James CoburnJames CoburnJames Harrison Coburn III was an American film and television actor. Coburn appeared in nearly 70 films and made over 100 television appearances during his 45-year career, and played a wide range of roles and won an Academy Award for his supporting role as Glen Whitehouse in Affliction.A capable,...
- Zac - Dennis PriceDennis PriceDennis Price was an English actor, remembered for his suave screen roles, particularly Louis Mazzini in Kind Hearts and Coronets, and for his portrayal of the omniscient valet Jeeves in 1960s television adaptations of P. G...
- Mathias - Lila KedrovaLila KedrovaLila Kedrova was a Russian-born French actress.-Biography:Kedrova claimed to have been born in 1918, in Saint Petersburg, Russia. Her parents were Russian opera singers. Lila Kedrova's brother was Nikolay Kedrov, Jr...
- Rosa - Nigel DavenportNigel DavenportNigel Davenport is an English stage, television and film actor.- Early life :Davenport was born Arthur Nigel Davenport, however he goes by the first name of Nigel. Davenport was born in Shelford, Cambridgeshire, the son of Katherine Lucy and Arthur Henry Davenport. Davenport's father was a bursar...
- Mr. Thornton - Isabel DeanIsabel DeanIsabel Dean was an English film and television actress.Born as Isabel Hodgkinson on 29 May 1918 in Aldridge, Staffordshire. She studied painting at the Birmingham Art School and from 1937 joined the Cheltenham Repertory Company as a scenic artist...
- Mrs. Thornton - Kenneth J. WarrenKenneth J. WarrenKenneth John Warren was an Australian actor.-Selected Filmography:*Long John Silver *I Was Monty's Double *The Criminal *The Double Man *S*P*Y*S...
- Capt. Marpole - Ben CarruthersBen CarruthersBenito "Ben" F. Carruthers was an American film actor, most notable for his role in John Cassavetes' debut feature film Shadows . He later appeared in Robert Aldrich's The Dirty Dozen as Glenn Gilpin...
- Alberto (as Benito Carruthers) - Gert FröbeGert FröbeKarl Gerhart Fröbe, better known as Gert Fröbe was a German actor who starred in many films, including the James Bond film Goldfinger as Auric Goldfinger, The Threepenny Opera as Peachum, Chitty Chitty Bang Bang as Baron Bomburst, and in Der Räuber Hotzenplotz as Hotzenplotz.-Life:Born in...
- Dutch Captain (as Gert Frobe) - Brian PhelanBrian PhelanBryan Phelan is an Irish sportsperson. He plays hurling with his local club De La Salle and with the Waterford senior inter-county team.-Club:...
- Curtis - Trader Faulkner - Pirate
- Charles LaurenceCharles Laurence-Early life:Charles Laurence was born Carlos Felipes in Tangiers on 10 January 1931 when it was an International Zone, to a Swiss-Scottish mother and a Gibraltarian father of Spanish-Italian decent. Until the age of seven he spoke only French and Spanish. He learned English as well when the family...
- Tallyman - Charles HyattCharles HyattCharles Hyatt was an actor. Born in Kingston, Jamaica, he was a character actor and comedian who appeared in numerous films and television shows, beginning in the 1960s...
- Pirate - Dan Jackson - Pirate
- Viviane VenturaViviane VenturaViviane Ventura is a British actress. She was born on December 5, 1947, in London, but spent her childhood in Bogotá, Colombia. In 1958, she returned to the UK, where she started her film career. Ventura has made films for 20th Century Fox including High Wind in Jamaica and Lord Jim...
- Margaret Fernandez
The title song was produced and written by Larry Adler and sung by Mike LeRoy.