Customer Reviews

Jamaica Inn [VHS]

5 star:		(13)
4 star:		(7)
3 star:		(9)
2 star:		(7)
1 star:		(3)

 

 

Warning!this is the laserlight version and is cheaply made with very poor sound and a very poor picture.It certainly is NOT "mastered from the best available sources".In fact this version is shorter than the other available one,suggesting that the print it was copied from must have been cut due to a degraded print.The "introductions" by Tony Curtis to the laserlight copies look as if they were all filmed in one morning.Get the other version.

This review refers to the Laserlight(Special Edition)DVD of "Jamaica Inn"...

The talent combined in this 1939 film is immense. Based on a novel by Daphne Du Maurier,Alfred Hitchcock skillfully directs an extraordinary cast, all turning in strong performances, that bring the characters depth and the story to life.Marueen O'Hara is amazing in her first feature role, showing us way back then what made her the great star she has been all these years.It also stars other great British actors Lelsie Banks,Emlyn Williams and Robert Newton. But it is the legendary Charles Laughton who you can't take your eyes off of in this thriller. The depth with which he portrays his multi-faceted character is simple awesome.

The story is set off a rugged coastline.A group of dangerous cut-throats are misguiding innocent vessels, causing them to crash into the rocky terrain,so they can loot all the cargo.When young and beautiful Mary(O'Hara)is on to them, she risks life and limb to try and stop them. She turns to the only one she can trust..Sir Humphrey Pengallan(Laughton)for help. But yikes!... has she even endangered herself further with this move? He may be the most deranged of all!

Where's Hitch?....Although he made an appearance in the one before this one("The Lady Vanishes"/1938) and the one after("Rebecca"/1940), he seems to have eluded us in this one!

There are a couple of DVD editions of this film available here at Amazon. And while this one is not immaculate,showing it's age at nearly 65 years old, and there does seem to be something missing in a transition to a scene, I did not find anything about the view that took away from the enjoyment of this Hitch classic. I read the reviews of the other edition, which by the way costs more than three times as much as this one, and I didnt see anything better about that transfer than this Laserlight edition.The black and white images seemed clear and bright, and even the darker scenes were perfectly distinguishable. Very occassionaly, the sound did come and go, but was audible for the most part. This edition also includes an intro by Tony Curtis, and a fun trailer of "The Birds", introduced by the master himself. The DVD will automatically go straight to the film, so be sure to press menu to see the intro by Tony first. There are subtitles in Spanish, Japanese, and Chineese, all very clear and are even available for the introduction.On the case it also shows these as languages to view the film in, but I did not find this feature on the menu. This may not be the best print,but it is a decent transfer and for the price this is the best way to go for the Hitch enthusiast.This film may also be purchased as part of several Hitchcock sets offered here at Amazon.

Get the popcorn ready for this one and enjoy...Laurie

Charles Laughton is delicious in this classic Hitchcock thriller as the stuffy, regal Humphrey Pengallan, a psychotic country squire who decides the best way to meet the high costs of royal life is to indulge his immodest talents as a criminal mastermind. Unbeknownst to his friends and peers, Lord Pengallan has assembled a grimy band of cutthroat thieves which he secretly directs to wreck and loot merchant ships on the rocky Cornwall coast. He is of course thwarted by plucky newcomer Maureen O'Hara and her goodlooking beau, an undercover policeman whose cover is blown after one of their heists seems a bit light. Some Hitchcock fans apparently find this film less than satisfying, but it's as classy and as offbeat as any he's made; perhaps it's because the film is a period drama that folks are thrown off track. At any rate, this is vintage Hitchcock, and the character acting is typically impressive, particularly Emlyn Williams as Harry, the most menacing of the pirate crew... his is one of the most sinister screen villains you're likely to see. Laughton, of course, brings his tremendous range to bear, appearing at first as an overbearing aristocratic boor, then modifies himself to become in turns magnanimous, ruthless and finally so homicidally crazed and delusory that he takes on an almost pathetic air. And O'Hara, in her screen debut is both beautiful and full of pluck -- no helpless female here, as she stops the brigands almost single-handedly. An offbeat film, and definitely worth checking out.

Attention all admirers of Hitchcock films! This is the great forgotten Hitchcock film, along with Under Capricorn! 2 must haves for every admirer of Hitckcock films. Both very different than the usual suspence/wrong man Hitchcock film, but both brilliant and beautiful. I'm actually writing this review to warn the buyer NOT to buy the "Laserlight" version, because it is missing about 10 minutes from the film (from the scene right after Mr. Tremain reveals to Squire Pengalen who he really is, to the scene where they show up together at Jamaica Inn). Buy the "Kino" version instead! I can't say enough about both of these 2 films, but I'll leave it up to you, lovers of great cinema, to discover them for yourselves. Especially is you're a fan of Charles Laughton and/or Joseph Cotten and Ingred Bergman. It's worth every extra penny of the difference in price to have the full version of the film. Take a chance, my friend. Be astounded and amazed by these lost treasures, and rejoice at their salvation (and yours!)!

I rented the Kino version on the strength of a specific recommendation here, but it gave up watching after the first 15 minutes on account of the poor picture quality. It certainly does not look like a "35mm nitrate print" to these eyes--the visuals are muddy and the contrast is off, spoiling the visual detail. It could be from an old 16mm print, or else maybe a duplicated 35mm print, but it is certainly not a clear record of an original fine-grain release print, by any means. I will await a future restoration. For the present, Caveat emptor.

A rough-hewn beauty from Hitchcock's early days. Precursors to Hitchcock's later mannerisms abound. The dialogue is full of wit, the story never stops moving forward. The atmosphere is dark and stormy throughout. This was an unknown treasure for me, it helps expand our appreciation of the mastery of the man behind 'Psycho', 'North by Northwest', and other more contemporary chefs d'oeuvre. I just can't understand the reviewers below who find so much fault with this delightful flick. Perhaps they are put off by the rough, grainy nature of the film print? Get over it! Very few other movies manage to achieve such a wonderful, strange, and dark sense of atmosphere.

Jamaica Inn is not the best film of Alfred Hitchcock but it is very good. This movie is a story of a young orphan who, at the end of the XVIIth century decides after the death of her mother to live with her aunt at a inn in the Cornwales. In fact, this inn is a thieves' den who wrecked ships to take their freight. The most impressive character of the movie is the governor played by Charles Laughton who becomes mad. The light used for the movie is very good and helps to build a climate of anxiety. You can enjoy this movie which ends the English period of Hitchcock with brilliance.

Another Charles Laughton Classic that just happens to be Directed by Alfred Hitchcock. How can you go wrong with that formula?

The DVD matching this Cover Art -
This DVD isn't too bad, but I would rather have a more expertly created product. The DVD starts off with a typical FBI Warning and then a bump that says Passion Productions. (Note: Passion Productions is not written on the Cover Art or Disc itself.) Then the DVD proceeds to a Menu. You hit play and the movie begins with the first part of the opening title sequence missing. It stays in form at the end with a good portion of the end title sequence missing as well. Other than that the problems aren't too bad. There are a few momentary jump cuts here and there as well as some signs of wear and age, but for the most part the image is quite nice at times. The audio does seem a bit muffled from time to time. Also, like many budget DVDs, if you go to the Chapter Menu you can only start with Chapter 2 or higher. All and all I will probably spend a little extra to get a better version of this film. I just hope the more expensive versions have been created more carefully.

Laughton plays the leader of a band of plundering pirates in this adventure yarn based upon Daphne DuMaurier's soapy gothic novel. He was originally cast as a licentious parson, but, because of a possible (and most likely) run-in with the notorious Hays Office, was switched to the squire role. The ravishingly beautiful but unknown Maureen O'Hara was eighteen here, in her film debut. Laughton informed the other cast members that they should all get behind Maureen and help her: "Two days later, we were fighting for our scenes. That child was stealing our scenes from us!". Also in the cast is playwright Emlyn Williams (THE CORN IS GREEN & NIGHT MUST FALL) and Basil Radford, who had charmed audiences the previous year in Hitchcock's THE LADY VANISHES. This was the last film Hitchcock made in pre-war Britain; he would soon after set sail for America, where he was destined for enormous fame.

These films of the 1930s, 1939 in this case, are amazing. Simple acting, yet still quite inspired by silent movies technique. Very simple setting not cluttered with too many useless props and other decorations. The dialogue is necessarily simple and the voice work is a caricature of dramatic speech. It was all recorded directly when the film was shot on a sound stage most of the time and the microphones were still very primitive. So what could you expect? No integrated music, no sound effects or very poor ones, no visual effects of course with most of the time sedentary cameras. And the lighting was still far from particularly brilliant. And yet these films were magic because they did not even try to look real, realistic. They had to work the way the technique dictated it. Then the rest was compensated and supplemented by the imagination of the audience. And the zippers in the backs of the monsters were not bothering anyone at the time since it was such a marvelous improvement to have the puppets on the screen speak in real voices. It is amazing to see such an old film by Hitchcock. He was already a great director who could get some real gripping action or situations even with all the shortcomings of his equipment. We have to watch them again these old films, these first talkies, to ,be able to appreciate what modern films have to offer but also what we have lost along the way, a lot more than we may think, and particularly the magic of black and white illusion. But we can't be and have been at once, that's obvious. So let us be living in our time and nostalgically revisit the past.

Dr Jacques COULARDEAU, University Paris Dauphine & University Paris 1 Pantheon Sorbonne