A High Wind in Jamaica (1965)

Wonderful character development!

Admirable film.

It's funny watching the elements come together in this complicated scam. On one hand, the set-up isn't quite as complex as it seems, but there's an easy sense of fun in every exchange.

It’s not bad or unwatchable but despite the amplitude of the spectacle, the end result is underwhelming.

The film may seem uneven and confusing to the first-time viewer, "moving from inappropriate comedy to tragedy to whatever is in between", as Mr.Chabot puts it, but contrary to that reviewer's opinion I think that having adapted Richard Hughes' novel (which itself is a superb achievement, something special in the world literature canon) Mackendrick succeeded in preserving at least some of its key qualities and creating a highly satisfactory piece of cinematic life. The story is funny when funny things happen in it, and it's tragic when it comes to tragedy. What's in between is both psychologically compelling/interesting and cinematographically attractive. As for me, with every new viewing I like the film a bit more : a light, colourful adventure pic with strongly subversive undertones echoing Freud, Piaget, Frazer etc., climaxing in an unforgettable ending where even the otherwise tasteless song has its appropriate place. Well-known British writer Martin Amis in the role of little John.Compared to British edition (Eureka) the German one(Carol Media - a Fox port?)with both English and German subtitles has a brighter image, more into red (Eureka is rather greenish), slightly cut on both sides (and minutely horizontally stretched ?).

Very good adventure , a pure entertainment movie based on a novel written by Richard Hughes , shot in Jamaica and Pinewood studios. In the late XIX , during Victorian time , a hurricane destroys the house of family Thorton and the children are sent England . But their ship is attacked by a pirate galleon captained by Chavez (Anthony Quinn) and the second in command (James Coburn) and they are taken aboard . But the children reveal their basic natures aboard of the vessel and the problems emerge , discovering the innocent savageries of childhood.This enjoyable pirate movie contains sensible moments , wonderful seafare exteriors and thought-provoking theme with psychological studio of childhood . It packs comedy, adventure, drama and tragedy , all of them are ironically balanced by an intelligent screenplay written by Stanley Mann and Ronald Harwood . Excellent main cast as an exceptional Anthony Quinn and James Coburn as good pirates . Good supporting cast as Nigel Davenport , Lila Kedrova , Dennis Price , and brief role for Gert Frobe . Nice musical score directed by Philip Martell and composed by virtuoso harmonica Larry Adler, including some catching songs. Colorful cinematography by Douglas Slocombe in widescreen who reflects splendidly the Caribbean outdoors. The motion picture is stunningly directed by Alexander Mackendrick who directed ¨Sammy going South¨ also about childhood issue . Rating : Well worth watching , better than average . The picture will appeal to Anthony Quinn and James Coburn fans.

I had watched this eons ago on Italian TV but had long forgotten it - the film does come across as somewhat unmemorable at the end of the day, but this offbeat pirate-adventure-with-child-interest has a beguiling charm all its own. That said, the film's very low-key nature might not win it much approval among action-film fans...Curiously enough, half the film is actually spoken in Spanish (without the benefit of English subtitles!) - and, while it tends to wander because of this, also gives the proceedings a welcome air of full-blooded vividness! Anthony Quinn is his usual larger-than-life self, but his befuddled interaction with the kids endears him to viewers even more here. James Coburn is very amusing as Quinn's second-in-command, who can't speak a word of Spanish and is often at a loss as to what is going on around him (though I would have liked some form of an explanation as to his incongruous presence there). Dennis Price has a notable cameo towards the very end as a solicitor leeringly prying into the children's 'experience' with the pirates, while "guest star" Gert Frobe only appears in one crucial scene as a wounded Dutch captain (but who eventually has a huge bearing on the plot resolution); the film also features Nigel Davenport as the children's father and Lila Kedrova as a 'tavern-keeper'.The opening hurricane sequence - which gives the film (and the novel it is based on) its title - is extremely well done, though the climactic courtroom sequence and its outcome (the willful execution of the pirates) is rather too rushed to be as effective as it needs to be. The antics of the children, of English and Spanish origins, are fun to watch - but Deborah Baxter leaves the best impression, as she is the one to bond most with Quinn. Larry Adler's lovely score subtly accentuates Douglas Slocombe's colorful widescreen imagery.Alexander Mackendrick was an American-born/Scotland-bred director who made his name at Britain's famed Ealing Studios and went on to have a very brief but often brilliant career; this was actually his penultimate work. Incidentally, the two films of his I've yet to watch - MANDY (1952) and SAMMY GOING SOUTH (1963) - also feature children as their protagonists.

*Spoiler alert* This is a wonderful, if somewhat disturbing, kids film. I'd heard a lot about it and am a huge fan of the great Alexander Mackendrick, so I bought the DVD and it certainly didn't let me down. It's definitely one out of the box, though, because while it has an adventurous tone and concept, it has its fair share of grim moments - when the drunk monkey falls to its death (brilliantly and blackly capping the kind of moment that would be found in a Disney film) I knew I was in for something unusual. I can't think of another kids movie that goes into the kind of territory that this one does. Its main theme seems to be about the transition from the innocent childhood world into the murky, dangerous and complex adult world. It's a rare kids film indeed where one of the young boys dies in a tragic accident and the main pirate character, whom we and the kids have grown to love, meets his ultimate fate on the gallows. I love the fact that the makers didn't shy away from sugar coating the world the kids have dropped into, and the fact that something bad may happen to them at any point, and their baffled, slightly uncomprehending reaction to their new world, adds a level of tension and unexpected pathos to the proceedings. The direction and cinematography are tremendous (the film was shot by the great Dougie Slocombe) and the kids are astonishing. How Mackendrick managed to get the performances that he did is amazing, and it's a shame that Deborah Baxter (as Emily) didn't go on to do more movies. The final shot, where the model ship is floating away across a pond in a London park, is a brilliant and moving image to suggest that Emily's childhood is over and forever drifting away from her. This is highly recommended and it's a shame it isn't more widely known.