A High Wind in Jamaica

For those who have written in the "User Comments" that they cannot find "A High Wind in Jamaica" anywhere, they are correct that the movie has not yet been released on DVD or video -- a true disappointment, since this is a fine film -- but fortunately the cable channel American Movie Classics (or "AMC" as it's more commonly known) periodically runs the movie. It was last shown by AMC, in fact, in December 2003, and no doubt it will be again in the future, as all the great movies in their archives are. At their website, a search engine allows viewers to find out when the next showing of a specific film will be, if the scheduling is firm enough in the short term to be included in the search. I hope this helps everyone who admires the film.

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 Thorton family and the children are sent England . But their ship is attacked by a pirate vessel captained by Chavez (Anthony Quinn) and the second-in-command (James Coburn) and they are taken aboard . The kids view it as a lark, and one of them, a girl named Emily , develops an unusual bond with Chavez, the pirate captain. But the kiddies reveal their basic natures aboard of the vessel and the problems emerge , discovering the innocent savageries of childhood. The superstitious pirates can't wait to unload the children at the first harbour and things go awry when an unfortunate tragedy takes place .

This enjoyable pirate movie contains sensitive moments , wonderful seafare exteriors and thought-provoking theme with psychological studio of childhood in which the peculiar relationship with kiddies takes a fateful twist . 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 , such as an exceptional Anthony Quinn as the pirate captain and James Coburn as a good buccaneer . Good supporting cast such 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 and evocative cinematography by Douglas Slocombe in widescreen who reflects splendidly the Caribbean outdoors . The motion picture was stunningly directed by Alexander Mackendrick who directed ¨Sammy going South¨ also about a childhood issue . Rating : Well worth watching , better than average . The picture will appeal to Anthony Quinn and James Coburn fans.

I had never even heard of this movie before. Probably wouldn't have watched it...but it was on AMC tonight and nothing else was on. I'm glad I didn't miss this one; this movie is very close to what "real" pirates, corsairs and privateers were like in their waning days. Of course there is a bit of artistic license, but the makeup of the crew, the scenes at the Port of Tampico, and the general feel of the film make it good fare, considering the constraints put on motion pictures in the year it was made. Many things implied, and understood behind the PG-rated facade of most scenes. The acting I found very good, the actors showed their contempt, inhumanity, decency, evil etc. (the facial expressions and acting of the madam in Tampico shows the ugliness behind the gilded facade beautifully) without having to "talk down" to the audience. Overall a very pleasant surprise for me, and I won't miss this one the next time it's on.

As many times before, the IMDb has proven to be such a valuable resource. Like others who have written their comments here, I also saw this movie as a child and could never forget it. Besides, I fell completely in love with the little girl's character and somehow retained the actress's name in my memory for over 20 years: Deborah Baxter. In fact, that is how I found the movie again, because I had completely forgotten its title. The only other actor I remembered for sure was Anthony Quinn, so I began looking at the casts of all of his films whose title suggested pirates or ocean, until I arrived here and --to my own astonishment-- discovered that my memory had not failed me: the girl's name actually is Deborah Baxter! It seems that she only ever acted in two movies; what became of her? Anyway, I am happy to announce here that the movie has finally been released on DVD. I'm definitely buying it.

One can only be thankful that Disney did not get hold of Richard Hughes' novel. The saccharine sweetness would have made one gag. The only disappointment that I had with the film was that it did not follow the book. Otherwise, this was a superb film in its own right. Anthony Quinn proved that he could play other characters than Zorba, an often overlooked fact.

The children were so prim and Victorian "proper" that their conflict with the pirates. or privateers, as they preferred to call themselves, was at time hilarious. My favorite scenes were when the children, who were on the ship for months without any means of amusing themselves other than their own devices, spooked the crew with various innocent or mischievous plays, such as pretending to do a burial at sea, and turning around the head of the ships figurehead so that it faced backwards. The superstitious sailors were terrified by what was really childish mischievous fun.

When the ship put into Tampico, where the Captain hoped to leave them behined with the local Madame, played by Lila Kedrova who seemed to have taken acting lessons from Carmen Miranda, the children were spruced up and returned to their clean clothes and with their hair combed. As the crew member doing the grooming explained: "the Captain wants you to look your best for the ladies". "What ladies?" asked the children. Under his breath the seaman muttered "You'll find out." Of course, the local ladies were the ladies of ill repute in a Godforsaken part of the Carribean where anything goes and the law would never set foot.

The beauty of the film is that it rises above the mawkish semtimentally that it could have fallen into. The Captain, Chavez, takes to the young girl, Emily, who is as feisty as they come, and she and the other children take to him. A Victorian version of the Stockholm syndrome where the captives idenity with their captors.

The story is a tragedy, as the pirates who after all, were simply making a living in the only way they knew. It wasn't even a profitable living, just a traditional, but dying, occupation. Suddenly they were stuck with some ill-disciplined little English children travelling to England to be paced in English boarding schools and "civilised", and neither side really understood the other. It was the misunderstanding that caused the problems and led to the final tragedy.

I would recommend this film to people who like to think and ponder over what is right and what is wrong, and from what perspective do we view right and wrong.