A High Wind in Jamaica (film)

Infobox_Film
name = A High Wind in Jamaica


image_size = 175px
caption= original film poster by Howard Terpning| imdb_id = 0059269
director = Alexander Mackendrick
writer = Stanley Mann
Ronald Harwood
Denis Cannan
starring = Anthony Quinn
James Coburn
Lila Kedrova
producer = John Croydon
music = Larry Adler
cinematography = Douglas Slocombe
distributor = Twentieth Century-Fox
released = 1965
runtime = 103 min.
language =

"A High Wind in Jamaica" is a 1965 film, based on the novel of the same name, and directed by Alexander Mackendrick cite web |url=http://movies.nytimes.com/movie/95187/A-High-Wind-in-Jamaica/overview |title=New York Times: A High Wind in Jamaica |accessdate=2008-08-17|work=NY Times] for the 20th Century-Fox studio. It starred Anthony Quinn and James Coburn as the pirates who capture the children (an interesting note: one of the child actors is the author Martin Amis). Other cast members include Deborah Baxter, Nigel Davenport, Isabel Dean, Lila Kedrova, Kenneth J. Warren, and Gert Frobe.

The film is regarded highly today because of Mackendrick's direction and Anthony 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.

Cast

* Anthony Quinn - Chavez
* James Coburn - Zac
* Dennis Price - Mathias
* Lila Kedrova - Rosa
* Nigel Davenport - Mr. Thornton
* Isabel Dean - Mrs. Thornton
* Kenneth J. Warren - Capt. Marpole
* Ben Carruthers - Alberto (as Benito Carruthers)
* Gert Fröbe - Dutch Captain (as Gert Frobe)
* Brian Phelan - Curtis
* Trader Faulkner - Pirate
* Charles Laurence - Tallyman
* Charles Hyatt - Pirate
* Dan Jackson - Pirate
* Vivienne Ventura - Margaret Fernandez (as Viviane Ventura)

References

External links

*imdb title|id=0059269|title=A High Wind in Jamaica