A High Wind in Jamaica (1965) User Reviews

Bucaneering adventure with some children aboard a pirate galleon captained by Anthony Quinn

[ma-cortes · 7/10 · 9 October 2010]

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.

Aye, Maties -- Kids and Loot Do Not Mix.

[rmax304823 · 7/10 · 19 September 2013]

Anthony Quinn is the captain of a pirate ship in the middle 1600s. The ship and its crew loot a British passenger ship. Half a dozen young kids, mostly British, board the victim ship accidentally sail away aboard the pirate ship. Quinn, a drunken and pediculous lout, comes eventually to care about the children in his own crude way, before a British Naval steamship capture him and his superstitious crew and rescue the kids, who are by this time wearing tattered clothing and are filthy.

The two central roles are those of Anthony Quinn and Deborah Baxter as one of the children. Quinn does his usual reliable number -- Zorba the Greek with edginess. He's dashing around the deck in his bare feet shouting orders in Spanish, slapping impertinent seamen about the head.

But Deborah Baxter's role is important. And she's magnetic. It's worth speculating why this should be so, but the answer isn't too flattering to the gentlemen in the audience. She was nine years old when this film was released. She's not striking beautiful -- no porcelain doll like Brooke Shields in "Pretty Baby." There is nevertheless something extremely appealing about her appearance and demeanor. Please, I'm no pedophile. I find older women more likable, for all the reasons given by Benjamin Franklin.

But Deborah Baxter, prepubescent though she may be, combines her juvenile vulnerability with a clearly seductive quality, which Quinn's character, the writers, and director Alexander MacKendrick all recognize and put to use in the story. It mocks our sensibilities to deny it. Jenny Agutter was about fourteen when she made "Walkabout" and Sue Lyon fourteen when she was Kubrick's "Lolita." Not that Quinn's pirate captain necessarily realizes what's up. He's clearly embarrassed at one point, at which he finds himself having to pin Baxter down to the deck, hovering above her, the crew chuckling because the position is suggestive. It's also clear that by the end, Quinn's desire to help and protect her has eclipsed any sexual feelings he might have felt.

She's a decent actress too, for a young girl. Her confusion at the climactic trial puts a definite period at the end of Quinn's career. And she turned quite beautiful in the next few years. That's why she was cast as Teddy Roosevelt's daughter in "The Wind and the Lion." Her character in that film, Alice Roosevelt Longworth, was a no-nonsense woman who lived into a candid late old age and died just one or two decades ago. You know the song, "Alice Blue Gown"? She's the "Alice."

I loved Quinn. People accuse him of overacting, yet it fits the part of a self-indulgent, not-too-bright pirate captain, huffing and puffing, always on the edge of hysteria. It's not really Zorba we see on the screen. It's Zampano from Fellini's "La Strada." A brute, but one who comes to have civilized feelings after all.

A HIGH WIND IN JAMAICA (Alexander Mackendrick, 1965) ***

[Bunuel1976 · 7/10 · 4 April 2007]

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.

A sadly overlooked gem

[eunicem · 3 July 2001]

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.

"Inappropriate" - as life itself

[leoperu · 7/10 · 24 February 2013]

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 ?).

A children's fantasy that's not Disney.

[mark.waltz · 7/10 · 7 November 2016]

It takes very high winds in Jamaica to have English ranchers Nigel Hawthorne and Isabel Dean to decide to send their children back to England. This hurricane literally rips their ranch apart, and mother Dean is upset by the presence of voodoo in the native servants attempts to stop the storm from increasing. But what the parents don't know is that pirates, disguised as women from a supposedly capsized ship, have taken over, and this puts their children into an uncertain danger, but the pirates become their caretakers, showing that even members of the jolly Roger can have a soft spot. In fact, the pirates seem more civilized than the original crew of the ship who tried to get a monkey drunk so they could cut off his tail.

With a cast lead by Anthony Quinn and James Coburn as the pirate leaders, this is an exciting adventure from start to finish, beginning with a really scary hurricane. Lila Kedrova is reunited with her "Zorba the Greek" co-star, but her role is really a cameo, playing a saloon keeper where the children witness a cock fight. This doesn't have the silliness of "The Pirates of Penzance" or exaggerated special effects like "The Pirates of the Caribbean" series. It's just a very direct adventure, filled with fun for the whole family, a great musical score, fantastic photography and very detailed attention on everything going on. The tale turns dark at the end when the older girl is attacked and ends up on trial. The opening segment of the hurricane is visually horrific as the father struggles to get one daughter (stupidly chasing a frightened cat) back in the house, then their descent into an underground shelter where the voodoo spells are already in progress. Quinn and Coburn make a fantastic team. It's a shame that they only worked in one other movie together, a forgotten 1981 film called "High Risk".

A High Wind in Jamaica

[CinemaSerf · 6/10 · 28 January 2024]

Poor old Anthony Quinn ("Chavez") is going about his harmless pirating when he alights on a ship carrying some British children en route to their schooling in Britain. Immediately the onboard dynamic changes. The captain starts to feel a bit of affection for these weans - even as his crew, and best pal "Zac" (James Coburn) start to think they are little better than Jonahs. This sentiment is only exacerbated as their childish calamities start to impact on the crew's fun and income. Deborah Baxter ("Emily") seems to be the favourite child, and when she becomes injured their pirating days look numbered. The at sea scenarios here are engaging enough and the young actors are not bad at all, but the plot quickly begins to become too contrived - and actually, one could well believe in the biblical theory as just about anything and everything that can go wrong does! I really didn't like the ending at all - somehow it just felt wrong, but it's a nice film to look at with plenty of attention to the production detail. More Mickey than Errol Flynn, but watchable nonetheless.

Definitely worth watching.

[cobram-1 · 9/10 · 31 August 2004]

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.

Neither one thing or another.

[plan99 · 3/10 · 21 January 2023]

The director seemed to have been unable to decide if he wanted to make a dark drama or a more light hearted effort but what we got was neither. It would have been a lot better to have gone for the darker version which would have appealed to adults rather than a version that fails to appeal to adults or children, a bit of a mish mash version badly directed. There were signs of pediaphilia, especially the captain, which was uneasy viewing but the captain's struggle with his dark thoughts should have been explored more. It is a bit of a boring plod to watch with cartoon style violence and it is probably best avoided.

a haunting, not by-the-numbers film

[moggy-4 · 8/10 · 29 April 2002]

I first saw this film as a child, and was surprised that I remembered so much of it over 30 years later. It is an unusual story of children who end up on a pirate ship by a quirk, and their relationship with the pirates, who regard them as unlucky. Which turns out to be true, in an unforeseen way. Anthony Quinn, as pirate captain, is superb, as are all the cast, especially the actress playing Emily, the oldest child.

Forget any preconceived ideas you might have about the plot. This is a haunting, unforgettable story.

Wild Children.

[AaronCapenBanner · 5/10 · 15 November 2013]

Alexander Mackendrick directed this pirate film, based on a novel by Richard Hughes, that deals with the children of an English couple living in Jamaica, who fear that their children are growing up wild, and losing touch with their culture, so send them back to England on a ship that is ironically boarded by pirates(led by Anthony Quinn & James Coburn) with whom the children stow away with. Though annoyed by their passengers, an unusual bond is formed, which is later tested when the pirates are captured by authorities, and put on trial for their lives. Nicely produced, with good actors, but story feels contrived and predictable, with the two pirates gathering no sympathy for their eventual plight(making them "heroic" figures is most dubious!)

A great adventure film with a strong cast and a surprise ending.

[Phil-221 · 25 June 1999]

Having read the book in 1965, I took my (then) 3 young daughters to see the film. They were so stirred and charmed that they made me sit through a second screening. Anthony Quinn and James Coburn were brilliant, lovable rogues and the main little girl was someone my kids could identify with. Gert Frobe as the Dutch sea captain was memorable, and the English cast, director Alexander Mackendrick and the screenwriter(s) should be commended for creating a superb example of the art of cinema. I have but one sad comment: Why isn't this film available on videotape or disk, or at least on cable?

Looking for this film on video

[j1reidy · 9/10 · 17 April 2003]

I was pleased to find this movie on your website and see the comments. This is a film which I loved as a child and have tried to find to purchase. Unfortunately it doesn't seem to be available anywhere, nor have I seen it on TV. As a child I lived in a small town where the theatre played a lot of movies over and over, esp westerns, and I could even watch a movie 2 or 3 times in one sitting if I wanted. This I would do on a Sat or Sun afternoon. I watched this film 3 or 4 times and thought James Coburn and Anthony Quinn were excellent. Didn't remember the other actors and actresses except that I really liked the girl who ended up in the courtroom. I loved the theme song but don't know if it's any more available than the movie. It says something like: When man is young and certain of what he wants to be.....Then fate brings a love to him that hangs him high from the gallow's tree, my friend, high from the gallow's tree. Does anyone know who sang this ballad? I can't remember the rest of the words. Anyway, I agree with everyone else: It's a shame High Wind is not available to us on video or somewhere. It was a great film!

A Curious film

[malcolmgsw · 5/10 · 24 February 2023]

This is a rather odd film. It starts out as if it's going to be Swiss Familly Robinson and ends up more like Psycho.

Alexander Macendrick was a rather troubling director. He was very much at home when he was at Ealing. However after 1955 he was cut adrift and didn't care so well. Yes he made Sweet Smell of Success,but after that it was all downhill. I suspect that his name alone has inspired so many 10/10 reviews.

Personally I found this film a hard slog. I am not sure what the restoration of twenty five minutes of cuts would have do one to the pace of this rather lethargic film. Some nice cinematography is about the best that can be said for it.

An Underrated Gem!

[dodgerdawg-1 · 9/10 · 22 April 2007]

I first saw "A High Wind in Jamaica" in the late sixties one evening on late night TV. It's a compelling, realistic, well-filmed action movie with outstanding performances by Anthony Quinn and James Coburn and a fast-paced, exciting storyline. It even features a brief appearance by Gert Frobe, of "Goldfinger" fame.

Despite the presence of young children and pirates, it's definitely not a children's movie. There are dark undertones and some surprisingly adult themes. Quinn and Coburn give first rate performances as pirates who inadvertently kidnap a group of British children on their way back to Great Britain from Jamaica after a storm...but this film belongs to Deborah Baxter. Her performance as the feisty Emily is absolutely mesmerizing. It's hard to imagine she only made two movies (she plays Teddy Roosevelt's daughter in "The Wind and The Lion"). Her acting seems well beyond her years. I guarantee it's a performance that will stick with you long after the final credits.

I highly recommend this film.

Complete bore.

[gvis · 3/10 · 18 July 2021]

Absolutely nothing happens in this movie, not funny enough for a comedy and not dramatic enough for a drama. I never felt anything for the characters, the pirates lacked any wit or charm and the kids were mostly annoying and dumb. The pathetic excuses for pirates could barely keep them under control it seems. And the young girl seem too dumb to understand that when a man approaches you with a knife while his hands are tied he probably wants to be set free !!!

After a while I couldn't stomach it anymore and fast forwarding the damn thing. Didn't miss anything it seems. I read about the troubled history of this movie and understand why the director distances himself from it. It sucks !!!

A wonderful lost classic

[mmarshal · 3 June 2002]

I saw this fantastic movie for the first and only time as a child in a theater when it was first released in 1965. Since then, I've hoped to see it again and share it with others, but it is not available for viewing anywhere. Repeat, ANYWHERE. It never appears on American TV (I've checked, there are several web sources one can use to track whether specific movies are scheduled to run, and I've never seen any of them showing High Wind appearing on any North American station. In fact, the only time any of theses sources showed it being broadcast anywhere was once, on a network in Japan back in 1988). It has never been re-released for theatrical showings, and it has never been released on video. I even regularly check eBay to see if a "black market" copy might be available, but none have ever shown up.

Mt gut tells me the reason for this is likely the usual in these sorts situations: some endless (and meaningless) copyright dispute. I don't know if that's the case, but if it is, I wish the opposing parties would wake up and realize that (a) this release -- as great as it is -- is too old and unknown to be a big future money maker for anybody, and (b) that whatever that income might be, because of their arguing neither of them is making ANY money of this film.

A great movie, but one lost, in all likelihood because of greed. What a shame.

Amazing Movie Worth Watching

[vlevensonnd-1 · 8/10 · 18 July 2010]

I saw this movie as a child and it had made such an impact on me that I never forgot it, or the haunting theme song. I'd long since forgotten the title, so I was utterly thrilled when I happened to turn the AMC channel on and they were playing it - 30+ years after it was in theaters! It wasn't until after the two main actors passed away that this movie was FINALLY released to the public - around 40 years AFTER it was made. I do not know if it was due to some rights conflict, or that maybe they didn't want it released due to the original story that dealt with a very 'inappropriate relationship' between the child-character Emily, and the Captain. This relationship is displayed far more subtly in the movie, most likely to make it a bit more family-friendly, however, the book was far from being a family-friendly novel. The book and movie are thankfully and EXTREMELY different in demeanor and focus. The author's focus appeared to be more with a notion of an innate evil within children, where he presents them as being cunning, manipulative, knowledge-filled, demon-like creatures, rather then innocent-minded youths. A couple of examples of the differences in demeanor between the book and the movie; In the book, it is the Captains right-hand man, Zac, who takes the eldest dark-haired girl by brutal force and keeps her as his - uh - female. When she becomes a lifeless, emotionless shell, he simply throws her overboard into the sea. In the movie, it is the girl who takes notice to a crew member and no one is taken by force or repeatedly raped or thrown to the sharks. At the end of the movie, Emily is confused by what occurred on board with the battle they were involved with, where the other ships Captain was murdered in Captain Chavez's quarters, where Emily was. She very innocently, grievously, and mistakenly says something that sends her beloved Captain, and his crew, to the gallows. In the book, she did it on purpose with malicious intent. It's like two completely different stories.

I would much rather watch this wonderful and exciting movie, then to ever again read the dark novel that this came from. The acting is completely superb, even among the children. I have watched it several times and I will again.

Homage to Treasure Island

[bkoganbing · 4/10 · 15 January 2018]

Anthony Quinn stars in A High Wind In Jamaica where he and first mate James Coburn preside over an unruly crew of pirates. This is a beautifully photographed film which I had a lot of problems with. It's a bit of a homage to Treasure Island with Captain Quinn bonding with several children who have been sent to the United Kingdom by their parents Nigel Davenport and Isabella Dean from Jamaica where the parents have become colonizers. It's for the kid's educations but they get quite the education when during a raid on their ship they wind up on the pirate ship.

In many ways A High Wind In Jamaica is Disney like, but there are too many grim scenes for this to ever be Disney type material. And in the end those kids, especially the oldest girl do not prove to be Jim Hawkins like.

I see the film got a lot of positive reviews, but I'm afraid I can't be one of them.

Great kids film from a great director.

[Sergio_Falco · 10/10 · 29 July 2006]

*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.

A drama that happens to have kids in it

[HotToastyRag · 2/10 · 7 June 2018]

I thought A High Wind in Jamaica was going to be a family-friendly adventure movie because of the premise. Five children are sent on a ship to England to get a proper education, but in the middle of the voyage, a band of pirates hijacks the ship. Anthony Quinn and James Coburn are the two main pirates, and if you can guess which one is stern and which one has a soft spot in his heart for the kids, then give yourself a gold star and feel free to skip the movie.

As you'd expect, Anthony Quinn is very good as a ruffian with a heart of gold, and his tender scenes with the children, Deborah Baxter in particular, almost make the movie worth watching. The main problem with it is it's a pretty sad, adult drama that happens to have some kids among the cast. There is very little humor in the script, and the situations Deborah and her siblings find themselves in are far heavier than they should be. A High Wind in Jamaica is not one of those sweet Disney flicks like Treasure Island that came out in the 1950s and 1960s. If you really want to watch this one, just know you've been warned.

Thank God for the Internet!

[ckrebs-1 · 14 October 2004]

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.

Evil isn't always found where one expects it to be

[pooka-4 · 10/10 · 22 June 1999]

An excellent adaptation of Richard Hughes' novel. Quinn and Coburn have never been better, and they are well-served by a fine supporting cast. Evil has never been more banal than it is in this fine film.

Overblown - A High Wind in Jamaica

[arthur_tafero · 5/10 · 10 April 2024]

This misfire features Anthony Quinn and James Coburn (of Magnificent Seven fame). Quinn has made much better films with roles as a pirate, but this film limits him. It has a dark, underlying repressed sexual desire for pre-teens, as well as a very uncomfortable plot and climax. The pirates just don't seem to be real pirates. Peter Pan had better pirates than this film.

Coburn seems a bit wooden in his role, and Quinn seems to be miscast for this particular pirate role. The kids, however, are just fine. I would also recommend a much better construction company for my house, if I were the owners of the one featured in the beginning of the film.

Tragicomedy results when befuddled pirates forced into role of babysitters to stranded children

[mlraymond · 10/10 · 10 December 2006]

Superb adaptation of Richard Hughes' novel about a group of British children being sent home to England from Jamaica, and inadvertently ending up as uninvited guests aboard a pirate ship. Set in the period of about 1880, much humor arises from the proper Victorian English children's fascination with their reluctant babysitters. The crew of scalawags is made up of various Latin American and African men, with most of their conversation in untranslated Spanish. The irony of the unexpected situation is due to two factors: the kids' parents had sent them home because their mother was appalled at the way they were growing up wild and uncivilized, absorbing the voodoo superstitions and folk tales of the islanders, instead of being raised as proper English children. The other factor was that the inept pirates had not realized that the children had snuck on board the pirate ship, seeing it as a great adventure, and the buccaneers had sailed away, with no idea that the kids were shut in the ship's hold, having totally forgotten about them.

Anthony Quinn is marvelous in a great comic role, as the unwilling father figure to the curious and innocent bunch of kids he's been stuck with. The sight of Quinn chasing some young English children around the ship, hollering " Hey, give me back my hat!", while his crew laughs uproariously, is truly funny. James Coburn is the voice of reason as a sly ,articulate pirate, who stands between the bumbling captain and his restless crew. The presence of the children on the ship becomes more and more problematic, as they inadvertently cause all kinds of problems just by being around, and the men begin to see them as bad luck.SPOILERS AHEAD: A little girl puts a man's coat on backwards, and covers her face with her hair, and stalks toward the terrified sailors, declaring in a spooky voice that she's a Duppy, an evil spirit with its head on backwards. The grown men look scared, and try to hide from this small child, who is fully aware of what she's doing, until Quinn orders her to stop fooling around, because it's bad luck for the ship.

An already complicated situation turns deadly ,when the pirates think they will be able to finally safely rid themselves of the kids, by leaving them with a friendly brothel madam in Tampico. One of the older boys sneaks ashore,and is enjoying the sight of rowdy behavior in the street from the vantage point of a high window, but he suddenly falls, and is killed. The tragic situation is made worse by the news that English patrol vessels are looking for them, because it is mistakenly believed that they murdered the children, after the kids didn't return to their outward bound ship, and the English captain and crew assumed the worst.

No more of the plot will be revealed here, except to say that an unpredictable series of events causes disaster for all involved. The very ending is one of the most poignant scenes I've ever seen in any film.

Direction, acting, shipboard scenes, period detail, script,cinematography ,are all excellent. The children are totally believable, with a standout performance by Deborah Baxter as Emily. This is a wonderful film that should be watched over and over again. Heartbreak and hilarity have seldom been better matched.