Jamaica Inn

For the longest time, I assumed Hitchcock's filmography was cleanly divided into two parts: his sicko everything-he-makes-is-awesome period (say, mid 50's forward), and before that. Yes, he had some great movies before then -- Rebecca won him his only Oscar -- but for some reason, my mind divided it cleanly into those two periods. What I've discovered as I've gone on the journey of seeing his entire filmography is that it is not split it two; there are many, many eras. His silent film period, his post-silent/pre-Hollywood period, his early Hollywood period, and so on. Jamaica Inn falls into that post-silent/pre-Hollywood period, where he was still making movies in England, and finding his voice as a director. It's a time of experimentation and trying on different styles. There's movies like The 39 Steps and The Lady Vanishes, both fun fugitive/espionage movies that have a fun energy and a sense of humor along with the suspense. And then there's stuff like The Skin Game, where he tries on a different genre and it proves to be an ill fit. Jamaica Inn is like The Skin Game in that regard. Ostensibly, it's about Mary, a young woman in 1819, going to live with her aunt and uncle in an inn on a remote island after the death of her parents. But then she discovers her uncle is the head of a band of pirates who trick ships into crashing on the rocks off the coast, looting the ship, and killing all aboard. But then they turn on the new guy, and she saves him, and they go on the run. They stumble into the hospitality of the richest man on the island, who is also the sole magistrate ... and he's also the real leader of the gang, giving them the info about the incoming boats so he can take a majority of the plunder and continue his lavish lifestyle. I found a number of issues with Jamaica Inn, and they all stem from one man: Charles Laughton, who not only played the priggish, porcine aristocrat Sir Humphrey Pengallan, but also served as co-producer, Even without knowing the behind the scenes drama, the movie would still be heavily flawed. Mary (played in her first role by Maureen O'Hara) is ostensibly the protagonist, and when she is given agency, which is fairly often, she's feisty and fun. But when she rescues the young Trehearne, he pushes her to the side, despite being as interesting as a dishrag. And when Pengallan is revealed as the mastermind of the gang, that pushes Mary's uncle aside as the primary antagonist. And Pengallan is on screen more than anybody else, despite his position as the villain. It messes with the flow and enjoyability of the movie to spend so much time with a character as oily and loathsome as Pengallan. If he had more depth, or even was charming, he'd be worth the follow, but he's not. And it's clear the movie shouldn't be about him anyway. One can feel the movie struggling against Pengallan's spotlight-hogging to tell the story it should. There's no sense of suspense or danger, and there's little in the way of exciting, swashbuckling action, because the movie has to orbit around Pengallan. If you do some homework on the movie's production, you'll find out this wasn't by accident. Charles Laughton reportedly commandeered and derailed the production, rewriting the script to put more focus on him, and it shows. Hitchcock would later say he was disappointed with the movie and considered it a lesser work, and it is plain to see why. Laughton's dominance of the production is evident. If he'd at least made Pengallan a tragic character, a victim of his own folly that ends up hoisted upon his own petard, it would make more sense that the movie treats its protagonists like supporting cast. But making him unrepentant, greedy, and overbearing AND making him the centerpiece makes the whole movie a trial to get through. On the positive side, I wasn't bored. As I mentioned, O'Hara is spunky and fiery as Mary, and shows why she would be such a star of the era right out of the gate. Being a period piece is so different from Hitchcock's other movies, so it gets points for being different. And for being set in only a couple locations, it's still filmed well, and never gets boring. It's just that it is evident how much movie has to fight against Laughton's desire to be the star of the show and turn what should be a suspenseful, action-packed adventure becomes watching a bad person become worse. It's just not enough to recommend.