Friday, December 19, 2008

High Wind in Jamaica

Anthony Quinn, James Coburn    d/Alexander MacKendrick  1965

This was adapted from an exceptional novel by Richard Hughes published in 1928.  Even though this was done by AMK the time it was made condemned it to disneyish schlock. The strength of the book was its dark humor and the fact that it was told from the perspective of the kids.  In the film the pirates are broadly caricatured as buffoons, silly fools who are easily manipulated. There's no believable sense of menace from them which really was crucial to the original story.  

The book at first seemed to be a children's adventure yarn but it slowly morphed into something considerably nastier...not quite Lord of the Flies...but close. 

Quinn spent his time here chewing up the scenery; Coburn's trademark charm never surfaced. Very little to recommend this one. Too bad. 

3


No comments:

Post a Comment