Jamaica Inn (1939)

Written by CinemaSerf on June 22, 2022

Charles Laughton excels as "Sir Humphrey" in this super adaptation of Daphné du Maurier's book. The bleak photography helps generate a sense of the menace of the wreckers as they - led by Leslie Banks - seek to drive ships onto the rocks and make off with the contraband - murdering as they go. Maureen O'Hara and Robert Newton discover the evil antics of the squire and his accomplices and the film tells the tale of their death defying antics to bring all to justice. Alfred Hitchcock has much to work with here, and he makes the most of it.