{ "id": "epwr4sn4zc", "slug": "jamaica-inn-1939-film", "title": "Jamaica Inn (1939 film)", "updated": "2026-11-01", "topic_path": [ { "id": "culture", "label": "Arts and culture", "api_url": "https://www.edgepedia.org/api/v1/topics/culture" }, { "id": "culture.performance", "label": "Screen and stage", "api_url": "https://www.edgepedia.org/api/v1/topics/culture.performance" }, { "id": "culture.performance.screen", "label": "Film and television", "api_url": "https://www.edgepedia.org/api/v1/topics/culture.performance.screen" }, { "id": "culture.performance.screen.films", "label": "Films and standalone screen works", "api_url": "https://www.edgepedia.org/api/v1/topics/culture.performance.screen.films" }, { "id": "culture.performance.screen.films.films.individual-works", "label": "Individual films by title and year", "api_url": "https://www.edgepedia.org/api/v1/topics/culture.performance.screen.films.films.individual-works" }, { "id": "culture.performance.screen.films.films.individual-works.action-adventure", "label": "Action and adventure films (individual works)", "api_url": "https://www.edgepedia.org/api/v1/topics/culture.performance.screen.films.films.individual-works.action-adventure" }, { "id": "culture.performance.screen.films.films.individual-works.action-adventure.adventure-films", "label": "Adventure films", "api_url": "https://www.edgepedia.org/api/v1/topics/culture.performance.screen.films.films.individual-works.action-adventure.adventure-films" }, { "id": "culture.performance.screen.films.films.individual-works.action-adventure.adventure-films.yr-1935-2004", "label": "Released 1935 to 2004", "api_url": "https://www.edgepedia.org/api/v1/topics/culture.performance.screen.films.films.individual-works.action-adventure.adventure-films.yr-1935-2004" } ], "geo": [ { "id": "geo.weu.t1800.culture.performance.screen.films.films.individual-works", "label": "Western Europe · 1800 to 1945: Individual films by title and year", "api_url": "https://www.edgepedia.org/api/v1/geo/geo.weu.t1800.culture.performance.screen.films.films.individual-works", "path": [ { "id": "geo.weu", "label": "Western Europe", "api_url": "https://www.edgepedia.org/api/v1/geo/geo.weu" }, { "id": "geo.weu.t1800", "label": "Western Europe · 1800 to 1945", "api_url": "https://www.edgepedia.org/api/v1/geo/geo.weu.t1800" }, { "id": "geo.weu.t1800.culture", "label": "Arts and culture", "api_url": "https://www.edgepedia.org/api/v1/geo/geo.weu.t1800.culture" }, { "id": "geo.weu.t1800.culture.performance", "label": "Screen and stage", "api_url": "https://www.edgepedia.org/api/v1/geo/geo.weu.t1800.culture.performance" }, { "id": "geo.weu.t1800.culture.performance.screen", "label": "Film and television", "api_url": "https://www.edgepedia.org/api/v1/geo/geo.weu.t1800.culture.performance.screen" }, { "id": "geo.weu.t1800.culture.performance.screen.films", "label": "Films and standalone screen works", "api_url": "https://www.edgepedia.org/api/v1/geo/geo.weu.t1800.culture.performance.screen.films" }, { "id": "geo.weu.t1800.culture.performance.screen.films.films.individual-works", "label": "Individual films by title and year", "api_url": "https://www.edgepedia.org/api/v1/geo/geo.weu.t1800.culture.performance.screen.films.films.individual-works" } ] } ], "excerpt": "Jamaica Inn (1939) is Alfred Hitchcock's last British film, an adventure adapted from Daphne du Maurier's 1936 novel about Cornish wreckers, produced by Charles Laughton and Erich Pommer's Mayflower Pictures, a box-office hit despite poor reviews.", "snippet": "Jamaica Inn (1939) is Alfred Hitchcock's last British film, an adventure adapted from Daphne du Maurier's 1936 novel about Cornish wreckers, produced by Charles Laughton and Erich Pommer's Mayflower Pictures, a box-office hit despite poor reviews.", "node": "culture.performance.screen.films.films.individual-works.action-adventure.adventure-films.yr-1935-2004", "markdown": "# Jamaica Inn (1939 film)\n\n**Jamaica Inn** is a 1939 British adventure film directed by [Alfred Hitchcock](https://www.edgepedia.org/alfred-hitchcock), adapted from [Daphne du Maurier](https://www.edgepedia.org/daphne-du-maurier)'s 1936 novel of the same name, about a gang of wreckers on the Cornish coast who lure merchant ships onto the rocks and murder their crews. It was the last film Hitchcock made in Britain before leaving for Hollywood, and it was produced by Mayflower Pictures, the company of star [Charles Laughton](https://www.edgepedia.org/charles-laughton) and German producer Erich Pommer.[1](https://catalog.afi.com/Film/4648-JAMAICA-INN) • [2](https://www.tcm.com/articles/99370/jamaica-inn)\n\n| Key fact | Detail |\n|---|---|\n| Director / producer | Alfred Hitchcock; produced by Erich Pommer for Mayflower Pictures[3](https://www.bfi.org.uk/film/47febfc4-3397-5a25-99f1-12c3edfa01b4/jamaica-inn) • [2](https://www.tcm.com/articles/99370/jamaica-inn) |\n| Source | Daphne du Maurier's 1936 crime novel *Jamaica Inn*, her fourth novel and first best-seller[4](https://www.festival-cannes.com/en/2014/cannes-classics-jamaica-inn-a-mist-shrouded-hitchcock-set-in-deepest-cornwall/) • [5](https://brentonfilm.com/alfred-hitchcock-collectors-guide-jamaica-inn-1939-part-2) |\n| Screenplay | Sidney Gilliat and Joan Harrison, with additional dialogue by J. B. Priestley; Clemence Dane worked on a first draft[2](https://www.tcm.com/articles/99370/jamaica-inn) • [1](https://catalog.afi.com/Film/4648-JAMAICA-INN) |\n| Cast | Charles Laughton (Sir Humphrey Pengallan), Maureen O'Hara (Mary), Leslie Banks (Joss Merlyn), Robert Newton (Jem Trehearne), Emlyn Williams (Harry the Peddler)[2](https://www.tcm.com/articles/99370/jamaica-inn) |\n| Release | May 1939 in Britain; 13 October 1939 in the United States[6](https://www.jamaicainn.co.uk/uploads/editor/CIG_JIB_History_web.pdf) • [1](https://catalog.afi.com/Film/4648-JAMAICA-INN) |\n| Running time | Reported variously as 99, 100, 105, and 108 minutes by different catalogs[2](https://www.tcm.com/articles/99370/jamaica-inn) • [7](https://www.festival-cannes.com/en/f/jamaica-inn/) • [3](https://www.bfi.org.uk/film/47febfc4-3397-5a25-99f1-12c3edfa01b4/jamaica-inn) • [8](https://www.bbfc.co.uk/release/jamaica-inn-q29sbgvjdglvbjpwwc0ynjm2mta) |\n| Reception | Critics disliked it, but it was an immediate box-office hit[6](https://www.jamaicainn.co.uk/uploads/editor/CIG_JIB_History_web.pdf) |\n\n## Spoilers\n\n### Story\n\nThe film is set on the rocky coast of Cornwall towards the end of the 18th century. Operating out of the tavern Jamaica Inn, a gang of criminals preys on the merchant ships they lure close to shore; when the ships crash against the rocks, the gang seizes the cargo and kills everyone aboard, leaving no witnesses.[7](https://www.festival-cannes.com/en/f/jamaica-inn/) Mary, an orphaned young woman played by [Maureen O'Hara](https://www.edgepedia.org/maureen-ohara), arrives at the tavern seeking her aunt, who runs the inn with her husband, the leader of the gang. Mary seeks help from the local magistrate, Sir Humphrey Pengallan (Charles Laughton), and from a law officer working undercover, but the true mastermind behind the gang has his own plans for her.[7](https://www.festival-cannes.com/en/f/jamaica-inn/)\n\nIn the film, Joss Merlyn (Leslie Banks) runs the inn and provides the muscle for the wrecking scheme, while Pengallan, the local landed gentry, is the true mastermind, using the profits to fund a lifestyle increasingly out of step with the times.[9](https://www.framerated.co.uk/jamaica-inn-1939/)\n\n## Production\n\nThe film rights were bought by Charles Laughton and his business partner, the German producer Erich Pommer, who had relocated to England after the rise of the Nazis. Laughton had just established Mayflower Pictures with Pommer, and it was Laughton who initially suggested that Hitchcock direct the project. From the start, the film was conceived as a starring vehicle for Laughton.[2](https://www.tcm.com/articles/99370/jamaica-inn) • [6](https://www.jamaicainn.co.uk/uploads/editor/CIG_JIB_History_web.pdf)\n\n**Shooting.** Production started in 1938. One of the opening scenes, using a replica stagecoach, was shot on an old rough road on Bodmin Moor, the site of the real Jamaica Inn that inspired the novel. The rest of the filming was done at [Elstree Studios](https://www.edgepedia.org/elstree-studios) near London, where Hitchcock built sets for the interior scenes and one huge set representing the exterior of the inn and parts of Bodmin Moor.[6](https://www.jamaicainn.co.uk/uploads/editor/CIG_JIB_History_web.pdf) • [9](https://www.framerated.co.uk/jamaica-inn-1939/)\n\n**Laughton's control.** As star and co-producer, Laughton dictated casting, including his discovery, the novice Maureen O'Hara, and demanded that his role be built up; he had originally been set to play Joss, and he delayed production while he worked on his approach to the part.[10](https://filozofia.uni-miskolc.hu/wp-content/uploads/2020/03/WhittyStephen-2016-The-Alfred-Hitchcock-Encyclopedia.pdf) Laughton brought in [J. B. Priestley](https://www.edgepedia.org/j-b-priestley) to build up his part with additional dialogue, and Hitchcock complained to [François Truffaut](https://www.edgepedia.org/francois-truffaut) that Laughton had fattened his part with these rewrites.[1](https://catalog.afi.com/Film/4648-JAMAICA-INN) • [11](https://stanfordtheatre.org/1939.pdf) Hitchcock was unhappy with Laughton's interference and with the finished film, later saying he felt like a referee on the production, unable to rein Laughton in.[6](https://www.jamaicainn.co.uk/uploads/editor/CIG_JIB_History_web.pdf) • [12](https://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/1010889-jamaica_inn)\n\n**Changes to the novel.** The adaptation took significant liberties with du Maurier's book. In the novel, Mary's love interest Jem was Joss Merlyn's younger brother, a relationship the film changed. Because religious groups were expected to object to the character's licentious conduct, the villain was changed from a parson into a squire.[1](https://catalog.afi.com/Film/4648-JAMAICA-INN) Playwright Clemence Dane worked on a first draft of the script.[2](https://www.tcm.com/articles/99370/jamaica-inn) • [1](https://catalog.afi.com/Film/4648-JAMAICA-INN) Du Maurier was furious at the changes and demanded, without success, that her name be removed from the titles.[6](https://www.jamaicainn.co.uk/uploads/editor/CIG_JIB_History_web.pdf)\n\n## Maureen O'Hara\n\nAlthough the opening credits say \"introducing Maureen O'Hara,\" this was not her first film; she had appeared in the B-musical *My Irish Molly* (1938), which Laughton and Pommer cast her in after obtaining her screen tests. *Jamaica Inn* was, however, one of her first roles as a featured player and her first release to the American market, and a New York Times news item records that she was discovered by producer Erich Pommer. The film established O'Hara as a star, and she starred opposite Laughton again in their next feature, *The Hunchback of Notre Dame* (1939).[1](https://catalog.afi.com/Film/4648-JAMAICA-INN) • [2](https://www.tcm.com/articles/99370/jamaica-inn)\n\n## Release and reception\n\nThe film was released in May 1939. Critics disliked it, but it was an immediate box-office hit.[6](https://www.jamaicainn.co.uk/uploads/editor/CIG_JIB_History_web.pdf) During its original release it was usually regarded as more of a Laughton vehicle than a Hitchcock film. The critic for *Time* called Laughton's \"Nero-like Cornish squire\" magnificent \"in the eye-rolling, head-cocking, lip-pursing, massively mincing Laughton style,\" while Frank S. Nugent of the *New York Times* praised O'Hara's \"charming naturalness and poise.\"[2](https://www.tcm.com/articles/99370/jamaica-inn) The film was distributed in Great Britain by Associated British Picture Corp.[1](https://catalog.afi.com/Film/4648-JAMAICA-INN)\n\nLater critical standing has been divided. The film has been described as one of Hitchcock's weaker offerings, and a 1954 Harvard Crimson review called it \"two hours of frenzied melodrama\" while crediting Laughton's performance with easing the strain.[9](https://www.framerated.co.uk/jamaica-inn-1939/) • [13](https://www.thecrimson.com/article/1954/9/30/jamaica-inn-pthis-week-the-brattle/) On Rotten Tomatoes it holds a 54% Tomatometer from 24 reviews and a 36% audience score; IMDb users give it 6.3 out of 10 from about 12,000 votes.[12](https://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/1010889-jamaica_inn) • [14](https://www.justwatch.com/us/movie/jamaica-inn)\n\n## Restoration and afterlife\n\nFor years the film circulated mainly in poor-quality, edited bootleg versions, in some cases missing more than eight minutes of footage, which contributed to its poor reputation. Kino Lorber's 1997 US LaserDisc was the first complete and fully authorized edition available anywhere.[15](https://brentonfilm.com/alfred-hitchcock-collectors-guide-jamaica-inn-1939) A 4K digital restoration, carried out by 4K RRsat Europe with Finishing Post Productions, screened in the Cannes Classics section of the 2014 Festival de Cannes, and Cohen Media Group issued the restoration on Blu-ray in 2015.[4](https://www.festival-cannes.com/en/2014/cannes-classics-jamaica-inn-a-mist-shrouded-hitchcock-set-in-deepest-cornwall/) • [16](https://www.ioncinema.com/news/disc-reviews/jamaica-inn-blu-ray-review)\n\nDu Maurier's novel was later adapted for television in 1985 as a British-American co-production starring [Jane Seymour](https://www.edgepedia.org/jane-seymour) and [Patrick McGoohan](https://www.edgepedia.org/patrick-mcgoohan), and again as a 2014 British miniseries with [Jessica Brown Findlay](https://www.edgepedia.org/jessica-brown-findlay) and Sean Harris.[1](https://catalog.afi.com/Film/4648-JAMAICA-INN) • [17](https://www.netflix.com/title/80123429)\n\n## Place in Hitchcock's career\n\n*Jamaica Inn* was the first of three Daphne du Maurier adaptations Hitchcock directed, followed by *Rebecca* (1940) and *The Birds* (1963). While making it, Hitchcock read the galleys of the soon-to-be-published *Rebecca* and decided at once to adapt it as his first feature in Hollywood.[2](https://www.tcm.com/articles/99370/jamaica-inn) The film is also an unusual entry in his British period for its historical setting; Hitchcock generally dealt with contemporary settings, and the period adventure marked a departure.[5](https://brentonfilm.com/alfred-hitchcock-collectors-guide-jamaica-inn-1939-part-2) The film's score was by Eric Fenby, who had begun his career as an assistant to the composer Frederick Delius.[2](https://www.tcm.com/articles/99370/jamaica-inn)\n\n## References\n\n1. [Jamaica Inn (1939), AFI Catalog of Feature Films](https://catalog.afi.com/Film/4648-JAMAICA-INN)\n2. [Jamaica Inn (1939), Turner Classic Movies, by James Steffen](https://www.tcm.com/articles/99370/jamaica-inn)\n3. [Jamaica Inn (1939), British Film Institute](https://www.bfi.org.uk/film/47febfc4-3397-5a25-99f1-12c3edfa01b4/jamaica-inn)\n4. [CANNES CLASSICS - Jamaica Inn: a mist-shrouded Hitchcock set in deepest Cornwall - Festival de Cannes](https://www.festival-cannes.com/en/2014/cannes-classics-jamaica-inn-a-mist-shrouded-hitchcock-set-in-deepest-cornwall/)\n5. [Alfred Hitchcock Collectors Guide: Jamaica Inn (1939), Part 2 – Brenton Film](https://brentonfilm.com/alfred-hitchcock-collectors-guide-jamaica-inn-1939-part-2)\n6. [A Brief History, Jamaica Inn (Bodmin Moor), CIG history booklet](https://www.jamaicainn.co.uk/uploads/editor/CIG_JIB_History_web.pdf)\n7. [Jamaica Inn, Festival de Cannes film page](https://www.festival-cannes.com/en/f/jamaica-inn/)\n8. [Jamaica Inn, British Board of Film Classification](https://www.bbfc.co.uk/release/jamaica-inn-q29sbgvjdglvbjpwwc0ynjm2mta)\n9. [Jamaica Inn (1939), Frame Rated film review](https://www.framerated.co.uk/jamaica-inn-1939/)\n10. [The Alfred Hitchcock Encyclopedia, Stephen Whitty (2016)](https://filozofia.uni-miskolc.hu/wp-content/uploads/2020/03/WhittyStephen-2016-The-Alfred-Hitchcock-Encyclopedia.pdf)\n11. [Jamaica Inn program notes, Stanford Theatre (1939 repertory notes)](https://stanfordtheatre.org/1939.pdf)\n12. [Jamaica Inn, Rotten Tomatoes](https://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/1010889-jamaica_inn)\n13. [Jamaica Inn, The Harvard Crimson, Dennis E. Brown (1954)](https://www.thecrimson.com/article/1954/9/30/jamaica-inn-pthis-week-the-brattle/)\n14. [Jamaica Inn streaming page, JustWatch](https://www.justwatch.com/us/movie/jamaica-inn)\n15. [Alfred Hitchcock Collectors Guide: Jamaica Inn (1939), Brenton Film, Brent Reid (2021)](https://brentonfilm.com/alfred-hitchcock-collectors-guide-jamaica-inn-1939)\n16. [Jamaica Inn Blu-ray Review, IONCINEMA.com, Nicholas Bell (2015)](https://www.ioncinema.com/news/disc-reviews/jamaica-inn-blu-ray-review)\n17. [Jamaica Inn (2014 miniseries), Netflix](https://www.netflix.com/title/80123429)\n\n---\n*Topic: Encyclopedia › Arts and culture › Screen and stage › Film and television › Films and standalone screen works › Individual films by title and year › Action and adventure films (individual works) › Adventure films › Released 1935 to 2004*\n\n*Initially written Oct 3, 2026 · Reviewed: Oct 25, 2026 · Edited: Oct 15, 2026; Oct 25, 2026; Nov 1, 2026 · Last review: Oct 25, 2026*\n\n*Copyright 2026 EdgeChat AI, a subsidiary of Biostate AI.*\n\nLicense: Edgepedia Community License 1.0, https://www.edgepedia.org/edgepedia/license\n", "same_as": [], "url": "https://www.edgepedia.org/jamaica-inn-1939-film", "markdown_url": "https://www.edgepedia.org/jamaica-inn-1939-film.md", "license": { "name": "Edgepedia Community License 1.0", "url": "https://www.edgepedia.org/edgepedia/license", "summary": "Free with credit, commercial use included. AI training is open to everyone. For other uses, organizations over USD 100M in revenue or 100M monthly users license separately.", "spdx": "LicenseRef-Edgepedia-Community-1.0" }, "credit": "\"Jamaica Inn (1939 film)\", Edgepedia (EdgeChat), https://www.edgepedia.org/jamaica-inn-1939-film. Edgepedia Community License 1.0.", "credit_md": "\"[Jamaica Inn (1939 film)](https://www.edgepedia.org/jamaica-inn-1939-film)\", Edgepedia (EdgeChat), [https://www.edgepedia.org/jamaica-inn-1939-film](https://www.edgepedia.org/jamaica-inn-1939-film). [Edgepedia Community License 1.0](https://www.edgepedia.org/edgepedia/license).", "credit_html": "\"Jamaica Inn (1939 film)\", Edgepedia (EdgeChat), https://www.edgepedia.org/jamaica-inn-1939-film. Edgepedia Community License 1.0.", "speakable": "Jamaica Inn is Alfred Hitchcock's last British film, an adventure adapted from Daphne du Maurier's 1936 novel about Cornish wreckers, produced by Charles Laughton and Erich Pommer's Mayflower Pictures, a box-office hit despite poor reviews." }