Movie Review: Jamaica Inn (1939)

I’ve definitely never known Hitchcock to do costume dramas or period films before, but here we are. This really doesn’t feel too much like a Hitchcock film, and I’m not sure how much of that is because it’s an early Hitchcock film (The 39 Steps is earlier, and I think that’s very much a Hitchcock film), or how much of it is because it’s a pretty performance-driven movie.

I’d say something like Vertigo might fit that bubble, but there’s so much more going on in Vertigo, with its script.

Anyways, Jamaica Inn may be a performance movie, but it does have good performances from a strong cast that includes Charles Laughton and Maureen O’Hara.

But despite relatively strong performances, there are some major tonal issues. Hitchcock’s humour usually works really well in his darker plots, but not so much here. There’s very little tension here to make up for it. It’s a far sillier movie than it should be.

Rating: 4/10