Original Australian Daybill Poster A High Wind In Jamaica
A High Wind in Jamaica is a 1965 DeLuxe Color film, based on the Richard Hughes novel of the same name, and directed by Alexander Mackendrick for the 20th Century-Fox studio. It stars Anthony Quinn and James Coburn as the pirates who capture five children.Other cast members include Deborah Baxter, Nigel Davenport, Isabel Dean, Lila Kedrova, Kenneth J. Warren, and Gert Frobe. One of the child actors is the author Martin Amis. The film is regarded highly today because of Mackendrick's direction and Quinn's lead performance as the pirate captain whose relationship with the children betokens a subtle change in his character, finally leading to his downfall and the pirates' end. Mackendrick (1912–1993) was best known as a director of the Ealing comedies The Man in the White Suit (1951) and The Ladykillers (1955), as well as The Sweet Smell of Success (1957), now recognized as a masterpiece. The material in A High Wind in Jamaica afforded the director an opportunity to combine a light touch with serious drama.
