Brilliant and touching

All of these films share one commonality, that being a kind of emotional center that humanizes a cast of monsters.

Easily the biggest piece of Right wing non sense propaganda I ever saw.

There are moments that feel comical, some horrific, and some downright inspiring but the tonal shifts hardly matter as the end results come to a film that's perfect for this time.

Anthony Quinn is the captain of a pirate ship in the middle 1600s. The ship and its crew loot a British passenger ship. Half a dozen young kids, mostly British, board the victim ship accidentally sail away aboard the pirate ship. Quinn, a drunken and pediculous lout, comes eventually to care about the children in his own crude way, before a British Naval steamship capture him and his superstitious crew and rescue the kids, who are by this time wearing tattered clothing and are filthy.The two central roles are those of Anthony Quinn and Deborah Baxter as one of the children. Quinn does his usual reliable number -- Zorba the Greek with edginess. He's dashing around the deck in his bare feet shouting orders in Spanish, slapping impertinent seamen about the head.But Deborah Baxter's role is important. And she's magnetic. It's worth speculating why this should be so, but the answer isn't too flattering to the gentlemen in the audience. She was nine years old when this film was released. She's not striking beautiful -- no porcelain doll like Brooke Shields in "Pretty Baby." There is nevertheless something extremely appealing about her appearance and demeanor. Please, I'm no pedophile. I find older women more likable, for all the reasons given by Benjamin Franklin.But Deborah Baxter, prepubescent though she may be, combines her juvenile vulnerability with a clearly seductive quality, which Quinn's character, the writers, and director Alexander MacKendrick all recognize and put to use in the story. It mocks our sensibilities to deny it. Jenny Agutter was about fourteen when she made "Walkabout" and Sue Lyon fourteen when she was Kubrick's "Lolita." Not that Quinn's pirate captain necessarily realizes what's up. He's clearly embarrassed at one point, at which he finds himself having to pin Baxter down to the deck, hovering above her, the crew chuckling because the position is suggestive. It's also clear that by the end, Quinn's desire to help and protect her has eclipsed any sexual feelings he might have felt.She's a decent actress too, for a young girl. Her confusion at the climactic trial puts a definite period at the end of Quinn's career. And she turned quite beautiful in the next few years. That's why she was cast as Teddy Roosevelt's daughter in "The Wind and the Lion." Her character in that film, Alice Roosevelt Longworth, was a no-nonsense woman who lived into a candid late old age and died just one or two decades ago. You know the song, "Alice Blue Gown"? She's the "Alice." I loved Quinn. People accuse him of overacting, yet it fits the part of a self-indulgent, not-too-bright pirate captain, huffing and puffing, always on the edge of hysteria. It's not really Zorba we see on the screen. It's Zampano from Fellini's "La Strada." A brute, but one who comes to have civilized feelings after all.

A High Wind in Jamaica is directed by Alexander Mackendrick and adapted to screenplay jointly by Stanley Mann, Ronald Harwood & Denis Cannan, from the Richard Hughes novel of the same name. It stars Anthony Quinn, James Coburn, Deborah Baxter, Lila Kedrova, Martin Amis, Dennis Price and Nigel Davenport. Music is by Larry Adler, with the song High on a Gallows Tree song by Mike LeRoy, and cinematography is by Douglas Slocombe. Out of 20th Century Fox it's a DeLuxe Color/CinemaScope production.When a hurricane hits the isle of Jamaica in 1870, the Thornton family seek refuge in the basement. Here they discover the servants and workers performing a voodoo ceremony to ward off evil spirits. Horrified, Mrs Thornton decides to send the children and their two friends back to England to be educated away from what she deems savagery. However, during the voyage the youngsters are mistakenly taken captive by pirates, an event that will change forever the lives of captives and capturers alike.He's afraid: he says that kids bring bad luck...Richard Hughes' source novel was a one time part of the scholastic curriculum at Blighty seats of learning back in the day, the thematics of such a literary work no doubt inducing many a beardy teacher into lecturing over drive. Alexander Mackendrick's film adaptation manages to retain the literary feel whilst also entertaining by way of its intrigue. In many ways it's an odd film, a blend of pirates and children on board a ship screams out as something Disneyesque in make up, but it really isn't in any shape or form a frothy swash buckler movie. The pirates, led by Quinn's (wonderfully full of gusto) Chavez, are more human by motives and mannerisms, around them the children are realistic, they are not afraid, why would they be since they have not been taught that Pirates are bad? The youngsters merely see their stay with the bluff "n" ruff crew as an extended adventure.Their spirit is infectious, and Emily (an impressive Baxter) has a particularly beguiling effect on Chavez, but his right hand man Zac (Coburn effectively mannered) senses trouble and it's not long before the crew begin to fret about the lasting implications of the children being on board. We just know that something bad is going to come out of this unlikely coupling of youth and pirates, and it's then, for the last third of the movie, that Hughes' literary themes start to tumble out of the screen. Emotional and psychological twangs are neatly etched into the narrative by the ever astute Mackendrick, and a quandary surfaces by way of the innocence of youth; it's power, which when confronted by guilt creates a moral void that closes the picture (though not the novel) on an edgy note.Film looks great, with Slocombe's "Scope" photography out of the top draw, and Adler's score carries with it an ethereal quality that befits the haunting like nature of the story. Fox's Region 1 DVD release is double sided, giving a choice of full frame or widescreen, for those with big televisions the only way to see it is in widescreen, but the print is far from pristine. On release the film was met with much indifference, many were not sure what they had just watched, or were simply just upset at not getting a swash buckling adventure yarn. That uneasy reception goes some way to explaining why the film is largely forgotten and since over the years it has hardly ever been shown on television, it's certainly unseen. It deserves more exposure, very well put together all told, and definitely a picture that is strong in narrative as it puts human qualities firmly under the microscope. 8/10

I believe I read the book and I'd seen this film when it came out; then two weeks ago I found the DVD was available so I snapped it up. I'd forgotten the ending, more than likely because everyone doesn't live happy after conclusions would never see light of day today. In fact I can't imagine a child of 2006 watching this all the way through. I am not sure if it is because of the window scene in Tampico, or the children's reaction later on the ship to their brother's tragic death. This assumes the kids did not leave earlier when the drunken pirate crew comes to have the governess.Because of videos and DVDs, children of today want to see the cartoon violence Kevin inflicts on Pesci and Stern, to the sound of "YESSSS" rather than the unplanned mayhem visited on the pirate crew by the Thornton gang. And they would never accept Chavez' fate, done in by Emily's non-intervention and by the stupidity of his crew. Worse yet in today's storytelling, there are no villains, even among the crew. They are not bad men, just superstitious.I'd forgotten how much of the dialog is in Spanish, as it should be. The film is definitely not dumbed down; it is beautifully shot but do see if in widescreen, else some of the magic is lost.

I first saw this film as a child, and was surprised that I remembered so much of it over 30 years later. It is an unusual story of children who end up on a pirate ship by a quirk, and their relationship with the pirates, who regard them as unlucky. Which turns out to be true, in an unforeseen way. Anthony Quinn, as pirate captain, is superb, as are all the cast, especially the actress playing Emily, the oldest child.Forget any preconceived ideas you might have about the plot. This is a haunting, unforgettable story.