Cyclone à la Jamaïque

This mood-provoking 60's-style (ballad theme song) drama recounts a moment from an even earlier era, when there was piracy on the high seas.It stars a group of children who prove there is a group of human beings even less civilized than pirates, or can at least give them a run for their money. Anthony Quinn tenders the character of Chavez, captain of a pirate ship, of whole cloth: we always believe in Chavez and find him a worthwhile study. We have loved like him--whether it was a cuddly little animal or a neat person in our world awhile--for no reason other than that the loved delights us. While the love itself is pure, it can bring on trouble. This is demonstrated in both the film story line and the film's history, the latter being that the film has been basically closeted , perhaps due to society's discomfort with a grown-man's-affection-for-a-little-girl story line. Debra Baxter as Emily is a total charmer, realistically skinnier while unparented at sea.The tale evolves around her character, a 10-year-old English kid raised in Jamaica and now being shipped with her siblings and another family to the mother land to be reared out of her heathen ways.While Chavez's gang invades their ship, the children, as always in their own world, explore the pirate vessel and are still aboard when the clueless pirates take off. They are discovered and the pirates want to chunk them on the next island or worse, but Chavez insists the kids stay until they get to a safe port.The crew mutinees, the kids are saved, but Emily thinks she has committed a deed she will be punished for. An excellant dramatization of the potency of the untamed internal value system, aptly including society's "outsider-bad-men" as a frame of reference. It's a movie to chew over and think about. Children of both sexes enjoy it again and again.

Having read the book in 1965, I took my (then) 3 young daughters to see the film. They were so stirred and charmed that they made me sit through a second screening. Anthony Quinn and James Coburn were brilliant, lovable rogues and the main little girl was someone my kids could identify with. Gert Frobe as the Dutch sea captain was memorable, and the English cast, director Alexander Mackendrick and the screenwriter(s) should be commended for creating a superb example of the art of cinema. I have but one sad comment: Why isn't this film available on videotape or disk, or at least on cable?

For those who have written in the "User Comments" that they cannot find "A High Wind in Jamaica" anywhere, they are correct that the movie has not yet been released on DVD or video -- a true disappointment, since this is a fine film -- but fortunately the cable channel American Movie Classics (or "AMC" as it's more commonly known) periodically runs the movie. It was last shown by AMC, in fact, in December 2003, and no doubt it will be again in the future, as all the great movies in their archives are. At their website, a search engine allows viewers to find out when the next showing of a specific film will be, if the scheduling is firm enough in the short term to be included in the search. I hope this helps everyone who admires the film.

Very good adventure , a pure entertainment movie based on a novel written by Richard Hughes , shot in Jamaica and Pinewood studios . In the late XIX , during Victorian time , a hurricane destroys the house of Thorton family and the children are sent England . But their ship is attacked by a pirate vessel captained by Chavez (Anthony Quinn) and the second-in-command (James Coburn) and they are taken aboard . The kids view it as a lark, and one of them, a girl named Emily , develops an unusual bond with Chavez, the pirate captain. But the kiddies reveal their basic natures aboard of the vessel and the problems emerge , discovering the innocent savageries of childhood. The superstitious pirates can't wait to unload the children at the first harbour and things go awry when an unfortunate tragedy takes place .

This enjoyable pirate movie contains sensitive moments , wonderful seafare exteriors and thought-provoking theme with psychological studio of childhood in which the peculiar relationship with kiddies takes a fateful twist . It packs comedy , adventure, drama and tragedy , all of them are ironically balanced by an intelligent screenplay written by Stanley Mann and Ronald Harwood . Excellent main cast , such as an exceptional Anthony Quinn as the pirate captain and James Coburn as a good buccaneer . Good supporting cast such as : Nigel Davenport , Lila Kedrova , Dennis Price , and brief role for Gert Frobe . Nice musical score directed by Philip Martell and composed by virtuoso harmonica Larry Adler, including some catching songs . Colorful and evocative cinematography by Douglas Slocombe in widescreen who reflects splendidly the Caribbean outdoors . The motion picture was stunningly directed by Alexander Mackendrick who directed ¨Sammy going South¨ also about a childhood issue . Rating : Well worth watching , better than average . The picture will appeal to Anthony Quinn and James Coburn fans.

As many times before, the IMDb has proven to be such a valuable resource. Like others who have written their comments here, I also saw this movie as a child and could never forget it. Besides, I fell completely in love with the little girl's character and somehow retained the actress's name in my memory for over 20 years: Deborah Baxter. In fact, that is how I found the movie again, because I had completely forgotten its title. The only other actor I remembered for sure was Anthony Quinn, so I began looking at the casts of all of his films whose title suggested pirates or ocean, until I arrived here and --to my own astonishment-- discovered that my memory had not failed me: the girl's name actually is Deborah Baxter! It seems that she only ever acted in two movies; what became of her? Anyway, I am happy to announce here that the movie has finally been released on DVD. I'm definitely buying it.