Film

What's on at the cinema plus reviews of the latest movie and DVD releases


A High Wind in Jamaica (1965)

Director: Alexander Mackendrick

Average user rating
1 review

Movie review

From Time Out Film Guide

Mackendrick paved the way towards the risky triumph of A High Wind in Jamaica with an equally unsentimental scrutiny of the innocent savageries of childhood in the underrated Sammy Going South. But his adaptation of Richard Hughes' novel was still received uncomfortably on its release, for widescreen buccaneering adventures were hardly expected to incorporate emotional and psychological resonances of the sort only recently locked up in the art-house visions of Lord of the Flies. Yet the colourful gusto Mackendrick brings to his yarn of pirate-captured children adrift between primitivism and Victorianism is pure cinema and pure entertainment, with comedy and tragedy ironically balanced in the combination of childhood dreams and adult dread.

Author: PT

Time Out Film Guide


User reviews of this film

  • Poppy said...
    Posted on Jul 04 2011 14:30 I dont see Deborah Baxter credited in the cast of this film? She was one of the main characters after all? I would like to see her mentioned!
    Report as inappropriate

What do you think?
Post your review now

clear rating
Min 1 star. Zero stars will be treated as unrated.

*mandatory fields





Top Stories

Ben Drew aka Plan B interview

Ben Drew aka Plan B interview

The singer, rapper and now film director discusses his debut film 'Ill Manors'

Cannes Film Festival 2012: final round-up

Cannes Film Festival 2012: final round-up

Dave Calhoun draws the curtain on the world's greatest film festival

Béla Tarr interview

Béla Tarr interview

The Hungarian auteur tells Time Out why he's quitting

The Palme d'Or effect

The Palme d'Or effect

We explore the fortunes of the past decade’s Palme d'Or winners

Ridley Scott interview

Ridley Scott interview

Director Ridley Scott tells Cath Clarke why he's making a science fiction comeback

Open-air movies in London

Open-air movies in London

Cath Clarke rounds up this summer's crop of outdoor film screenings

Ken Loach interview

Ken Loach interview

Ken Loach talks to us about his Cannes Film Festival entry 'The Angels' Share'