Anthony Quinn stars in A High Wind In Jamaica where he and first mate James Coburn preside over an unruly crew of pirates. This is a beautifully photographed film which I had a lot of problems with. It's a bit of a homage to Treasure Island with Captain Quinn bonding with several children who have been sent to the United Kingdom by their parents Nigel Davenport and Isabella Dean from Jamaica where the parents have become colonizers. It's for the kid's educations but they get quite the education when during a raid on their ship they wind up on the pirate ship.In many ways A High Wind In Jamaica is Disney like, but there are too many grim scenes for this to ever be Disney type material. And in the end those kids, especially the oldest girl do not prove to be Jim Hawkins like.I see the film got a lot of positive reviews, but I'm afraid I can't be one of them.

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 family Thorton and the children are sent England . But their ship is attacked by a pirate galleon captained by Chavez (Anthony Quinn) and the second in command (James Coburn) and they are taken aboard . But the children reveal their basic natures aboard of the vessel and the problems emerge , discovering the innocent savageries of childhood.This enjoyable pirate movie contains sensible moments , wonderful seafare exteriors and thought-provoking theme with psychological studio of childhood . 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 as an exceptional Anthony Quinn and James Coburn as good pirates . Good supporting cast 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 cinematography by Douglas Slocombe in widescreen who reflects splendidly the Caribbean outdoors. The motion picture is stunningly directed by Alexander Mackendrick who directed ¨Sammy going South¨ also about childhood issue . Rating : Well worth watching , better than average . The picture will appeal to Anthony Quinn and James Coburn fans.

I had never even heard of this movie before. Probably wouldn't have watched it...but it was on AMC tonight and nothing else was on. I'm glad I didn't miss this one; this movie is very close to what "real" pirates, corsairs and privateers were like in their waning days. Of course there is a bit of artistic license, but the makeup of the crew, the scenes at the Port of Tampico, and the general feel of the film make it good fare, considering the constraints put on motion pictures in the year it was made. Many things implied, and understood behind the PG-rated facade of most scenes. The acting I found very good, the actors showed their contempt, inhumanity, decency, evil etc. (the facial expressions and acting of the madam in Tampico shows the ugliness behind the gilded facade beautifully) without having to "talk down" to the audience. Overall a very pleasant surprise for me, and I won't miss this one the next time it's on.

I saw a somewhat washed-out and flickery full-frame version of this movie a few years back on TV. It was great then. I tried to get a Video or DVD for some while.As someone has already mentioned, this is really a great movie, not like the sweetened Disney flicks of the period.When I saw, that it was on program on one of our smaller tv stations I was looking forward to finaly get a chance to tape it.And then came the very very very pleasant surprise that they broadcasted a restored widescreen version. That really made for a great Christmas surprise.