Jamaica Inn
by Lawrence Gordon Clark
List Price:
Our Price: $55.94
You Save: $24.05 (30%)
Availability: Usually ships in 1-2 business days
Category: VHS Video
See more movie releases
Buy this VHS video movie at online store in your country
Canada
Canada
Product details
Actor: Billie Whitelaw, Jane Seymour, John McEnery, Patrick McGoohan, Trevor EveDirector: Lawrence Gordon Clark
Producer: Chris Brown
Producer: Hilary Heath
Producer: Patrick Dromgoole
Producer: Peter Graham Scott
Producer: Stephen Bankler-Jukes
Writer: Daphne Du Maurier
Writer: Derek Marlowe
Edition: VHS Tape
Format: NTSC
Running Time: 187 minutes
Publisher: New World Video / R&G / Starmaker
Studio: New World Video / R&G / Starmaker
VHS Movie Reviews of Jamaica Inn
Movie Review: Visiting Cornwall's Moor
Summary: 4 Stars
I found this to be in excellent condition but found it better shown on older, smaller TV monitors than on the digital screen of the new 42 inch slim line. The slim line distorted and darkened the scenes more. Jane Seymour did a captivating portrayal of Mary Yellen with more time to develope the character in a TV series than Maureen O'Hara had in an ealier movie version done in black & white with Charles Laughton. I was especially interested in seeing authoress' Daphne du Maurier's Bodmin Moor brought to the screen as she described it in the original book Jamaica Inn. The moor was as essential to character development as the acting itself. Movie Review: Release on DVD, Please!
Summary: 5 Stars
This min-series is excellent, and by far one of the most original stories made into film. The cast is ideal for their respective roles, and the scenery of the moors is stunning. So it would obviously be worthwhile to create it on DVD. Hopefully the video producers will realize this soon, as more people want DVD format the the fading-away-into-oblivion VHS.Movie Review: Jane Seymour at her best!
Summary: 5 Stars
This is far better than Hitchcock's version of "Jamaica Inn". Jane Seymour never looked more beautiful than in this compelling, beautifully filmed mini-series. The cast is great, the scenery breathtaking (just like Seymour!), & the combination of suspense & romance make this a winner! I don't know why it's not on dvd yet, but until then I suggest you buy this on vhs. It's that good! Just make sure you get the full version & not the single-tape version which is bad quality (EP). Movie Review: A must have
Summary: 5 Stars
One of our favourite films. The case of lending it to someone and not getting it returned!No longer available in PAL format unless you want to pay over the odds on e-bay, we bought this NSTC version, so we can play it on an American friend's video player.
A classic
Movie Review: Not Quite Du Maurier . . .But, Good
Summary: 4 Stars
In this mini-series adaptation of Daphne Du Maurier's novel "Jamaica Inn", Jane Seymour stars as the confused yet ethical Mary Yellan, a young woman who finds herself confronting some unknown evil on the Cornish moors. I will not critique Du Maurier's story--it is a great Gothic masterpiece which employs tone, description, plot and characterization to near perfection---read the book to enjoy Du Maurier's talent and imagination at its best.
This adaptation follows the novel much more closely than Hitchcock's earlier film. However, some twists were added to further dramatize an already tumultuous story. I must wonder why this was necessary and can only think, sadly, that the original story was thought too tame in the light of our 20th/21st century viewpoints of violence. In this version, Mary's parents are victims to the sinister plot that wraps Jamaica Inn in secret, making Mary's involvement all the more desperate and poignant. If one has read the book before viewing the film, this addition seems overdone, detracting from the original and eliminating the self-righteously ethical factor so important to Mary's character. In order to emphasize the romance in the plot, Mary's relationship with the landlord's brother tallys up more screen time when compared percentage-wise with the novel's presentation of the same interplay---there are actually more scenes in the book where the characters are together, yet the book allows you to speculate as it plays the romance off the tale of suspense and the film does not. Patrick McGoohan plays Joss with a little too much gruffness--we never really see the vulnerability and helplessness which lie beneath the surface and appear after he has soaked himself in rum. There are never any scenes with both Jem and Joss together---the necessary comparison made between the brothers is not allowed and hence, we do not quite see Mary's dilemma in her attraction to Jem or what might have attracted her Aunt in the past. Aunt Patience, played by Billy Whitelaw, would have been perfect as the once beautiful woman worn down by the knowledge of her husband's misdeeds. However,through her stern cautionary conversations with Mary, she appears too logically complacent, more a fully functioning partner to Joss rather than the frightened remains of the silly woman whose head was turned by him in the first place. Jane Seymour's portrayal of Mary includes the bit of pep that DuMaurier states but never fully demonstrates, yet she tends to be too saucy at times, playing the active willing foil to Jem's criminal antics rather than the shocked observer from the pages of the novel.
The film is most definitely capitalizing on Du Maurier's so-called reputation for escapist romance; yet the book is not a romance at all, but rather Du Maurier's grim testament to the status of women as dependent creatures, shoved here and there by their stronger male counterparts. Mary doesn't necessarily find love nor does love conquer adversity as we are meant to conclude from this presentation. There is no moral lesson scorching Du Maurier's pages. Du Maurier's vision was much more dismal---Mary, finally beaten,accepts her fate and plays second fiddle to Jem's maleness; she learns to acquiesce to her dependency. Despite these fundemental differences, the film as a romantic interlude, is still good; it fully depicts Du Maurier's Cornwall seeped in its weather and crowned by monoliths. The film's music tends to be a little melodramatic--it is of the Camille Claudel genre--I think an insiduous pan pipe along the Braveheart vein would have been a better contrast with the rain, gloom and terror than 'Transfigured Night' which doles out more of the same.
Television Video
Video Genres
- Action & Adventure
- African American Cinema
- Animation
- Anime & Manga
- Art House & International
- Classics
- Comedy
- Cult Movies
- Documentary
- Drama
- Educational
- Fitness
- Gay & Lesbian
- Horror
- Kids & Family
- Military & War
- Music Video & Concerts
- Musicals & Performing Arts
- Mystery & Suspense
- Science Fiction & Fantasy
- Special Interests
- Sports
- Television
- Westerns
Movies most talked about in Television Video
The Flight of DragonsWarner Home Video; Release date: 1997-05-30; VHS Tape; VHS Video
Best price: $88.95
Sarah Plain And TallRepublic Pictures; Release date: 1995-03-21; VHS Tape; VHS Video
Best price: $7.07
Price in other shops:
Island of the Blue DolphinsUniversal Studios; Release date: 1998-01-01; VHS Tape; VHS Video
Best price: $78.99
No Time for SergeantsWarner Home Video; Release date: 1994-07-22; VHS Tape; VHS Video
Best price: $49.37
Pride & Prejudice (1995) (6pc) (Coll Box)A&E Home Video; Release date: 1996-12-23; VHS Tape; VHS Video
Best price: $22.08
Price in other shops:
Treasure Island (1990)Turner Home Ent; Release date: 2001-12-18; VHS Tape; VHS Video
Best price: $74.85
The Century-America's Time (Boxed Set)ABC News; Release date: 1999-03-23; VHS Tape; VHS Video
Best price: $62.59
Price in other shops:
12 Angry MenMGM (Video & DVD); Release date: 2000-11-07; VHS Tape; VHS Video
Best price: $12.89
Goosebumps -The Haunted Mask20th Century Fox; Release date: 1996-03-12; VHS Tape; VHS Video
Best price: $9.25
Price in other shops:
Stone FoxRepublic Pictures; Release date: 1998-08-18; VHS Tape; VHS Video
Best price: $49.95
Similar Video, DVDs, Audio CDs
RebeccaRelease date: 2008-10-14; DVD
Best price: $11.99
Price in other shops:
Our Mutual FriendWarner Brothers; Release date: 2005-09-06; DVD
Best price: $8.89
Price in other shops:
Masterpiece Theatre: Northanger AbbeyWGBH BOSTON VIDEO; Release date: 2008-01-22; DVD
Best price: $13.78
Price in other shops:
Matters of the HeartUniversal Studios; Release date: 1995-09-26; VHS Tape; VHS Video
Best price: $10.42
Somewhere in Time (Collector's Edition)Universal; Release date: 2000-10-31; DVD
Best price: $7.55
Price in other shops:
North & SouthWarner Brothers; Release date: 2005-11-15; DVD
Best price: $22.93
Price in other shops:
The InheritanceRelease date: 2004-12-07; DVD
Best price: $3.27
Price in other shops:
East of EdenStarmaker; VHS Tape; VHS Video
Best price: $28.94
The Scarlet PimpernelRelease date: 2004-02-24; DVD
Best price: $12.17
Price in other shops:
Masterpiece Theatre: Frenchman's CreekRelease date: 2006-06-27; DVD
Best price: $10.76
Price in other shops: