Watch A High Wind in Jamaica For Free

Simply A Masterpiece

If you don't like this, we can't be friends.

Bad Acting and worse Bad Screenplay

This is a tender, generous movie that likes its characters and presents them as real people, full of flaws and strengths.

I thought A High Wind in Jamaica was going to be a family-friendly adventure movie because of the premise. Five children are sent on a ship to England to get a proper education, but in the middle of the voyage, a band of pirates hijacks the ship. Anthony Quinn and James Coburn are the two main pirates, and if you can guess which one is stern and which one has a soft spot in his heart for the kids, then give yourself a gold star and feel free to skip the movie. As you'd expect, Anthony Quinn is very good as a ruffian with a heart of gold, and his tender scenes with the children, Deborah Baxter in particular, almost make the movie worth watching. The main problem with it is it's a pretty sad, adult drama that happens to have some kids among the cast. There is very little humor in the script, and the situations Deborah and her siblings find themselves in are far heavier than they should be. A High Wind in Jamaica is not one of those sweet Disney flicks like Treasure Island that came out in the 1950s and 1960s. If you really want to watch this one, just know you've been warned.

Alexander Mackendrick directed this pirate film, based on a novel by Richard Hughes, that deals with the children of an English couple living in Jamaica, who fear that their children are growing up wild, and losing touch with their culture, so send them back to England on a ship that is ironically boarded by pirates(led by Anthony Quinn & James Coburn) with whom the children stow away with. Though annoyed by their passengers, an unusual bond is formed, which is later tested when the pirates are captured by authorities, and put on trial for their lives. Nicely produced, with good actors, but story feels contrived and predictable, with the two pirates gathering no sympathy for their eventual plight(making them "heroic" figures is most dubious!)

Not a swashbuckler at all as many think, ″A High Wind in Jamaica″ is a very good outdooors drama in wide-screen, based on a novel by Richard Hughes, that deals with children's behavior, their notions of truth, friendship, loyalty, reality and game; it is about treason, and education. It is also another good film by American filmmaker Alexander Mackendrick, the man who made in the UK the cult comedy "Whisky Galore!", the original "The Ladykillers", and the classic NY drama "Sweet Smell of Success". Anthony Quinn and child actress Deborah Baxter led a fine cast that also included James Coburn, Nigel Davenport, Lila Kedrova, Gert Fröbe, and Dennis Price.

I was pleased to find this movie on your website and see the comments. This is a film which I loved as a child and have tried to find to purchase. Unfortunately it doesn't seem to be available anywhere, nor have I seen it on TV. As a child I lived in a small town where the theatre played a lot of movies over and over, esp westerns, and I could even watch a movie 2 or 3 times in one sitting if I wanted. This I would do on a Sat or Sun afternoon. I watched this film 3 or 4 times and thought James Coburn and Anthony Quinn were excellent. Didn't remember the other actors and actresses except that I really liked the girl who ended up in the courtroom. I loved the theme song but don't know if it's any more available than the movie. It says something like: When man is young and certain of what he wants to be.....Then fate brings a love to him that hangs him high from the gallow's tree, my friend, high from the gallow's tree. Does anyone know who sang this ballad? I can't remember the rest of the words. Anyway, I agree with everyone else: It's a shame High Wind is not available to us on video or somewhere. It was a great film!