Remakes
- Resolutely unsinkable: film, TV, radio, and theatre dramatisations keep on coming
- Four adaptations of Daphne du Maurier’s novel have sailed onto big and small screens
- Latter three were made for TV and are more faithful to source than Hitchcock’s take
- As ever, bootlegs are rife; avoid the cutthroat copies and stick to quality releases
- Perennially popular on the radio: over a dozen adaptations in past eight decades
Note: this is part of an ongoing series of 150-odd Hitchcock articles; any dead links are to those not yet published. Subscribe to the email list to be notified when new ones appear.
Jamaica Inn Part 1: Overview | 2: Production | 3: Production continued | 4: Home video releases | 5: Remakes
Jessica Brown Findlay stars as Mary Yellan in the latest BBC screen adaptation, from 2014 (original pic)
Contents
- Inn on the radio
- Jamaica Inn (1983)
- L’auberge de la Jamaïque (1995)
- Jamaica Inn (2014)
- “Jamaica Inn” (2015)
- Related articles
Inn on the radio
UK cassette
In addition to several stage adaptations, Jamaica Inn has generated one American and over a dozen BBC radio dramatisations dating from the year of Hitch’s film right up to the present day. However, the only ones currently available are a trio of recordings from 1984, 1991 and 2015. To catch the other British entries, listen out for occasional repeats on BBC Radio 4 Extra; here are parts 1-2 and 3-4 of the 1991. There are also several audiobooks, including a tie-in recording by Trevor Eve, one of the stars of the first screen remake.
- Listen for Pleasure, read by Trevor Eve (1983, 150min) cass | pt 1/pt 2
- Chivers, read by Tony Britton (1992, 10h 27min) MP3/alt, 10-CD and cass
- Random House, read by Josie Lawrence (1993, 3hrs) cass and tie-in paperback (French), illus Gary Blythe
- Hodder Headline, read by Samantha Bond (1997, 150min) 3-CD and cass, also in 9-CD DdM Collection and cass
- Penguin Easy Reader, read by Derek Strange (2008) book/MP3-CD and book
Jamaica Inn (1983)
On location with Jamaica Inn – Photoplay, May 1983
Beginning several decades after Hitch’s adaptation, Du Maurier’s novel has been restaged several times for the small screen. First to surface was this 187-minute miniseries starring Bond (and Harryhausen!) girl Jane Seymour, Patrick “The Prisoner” McGoohan and Trevor Eve, who is perhaps best known for playing detectives Eddie Shoestring and Peter Boyd. With time to flesh out the story more fully and faithfully than Hitch’s version, this sumptuous production makes for a highly entertaining experience. Aside from one inland scene shot in adjacent Devon, it has the unique distinction of being the only version filmed entirely on location in Cornwall, the setting of the novel.
When first broadcast stateside, the original score was replaced and around 30 minutes were unceremoniously cut, leaving the results looking decidedly disjointed. Strangely, that compromised version has been released on VHS in at least the UK and Netherlands – but not the US, which has only had full length VHSs. However, US buyers should note there’s been no licensed domestic DVD release yet; the many discs floating around eBay, iOffer and the like are all, ahem, pirates, with VHS-derived transfers from tape, TV or YouTube. If you’re really lucky (sarcasm), some might be lifted directly from one of the official VHSs from Australia (Roadshow, 198-), Croatia (ElGaz, 1987), Finland (Transworld, 1984), Netherlands (VideoSales Network, 1992), Portugal (Paris Video Filmes, 19–), Sweden (DEL 1, 19–), UK (Video Gems, 1997) and US (R&G Video LP LP-VHS and SP 3-VHS, 1991; Anchor Bay, LP-VHS, 1996).
These official DVDs are the best way to go; they’re all completely barebones, without even any subs, though the German disc has an optional dub. All have the original score, natch. I assume the series was shot on 16mm or, possibly, 35mm film then transferred and edited on standard definition videotape, from whence all broadcast and home video editions are derived. Thus, we won’t be seeing it in better quality anytime soon unless the rights holders decide to pony up the cash to get the original negatives scanned in HD and the entire production re-edited and mastered from scratch. Well, you never know…
- Network DVD (2008)
- Germany: Alive DVD (2017)
- Australia: Shock DVD (2011), also in 2-DVD Jane Seymour and 7-DVD Classic Literature on Film
The series prompted a tie-in reprint of the original novel but as was common practice for publishers Pan Books, it has the same ISBN as their far more common 1976 reprint with cover art by Kathy James. Meanwhile, the original score by Francis Shaw and the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra was excerpted on a 7″ consisting of “Mary’s Theme” backed with “Shipwreck”.
- Peach River Records UK 7″ | Netherlands 7″
L’auberge de la Jamaïque (1995)
Unfortunately, I can’t find much solid info about this 90-minute French TV movie starring the 22-year-old Alice Béat and helmed by her father, director Gilles Béhat. What I do know is that it was shot in Manche on the northern French coast and apparently on 35mm film. This means although broadcast in the 4:3 aspect ratio, it was very likely primarily composed for 1.85:1 exhibition to facilitate a possible limited theatrical release, as is the case with many high budget TV movies. The bottom line is that this version has the potential to yield a beautiful HD widescreen transfer for streaming or Blu-ray. Right now though, apart from occasional domestic TV airings, it’s as yet unavailable.
- L’auberge de la Jamaïque (1936) – Daphne du Maurier
Jamaica Inn (2014)
Trailers: extended, BBC, PBS, German, Portuguese/teaser | clips/behind the scenes, more, photos | interview
Precisely matching the 1983 version’s 187-minute runtime and three-part miniseries format, this is possibly the most fully-rounded production yet. It ups the sexiness and angst quotient considerably and is a handsome looking beast, to be sure. The sweeping cinematography further distinguishes itself as it’s the only adaptation available in widescreen, while the audio is the most dynamically recorded yet, ditching all other versions’ mono for surround stereo. Despite that, it received thousands of complaints for frequently unintelligible dialogue on its initial airings. Its audio has possibly been retweaked for home video as it doesn’t seem that bad, but subtitles do still occasionally come in handy.
- US: Acorn DVD (2015)
- Acorn Prime Video HD
- UK: Fremantle DVD (2014)
- Network DVD (2019)
- Acorn Prime Video HD
- Germany: KSM DVD (2016)
- RTL Passion Prime Video HD
- Australia: Fremantle DVD (2015)
All four DVDs have English subtitles and by way of extras, 25 minutes of cast and crew interviews, and nine minutes of behind the scenes footage, while the US adds a picture gallery. The US, UK and Oz all have 2.0 stereo audio, whereas the German and its optional dub are in 5.1 surround. This version, being a more recent production, was shot and finished in HD; at least one Blu-ray would have been welcomed but seems unlikely at this point.
“Jamaica Inn” (2015)
Album | Mistletoe Bride (single version) | YouTube | Facebook | Instagram | Twitter | website | cover
Lastly, this mini-‘remake’ is the corking lead track from melodic metallers Danze Macabre’s eponymous 2018 début. They’re singer Nell Montague-Rendall and twins Mark and Steve Owers, ex of Brit rockers Lionsheart; check out that band’s great Dorian Gray/Hammer Horror-inspired “Portrait” and career spanning 5-CD/MP3 set, Heart of the Lion.
Jamaica Inn Part 1: Overview | 2: Production | 3: Production continued | 4: Home video releases | 5: Remakes
Related articles
This is part of a unique, in-depth series of 150-odd Hitchcock articles.
