This film, Hitchcock's last before he left for England, normally cops it from critics and while it isn't up to the standard of his great English classics I really enjoyed it. Great start, with a moody Cornish coast, lots of waves crashing and creepy inns, and its a pretty good story, as lovely young Maureen O'Hara arrives at an inn that is HQ for some ship wreckers.
The villains are an engaging bunch, and there is a surprisingly touching relationship between O'Hara's aunt and her husband, one of the main wreckers. Charles Laughton is in fine form in the lead; Robert Newton isn't as comfortable in the romantic lead Robert Donat part - he looks too odd.
Two major plot holes: why doesn't Laughton kill Newton when he has the chance? Why does Laughton risk taking O'Hara away with him at the end? In true Hitchcock heroine style, O'Hara gets slapped around, has to tear off her dress and is bound and gagged. Spectacular climactic fall.
The villains are an engaging bunch, and there is a surprisingly touching relationship between O'Hara's aunt and her husband, one of the main wreckers. Charles Laughton is in fine form in the lead; Robert Newton isn't as comfortable in the romantic lead Robert Donat part - he looks too odd.
Two major plot holes: why doesn't Laughton kill Newton when he has the chance? Why does Laughton risk taking O'Hara away with him at the end? In true Hitchcock heroine style, O'Hara gets slapped around, has to tear off her dress and is bound and gagged. Spectacular climactic fall.
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