A High Wind In Jamaica (1965)

In the year 1870, a British ship headed to England with a group of children traveling without their parents is attacked by a group of pirates. Unbeknownst to the pirates, the children climb aboard the pirate ship to play and are locked in. When they are found, the plan is to turn them over to a brothel owner (Lila Kedrova) until they can be returned to their parents. But fate has a way of screwing up best laid plans. Based on the novel by Richard Hughes and directed by Alexander Mackendrick (SWEET SMELL OF SUCCESS). The film makes some changes from the novel including removing suggestions of child molestation, the character of Margaret (Viviane Ventura) is severely marginalized and makes the children made more sympathetic. The 1929 novel wasn't well regarded when published but is greatly admired today and similarly, the film's reputation has grown thru the years and now it's a cult film. Frankly, while I enjoyed many aspects of it I was underwhelmed. I'm not much on movies with children at its core and the children here are not only weak actors but as characters, they seem backward. I also had no sympathy for the child Emily (Deborah Baxter) whose addled mind causes innocent men to be hanged. Thumbs up to Douglas Slocombe's CinemaScope lensing and thumbs down to Larry Adler's dreadful score. With Anthony Quinn, James Coburn, Nigel Davenport, Gert Frobe and Isabel Dean.