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Welcome to the new Robert Newton chatboard! This is a place to discuss the colorful and talented actor and his work. (Feel free to carry over discussions from the previous message board, located at www.voy.com/17058/, to this one. (If copying and pasting, please use quotation marks and mention who you are quoting. Thanks.)

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Jamaica Inn


This is a place to discuss Robert Newton's performance as Jem Trehearne in Jamaica Inn (directed by Alfred Hitchcock and loosely based on the novel by Daphne du Maurier), along with other aspects of the film, comparisons to the book, etc.

Last edited by vampyrate, 10/21/2006, 5:51 pm


---
"It's all rather stylish and pretty and rather worrying" --Timothy Spall on his costume in Sweeney Todd

"He must have been fun." --Emlyn Williams (liner notes from "Emlyn Williams as Dylan Thomas in 'A Boy Growing Up'")
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Re: Jamaica Inn


I have a special fondness for Jamaica Inn, mainly because it was the first movie where I noticed Robert Newton. It was before the internet and IMDb, and I spent quite a bit of time figuring out who the cute actor was who played Jem Trehearne. The only actor I recognized was Laughton, so all the other credits had to be explored, and back then the only way I had to do so was to find the different actors in TV Guide and watch the movies. It was a fun chase!

Eva
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Re: Jamaica Inn


So that's how you discovered Bobbie. I admire your efforts to figure out who he was, and glad you succeeded. So how did you ultimately find out?

If only I'd put a little effort into finding out the name of ... er, that other actor I keep going on and on about in that same movie, I'd probably have written him a fan letter (and from what I understand, he was good about answering them) or even seen one of his stage performances and gotten to meet him before he died ... (Just goes to show you, "Never put off till tomorrow what you can do today." I always seem to have gotten that backwards. Still do, unfortunately.)

---
"It's all rather stylish and pretty and rather worrying" --Timothy Spall on his costume in Sweeney Todd

"He must have been fun." --Emlyn Williams (liner notes from "Emlyn Williams as Dylan Thomas in 'A Boy Growing Up'")
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posticon Re: Jamaica Inn


I know that it's been said before, but I would absolutely loved to have seen RN play Jem Merlyn in a more faithful version of the novel. Talk about rugged - he would have been perfect for the part! Why, oh why did Laughton have to fiddle with the story?
Not to say that the film isn't enjoyable (though for people looking for a screen adaptation of the book, forget it). But I still really enjoy this film because of all the great character actors in it: Leslie Banks, Emlyn Williams and Mervyn Johns to name a few, and the lovely Maureen O'Hara.
I still have a hard time with what the makeup department did to RN's poor eyebrows, though. But Mr. Trehearne is still one fine looking law officer, and this is a fun film.


---
Jenny

"Let floods o'erswell, and fiends for food howl on!" Ancient Pistol.
Henry V - Act II, Scene I
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Re: Jamaica Inn


quote:

Jenny30 wrote:

I know that it's been said before, but I would absolutely loved to have seen RN play Jem Merlyn in a more faithful version of the novel. Talk about rugged - he would have been perfect for the part! Why, oh why did Laughton have to fiddle with the story?



Hear hear! Thank goodness, someone finally agrees with me! I love that book so much! (I love the movie as a kind of guilty pleasure, and mainly for introducing me to the book, and Cornwall ... and Emlyn Williams, there I said it.)

A number of reasons I've gleaned for the major overhaul to the story: The catalyst for the changes was the knowledge that the censors (in the US, anyway) would not accept the main villain as he was portrayed in the book because of the nature of his profession. Then there are all the stories floating around, most of which agree that, since Laughton was producing, he wanted a big role for himself, and the scriptwriters accommodated him by making him the main villain (but of course, that meant revealing him from the outset, which led to all the additions to the story). And the other reason was that Hitchcock and Laughton got along like oil and water on the set, to the point where Hitchcock was shooting around Laughton while he tried to find just the right stance or eyebrow twitch for a scene and eventually just gave up on the whole thing.

Now why they couldn't have kept the rest of the story the same (e.g., Jem being Joss's brother and Mary's complicated relationship with the two of them), I don't know ... except, I suppose, that would have drawn the attention away from big bad Laughton. (On the other hand, if he'd simply cast himself as Joss, and dispensed with the Sir Humphrey Dumpty make-up, he could have gotten that juicy role and kept it more faithful to the book at the same time.) And those make-up and costume people ... that's just unforgivable. (Um, except in the case of Emlyn Williams ... who, despite the weird costume, has never looked sexier, except maybe in the beginning of The Stars Look Down! Mmm, scrrrruffff!)

Oh, the lost opportunity ... emoticon

Last edited by vampyrate, 2/11/2008, 7:27 pm


---
"It's all rather stylish and pretty and rather worrying" --Timothy Spall on his costume in Sweeney Todd

"He must have been fun." --Emlyn Williams (liner notes from "Emlyn Williams as Dylan Thomas in 'A Boy Growing Up'")
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Re: Jamaica Inn


Remember the Daphne DuMaurier movie marathon last Saturday beginning with Rebecca? Well I decided to watch Rebecca because I had not seen it in years. Jamaica Inn came on right after that and I had no intention of watching it, because I have my own dvd, but I kind of got engrossed and kept watching. Anyway, I'm glad I did because I found a part that I didn't know existed in the movie. At least it's not on my dvd, which really makes me mad! The part were Jem and Mary return to Sir Humphrey's house after escaping from their little 'island' hideaway, had a whole part with Jem and Sir Hump that I had never seen. After Jem shows the perfect 'DRY' letter to Sir Hump, that reveals his true identity, on my dvd they both walk through the door and then it skips to Jem knocking on the door of Jamaica Inn. In the TCM movie, there was a whole part where Sir Hump and Jem are planning what they will do and Sir Hump (SH)yells for the butler to get Jem a set of clothes (that belonged to one of the men, I don't remember their names, who were in the room when Jem showed the letter to SH). So that is where the clothing came from. And there was even a little part in there, right after Jem got the clothes on, where he stands there flexing his legs and smiling, kind of like a kid getting into a new suit, while SH is making comments on how good he looks. That was kind of a hasty description of the scene (it was longer and quite a bit of conversation between the two), as I remembered it, but I knew that I hadn't seen it before. I checked my dvd and right at the part where they walk through the door the movie actually pauses, so it is obvious that a scene was cut out! I guess when I first saw it, I just thought that it was the dvd with maybe a scratch in it or something. Susan, this was kind of like your version of Blackbeard where they removed the funniest part of the movie. After I saw that scene in JI, some of what happened after, made more sense to me. My dvd is the 'special edition' Laserlight that has the introduction by Tony Curtis. Why do they keep cutting parts out of these movies and selling them that way? I think if you pay for a dvd, you should get the 'WHOLE' movie, not parts of it. I can maybe understand why they cut parts out to show on tv, which is usually to save time and leave more room for commercials, but a dvd should always have the complete movie.
  I was just wondering if everyone else has seen the part that I'm talking about. Or, did anyone see it on TCM last week?
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Re: Jamaica Inn


I know just what scene you're talking about, and I can understand why the movie would make less sense without it. It really stinks when they cut stuff out like that, especially when you're paying for it. It's on my copy of the DVD (the Platinum version, I believe). That had better have been some great introduction by Tony Curtis to make up for it! What does he actually say about it?

---
"It's all rather stylish and pretty and rather worrying" --Timothy Spall on his costume in Sweeney Todd

"He must have been fun." --Emlyn Williams (liner notes from "Emlyn Williams as Dylan Thomas in 'A Boy Growing Up'")
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Re: Jamaica Inn


I can't believe they cut that part of the film out on your DVD!!! The whole leg flexing bit has got to be one of the most exciting moments in Newton Cinematic History along with "Ahaarrrr, you're a saucy one!" and of course my absolute favourite "Such a helpless feeling, isn't it? Being on the wrong end of one of these?" - which when taken out of context just sounds deliciously warped!!!

Ahem. I really need to get over this whole thing, what am I, 14?!

Did they also cut out on your DVD *the* funniest moment in the entire film, when Humph-O-Rama holds a gun up to Chadwick and says "Chadwick, yer money or yer life!" in what must have been a total ad-lib??? Cracks me up every time.

I still can't get past the whole "Oh my god... Bobbie has TWO legs..." feeling when I see this film. Every other film I can just about deal with, but this one... no chance. It was the first non-Treasure-Island related footage I'd seen of him and it was just such a shock to see him walking normally and not eye-rolling and arrr-ing all over the place it almost seemed like a different person!!!!!!!

Also I would just like to say that tampering with THOSE eyebrows was just a disgrace to femalekind. Fair enough they gave us very tight trousers and a ripped shirt to compensate - but those eyebrows should have remained the unkempt and rufflable fuzz-monsters we all know and love!!!

Last edited by Spev, 5/11/2008, 3:26 pm


---
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Re: Jamaica Inn


[The whole leg flexing bit has got to be one of the most exciting moments in Newton Cinematic History]

I know! Why would they do that to me, taking that part out of my dvd? They should be ashamed of themselves. Not only was that a cute shot of Newton, but the whole scene had a little of a comic tone to it, like Robert Newton and Charles Laughton were having a little fun with an otherwise serious movie. They seemed to have a rapport between them and each was working off the other.


 ["Chadwick, yer money or yer life!" ]

  You know something, I can't say that I remember that scene either. Unless I just didn't understand Laughton, while he was busy mumbling. But I don't even remember him pointing a gun to Chadwick. I'll have to look again.

[those eyebrows should have remained the unkempt and rufflable fuzz-monsters we all know and love!!!]

 Oh my, yes!! You're going to think I'm crazy, but I love his eyebrows in 'Obsession'. I know--he's all neat and dressed up during the whole movie, but that one scene in the beginning, when he's standing in the doorway and he tells Bill 'Yes Bill, we're going places', he looked like he was looking out from under a shelf of hair. It was almost eerie looking, yeah!!! Nice.
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Re: Jamaica Inn


quote:

SMG01 wrote:

quote:

They seemed to have a rapport between them and each was working off the other.



Hmm, perhaps, but for me the absolute creepiest moment is shortly before that, when Maureen O'Hara ascends the stairs and Bob is warming his hands by the fire, and Laughton just gives him the creepiest look ... it makes my skin crawl!

I can't remember the "Chadwick, yer money or yer life!" scene either, but then I watch an abridged version of the movie that I edited myself because Sir Humphrey Dumpty really makes my stomach turn. Whereabouts does that scene occur?

Hooray for the natural look and Bob's "unkempt and rufflable fuzz-monsters"!

---
"It's all rather stylish and pretty and rather worrying" --Timothy Spall on his costume in Sweeney Todd

"He must have been fun." --Emlyn Williams (liner notes from "Emlyn Williams as Dylan Thomas in 'A Boy Growing Up'")
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