Fury at Smugglers' Bay

Fury at Smugglers' Bay is a 1961 British adventure film produced, written and directed by John Gilling and starring Peter Cushing, Bernard Lee, Michèle Mercier and John Fraser.[1] The plot revolves around smuggling in Cornwall.

Fury at Smugglers' Bay
Directed byJohn Gilling
Written byJohn Gilling
Produced byJohn Gilling
StarringPeter Cushing
Bernard Lee
Michèle Mercier
John Fraser
CinematographyHarry Waxman
Edited byJohn Victor-Smith
Music byHarold Geller
Production
company
John Gilling Enterprises
Distributed byRegal Films International (UK)
Release date
  • March 1961 (1961-03) (UK)
Running time
92 mins
CountryUnited Kingdom
LanguageEnglish

Plot

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In 18th century Cornwall, Squire Trevenyan a magistrate to a sleepy fishing village, is blackmailed by a vicious smuggler, Black John, into keeping quiet about his murderous gang’s shipwrecking racket. The squire’s son deepens the dilemma when he attempts to stand up for his honour, his father’s and that of the girl he loves whose own father, a petty thief, has been sentenced to a penal colony at the insistence of Black John. The daughter engages the help of a local highwayman, an honourable thief who watches over those he has robbed to ensure their safe return home, to stop Black John once and for all.

Cast

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Production

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Studio sequences were filmed at Twickenham Film Studios in west London with the external sequences representing the coast of Cornwall actually being shot at Abereiddy and Penparc farm on the north Pembrokeshire coast in south-west Wales.[2]

Although filmed in colour, scenes of shipwrecks during a storm have been lifted from an earlier black-and-white film and have been tinted to match the other footage.[3]

Critical reception

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The Monthly Film Bulletin wrote: "Untidily plotted but roistering variation on the Jamaica Inn theme, distinguished by attractive colour photography (Harry Waxman), one or two imaginative moments of direction (John Gilling), and a splendid sword fight in which the previously overglamorous hero (John Fraser) proves he is capable of better things than getting his tights wet spurring his horse through the breakers. Peter Cushing is a shade headmistressy as the lip-pursing squire, and William Franklyn an uncommonly sophisticated highwayman, but Bernard Lee provides ample compensation as the ruffianly, hirsute Black John"[4]

In the Radio Times, David Parkinson gave the film three out of five stars, and noted, "as Cushing suggested in his memoirs, this 1790s adventure is tantamount to an English western, with a saloon brawl, sword-wielding showdowns and a last-minute rescue. However, the peripheral characters are more subtly shaded, with Miles Malleson's comic nobleman and George Coulouris's abused outsider being particularly well realised."[5]

References

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  1. ^ "Fury at Smugglers' Bay". British Film Institute Collections Search. Retrieved 5 January 2024.
  2. ^ "BFI | Film & TV Database | FURY AT SMUGGLERS' BAY (1960)". Ftvdb.bfi.org.uk. 16 April 2009. Archived from the original on 3 September 2009. Retrieved 11 April 2014.
  3. ^ https://petercushingblog.blogspot.com/2012/01/bay-watch-peter-cushings-1961-fury-at.html [user-generated source]
  4. ^ "Fury at Smugglers' Bay". The Monthly Film Bulletin. 28 (324): 47. 1 January 1961. ProQuest 1305828672 – via ProQuest.
  5. ^ "Fury at Smugglers Bay | Film review and movie reviews". Radio Times. Archived from the original on 16 May 2021. Retrieved 11 April 2014.
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