Jamaica Inn room where the author Maurier lived of various items owned by her including her writing desk and typewriter. Jamaica Inn Jamaica Inn is a traditional inn on Bodmin Moor in Cornwall, United Kingdom. Built as a coaching inn in 1750, and having an association with smuggling, it was the setting for Daphne du Maurier's 1936 novel "Jamaica Inn", which was made into the film "Jamaica Inn" in 1939 by Alfred Hitchcock. Located just off the A30, near the middle of the moor close to the hamlet of Bolventor, it was used as a staging post for changing horses. As well
Joan Fontaine George Cukor gave her a small role in MGM's "The Women" (1939). Fontaine's luck changed one night at a dinner party when she found herself seated next to producer David O. Selznick. Selznick and she began discussing the Daphne du Maurier novel "Rebecca", and Selznick asked her to audition for the part of the unnamed heroine. She endured a grueling six-month series of film tests, along with hundreds of other actresses, before securing the part sometime before her 22nd birthday. "Rebecca" (1940), starring Laurence Olivier alongside Fontaine, marked the American debut of British director Alfred Hitchcock. The film was released