Jamaica Inn (film) Jamaica Inn (film) Jamaica Inn is a 1939 British thriller film directed by Alfred Hitchcock adapted from Daphne du Maurier's 1936 novel of the same name, the first of three of du Maurier's works that Hitchcock adapted (the others were her novel "Rebecca" and short story "The Birds"). It stars Charles Laughton and features Maureen O'Hara in her first major screen role. It is the last film Hitchcock made in the United Kingdom before he moved to the United States. The film is a period piece set in Cornwall in 1819; the real Jamaica Inn still exists, and is a
Daphne du Maurier her father. On meeting Tallulah Bankhead, Du Maurier was quoted as saying that Bankhead was the most beautiful creature she had ever seen. The novel "Rebecca" (1938) was one of du Maurier's most successful works. It was an immediate hit, selling nearly 3 million copies between 1938 and 1965. The novel has never gone out of print, and has been adapted for both stage and screen several times. In the U.S. Du Maurier won the National Book Award for favourite novel of 1938, voted by members of the American Booksellers Association. In the UK, it was listed at number 14