''Fury at Smugglers' Bay'' is a 1961 British

adventure film An adventure film is a form of adventure fiction, and is a genre of film. Subgenres of adventure films include swashbuckler films, pirate films, and survival films. Adventure films may also be combined with other film genres such as action, a ...

produced, written and directed by

John Gilling John Gilling (29 May 1912 – 22 November 1984) was an English film director and screenwriter, born in London. He was known for his horror movies, especially those he made for Hammer Films, for whom he directed '' The Shadow of the Cat'' (1961 ...

and starring

Peter Cushing Peter Wilton Cushing (26 May 1913 – 11 August 1994) was an English actor. His acting career spanned over six decades and included appearances in more than 100 films, as well as many television, stage, and radio roles. He achieved recognition ...

Bernard Lee John Bernard Lee (10 January 190816 January 1981) was an English actor, best known for his role as M in the first eleven Eon-produced James Bond films. Lee's film career spanned the years 1934 to 1979, though he had appeared on stage from ...

Michèle Mercier Michèle Mercier (born 1 January 1939 as Jocelyne Yvonne Renée Mercier) is a French actress. In the course of her career she has worked with leading directors like François Truffaut, Jean-Pierre Melville, Jacques Deray, Dino Risi, Mario Moni ...

and John Fraser. The plot revolves around smuggling in

Cornwall Cornwall (; kw, Kernow ) is a historic county and ceremonial county in South West England. It is recognised as one of the Celtic nations, and is the homeland of the Cornish people. Cornwall is bordered to the north and west by the Atlan ...

. Studio sequences were filmed at Twickenham Film Studios in west

London London is the capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary dow ...

with the external sequences representing the coast of Cornwall actually being shot at

Abereiddy Abereiddy ( cy, Abereddi) is a hamlet in the county of Pembrokeshire, in west Wales Wales ( cy, Cymru ) is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It is bordered by England to the Wales–England bor ...

on the north Pembrokeshire coast in south-west

Wales Wales ( cy, Cymru ) is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It is bordered by England to the Wales–England border, east, the Irish Sea to the north and west, the Celtic Sea to the south west and the ...

. 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.

Plot

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 ( John Fraser) 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 (

George Coulouris George Alexander Coulouris (1 October 1903 – 25 April 1989) was an English film and stage actor. Early life Coulouris was born in Manchester, Lancashire, England, the son of Abigail (née Redfern) anNicholas Coulouris a merchant of Gre ...

), 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 (

William Franklyn William Leo Franklyn (22 September 1925 – 31 October 2006) was a British actor, perhaps best known for voicing the "Schhh... You Know Who" adverts for Schweppes from 1965 to 1973. He also performed on stage, film, television and radio, ...

), 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

as Squire Trevenyan *

as Black John *

as Louise Lejeune * John Fraser as Christopher Trevenyan *

as The Captain *

as François Lejeune * Liz Fraser as Betty * June Thorburn as Jenny Trevenyan * Katherine Kath as Maman * Maitland Moss as Tom, the butler * Tommy Duggan as Red Friars *

Juma (actor) Jumas Omar (born Jumas Omar, 10 October 1943 - May 1989 in London) was a Zanzibar-born actor who appeared in several British films set in Africa as a child actor. Filmography * '' West of Zanzibar'' (1954) * ''Safari A safari (; ) is an ove ...

as Juma * Christopher Carlos as The Tiger, a pirate * Miles Malleson as Duke of Avon * Alan Browning as 2nd Highwayman * Bob Simmons as Carlos

Critical reception

In the ''

Radio Times ''Radio Times'' (currently styled as ''RadioTimes'') is a British weekly listings magazine devoted to television and radio programme schedules, with other features such as interviews, film reviews and lifestyle items. Founded in May 1923 by J ...

'', 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

's abused outsider being particularly well realised."

References

External links

* 1961 films 1960s historical adventure films British historical adventure films Films directed by John Gilling Films set in the 1780s Films set in Cornwall Films set on beaches 1960s English-language films 1960s British films {{adventure-film-stub