Fury at Smugglers Bay – 1961 | 92 mins | Drama | Colour

Plot Synopsis

Swashbuckling period adventure about a gang of wreckers on the 18th-century Cornish coast. Writer/director John Gilling’s rambunctious yarn is tantamount to an English western with its stagecoach hold-ups and fist-fights. Sadly it’s a film with a thin plot and lacking in the vigour of Hammer’s Captain Clegg (1962).

A small Cornish coastal village during the 18th century is the setting for smuggling and ship wrecking. Christopher Trevenyan (John Fraser), the gung-ho son of the local Squire (Peter Cushing), discovers a gang of smuggling cut-throats ruthlessly led by Black John (Bernard Lee) have moved into the area. The Squire half-heartily vows to investigate; however, he makes no attempt to disarm the outlaws. Instead, he blames a series of smuggling incidents on some local fisherman. Christopher suspects Black John and the wreckers have some influence over his father, but having killed a smuggler during a fight, the Squire sends his son away to London.

When the father, Francois Lejeune (George Coulouris), of Christopher’s love, Louise (Michèle Mercier), is sentenced to deportation by the Squire for smuggling – the headstrong son hurriedly returns to Cornwell. Meanwhile, Francois calls on his daughter to seek the help of a gentleman-highwayman known as ‘The Captain’ (William Franklyn). The Captain duly responds by kidnapping Christopher and holding him hostage in exchange for Lejeune’s freedom. The Squire is forced to admit that Christopher is his illegitimate son and that Black John has been blackmailing him for years. The Captain and Christopher join forces after duelling and undertake to prove Lejeune’s innocence by capturing Black John.