Sean Connery was just so good in this. It should be getting much more attention on TV and cable.
Now that the lion is in his winter, I wish this and movies like "The Man Who Would Be King" and "The Offence" were played on a regular basis. This man is priceless.
"Is it true she wore my pearls?"
Couldn't agree more. I only saw this once, many years ago. I happened on it one night while channel surfing and so missed some of the start, but I quickly dropped the remote after 5 minutes of flicking. I watched Lindsay Anderson's "If ...." in exactly the same way. 2 absolute gems :-)
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That's very close to how I found "If . . "! I was baby-sitting, and one of the little boys was doing the "man-thing" with that remote, and he ran across the movie. I don't know why, but I made him stop. (I also had to make him a quart of Kool-Ade to bribe him for the remote!)
Another great of Lindsay Anderson's, I thought, was "This Sporting Life". I almost had a heart attack seeing Richard Harris like that!
I've never seen "The Hill" more than once, it upset me so much. But it was my introduction as a kid to Sean Connery as a very serious dramatic actor.
"Is it true she wore my pearls?"
I was lucky enough to see THE HILL in the cinema when it first came out. This was back in the day when they didn't clear the theater after every show so I sat thru it 3 times. A super film and one of Sean's best.
"We can't stop here. This is bat country!"
I was lucky enough to see THE HILL in the cinema when it first came out.
The British Board of Film Classification passed The Hill with an X certificate for cinema release in 1965. It was passed with a 12 certificate for VHS video release in 1998. The X rating still stands for cinema showings but if it ever was re-released for the cinema it would be re-submitted to the Board and I should think a 12 certificate would be granted.
shareTerrific film, maybe too long in spots, but very powerful. Some scenes do drag on, and the Ossie Davis gorilla imitation just looks superfluous now,--very sixties and all that. I like Connery's performance but for my money Harry Andrews steals the show. He seems to literally set off sparks every time he appears. And he makes you feel for his character, who gets in over his head and doesn't know how to cope with it. I also like Ian Hendry's sinister turn as Williams. But the movie was finely acted all-round, and ought to be better known.
shareThe film ends with Ossie Davis and Jack Watson giving Ian Hendry (Williams)an almighty hiding. Is Sean Connery's despairing manner at the end crying "we've won, we've won" due to the fact that by getting beaten up, Williams will get off scot free at the inquiry and all the blame will be put on the prisoners?
Are we to even assume Williams gets battered to death? McGrath (Watson) in particular was extremely violent.
I just wondered what the end signifies. Had they gone through the proper channels would Williams have been slung out of the army?
Is the beating the ending we wanted? I'd be grateful if anyone could shed some light on this? Thanks.
In the book Williams does get battered ro death at the end
shareAs I remember it fighting back puts them in the wrong which Connery as a regular will know. The implication in the film is that Williams will be killed and the army will use it as an alibi. Rather Billy Budd I felt.
Marlon the Cat 1991-17th October 2005
Perhaps some of the best acting I've ever seen
shareI just saw it today and it's one of the best movies ever.
Connery's Roberts is begging McGrath and Jacko to leave Williams alone as "we've won". If they kill Williams they'll have stopped Williams but not done anything to change the system. Also if they put a mark on Williams the inquiry wont believe them.
Yes the assumption is that Williams will be killed, as the repercussions of letting him live and the prisoners facing a court marshall are not good.
Before I saw the film (which I saw at fifteen and which gave clueless little me a foretaste of the rude world that awaited beyond high school and university) I read the paperback novel, which had to have been an adaptation from either the original play or from the adapted film script. Somewhere along the line I mislaid the novel (I remember it had an orange-ish overall colored jacket and a monochrome tinted - in yellow, as I recall - photograph of Sean Connnery sweating on the eponynous hot sandy hill. Would anyone know how I might get a copy of that original paperback? Thank you.
Oh, yes, forgot to say that I've never forgotten this intensely memorable film which I still consider Lumet's finest.
I remember seeing this when I was a teenager. Just watched it again. Such a powerful film. There aren't many movies made so long ago that are as uncompromising and harrowing as this. It's not an easy watch because it packs an emotional wallop that really makes us care about the characters and seethe at the brutal depiction of life in the camp. I think the version I watched had been cleaned up and I could understand every word. I think when it was first released it had a reputation of being difficult to understand what the actors were saying.
I don't understand why this movie doesn't have a stronger reputation. Nothing as raw as this is being made nowadays.