The Hill [1965]

The setting is a British Military prison out in the desert in North Africa, A typical army setting with white painted stones marking the parade square, the flagpoles flying the Union Jack and unit flags. The attention to military detail is absolutely correct (a failing in many modern day made war films)
Sean Connery portrays a Sergeant major (Warrant Officer) who had been court marshalled for disobeying orders during a conflict. He was the only returning survivor which has given him the reputation of being a coward (Is he or isn't he a coward?) now a trooper he is sent to this extremely hard prison. On arrival together with four other prisoners, just inside the camp gates Sean Conney is met by prison staff and the Regimental Sergeant Major and receives a tough welcome indeed.

The Hill is a pile of sand about forty or fifty feet high and is situated in the middle of the camp. With full webbing and wearing backpack prisoners run backwards & forwards over the hill as a punishment for stepping out of line. Of course the newcomers are introduced to the hill straight away.

The film is exciting, sad, funny, is full of revenge, hate, mutiny, and questionable murder, plus many other nail biting aspects. The acting is beyond reproach, and the whole thing in glorious Black and white. If you want to see a good film watch this one, I promise you a treat.

May I suggest a remake of this classic? Nope, Perhaps not, after all there's only one Sean Connery

Howard Donoghue (Berlin.)


A tough climb   February 1, 2006
Kurt Messick (London, SW1)
11 out of 11 found this review helpful

'The Hill' is an astonishing movie in many respects. It has a great ensemble cast, largely made of up of people who aren't generally part of ensemble acting - Sean Connery, Ossie Davis, and Michael Redgrave were certainly more of the 'leading man' types. Other well-known actors from British cinema are featured as well (Roy Kinnear, Harry Andrews, Alfred Lynch, Ian Hendry, among others). Sidney Lumet directed this film in 1965; based on a play, it shows the harsher side of masculine, military life - it is set in a disciplinary prison in the Libyan desert during World War II.

Connery and others star as a group of new prisoners getting acclimatised to the way life runs in the prison. Some rebel, some go-along-to-get-along, some become introverted and depressed - the whole range of possibilities is explored. There are class issues and racial issues addressed as well.

The title 'The Hill' comes from the artificial sand mountain constructed in the middle of the camp that the prison warder non-commissioned officers drill the prisoners on, breaking them down physically, and supposedly mentally, in order to reconstruct them as properly disciplined soldiers. However, not everyone responds to this, and at a certain point in the film it becomes clear that one of the warders is in fact a quite sadistic guard.

The process goes on with drudging sameness until the disciplinary punishment goes too far, and a man dies from the treatment. The subsequent attempt at a cover-up provides much of the drama for the film (even though this consists of less than have the screen time of the film), and the ending is certainly poetic in its justice even if it isn't a happy ending by any means.

The film was done at the height of Sean Connery's popularity as the new James Bond character - he had done three Bond films in the previous three years, including the classic 'Goldfinger' just the year before; here he was a gritty, working-class career soldier without the polish (or the toupee) of the Bond character. Connery shows he is no lightweight actor here, nor does he use his star power to steal the show.

This film was also done in black-and-white, which shows the dusty, dry desert elements in greater relief than a full-colour or colourised version might.

I eagerly await the DVD.


One of the greatest films to feature an ensemble cast todate   August 9, 2000
10 out of 10 found this review helpful

The Hill probably represents the finest work of one of the lesser known but none the less great collaborative actor/director teams, that of Sean Connery and Sidney Lumet. Along side these notables, the film boasts a truly outstanding supportive cast, where the likes of Ozzi Davis, Michael Redgrave and Roy Kinner provide classic performances. Set in a Military prison in North Africa the film retains a peerless quality in black and white. It's photography is paired with highly aggressive editing that is stunning. The overall effect provides a time and reality of place little seen in contempery cinema. It is very much a film of it's time yet speaks very much to the present of the past, and so understanding of an attitude that was the British army, as to defy belief. The story centres around a busted Sgt one Joe Roberts played by Connery, sent to account for striking an officer, having faced combat he is all to aware of the system that will once again come to bare on him. His all too knowledgeable attitude provides all the excuse for his prison guard tormentor Ian Hendry to exact ludicrous and murderous punishment on Joe and his fellow cell mates. However, Joe Roberts proves once again that he is exactly the kind of man that defines the real meaning of the term "war hero" inspite of the record he has been wrongly accorded. There are simply not enough stars to mark out this peace of cinema, and if there were they would pale against the performances that are The Hill


Why does nobody know this film?   July 25, 2003
Fish on Legs (Kent)
10 out of 10 found this review helpful

Easily the best film about the Second World War and/or the British Army ever made. Hard-hitting, at times claustrophobic, gritty and pulling no punches - with understated violence but tangeable tension throughout, and without a single mis-casting and no passengers. All of the characters are well drawn and the plot is tight and well crafted. This film will grip you entirely and keep you on the edge of your seat. Beautifully shot in black and white, the film shows the inhuman and brutal treatment of a group of British soldiers held in a North African camp by their military police guards - there is no room for your Richard Attenborough 'cheeky chappie' here.

An astounding performance that would be hard for Sean Connery to better - sheriously.