By Lee Pfeiffer
If you're a Sean Connery and haven't yet seen what is possibly his greatest on screen achievement - The Hill- then you've been depriving yourself of a great cinematic experience. While we're disappointed WB didn't get the charismatic director to provide an audio commentary for their DVD, just having this film avaiable in a pristine transfer is enough to satisfy any classic movie lover. It's hard to overstate the importance this film had in the career of Sean Connery. Although the movie was not a box-office hit, it did prove to skeptical critics that there was more to the brooding Scottish actor than just the antics of Agent 007. I've always felt that if The Hill's financial performance had been as impressive as its critical reception, Connery may have been less frustrated by his Bondian image. As it stands, for my money this is the best film of his career.
The Hill is so testosterone-driven that it makes The Wild Bunch look like Sleepless in Seattle. The story is set in a British military stockade in North Africa. The time is 1942, but the war is irrelevant to the screenplay as every scene is shot within the sun-scorched prison. Here, a group of misfit British soldiers have been sentenced to do hard time for various crimes ranging from insubordination to outright violence against superior officers. They are an eclectic mix but all have one thing in common: they are terrorized by Williams, a sadistic sergeant played by Ian Hendry. This soft-spoken brute has a penchant for making prisoners climb the hill, a monstrous pile of sand that sits in the blazing sun, the sole purpose of which is to make inmates run up and down with full field packs until they are on the verge of death. The engrossing script is far deeper than just an excercise in sadism. It delves into the relationships between the prisoners as well as the jailers. The prison is ostensibly governed by a senior officer - a fair but naive commandant played by Harry Andrews. In the course of the story, Williams using guile and subterfuge to become the defacto ruler over the prison. When he encounters a group of prisoners who rebel against his cruelty, the stage is set for a dramatic and riveting confrontation.
The Hill represented the first collaboration between Sean Connery and Sidney Lumet. They would also team for The Anderson Tapes, The Offence, Murder on the Orient Express and Family Business. The Hill is the best of the lot. Connery is nominally the star, but this is an ensemble piece with each actor getting a major sequence to showcase their talents. They include Ossie Davis, Roy Kinnear, Ian Bannen, Alfred Lynch, Jack Watson and Sir Michael Redgrave. Each of them, along with Hendry and - in particular Andrews- is nothing less than brilliant. Connery tears up the screen as a rebelious man who will not stand for injustice - even in the face of possible death. The black and white cinematography by the great Oswald Morris makes you feel parched from minute one. There is no music in the film, as Lumet wanted to bring about a realism that a score would have detracted from. Thelma Connell's editing is also superb. The film was nominated for six BAFTA awards and Ray Rigby, who wrote the screenplay based on his novel, was honored at Cannes for his achievement. In fact, The Hill was accorded a grand reception at Cannes and Connery was treated like royalty when he appeared for the black tie screening. Alas, when the film was released it died commercially. Connery had to suffer the failure of his most acclaimed film and only months later witness millions of people crowding into theaters to see him as Bond in Thunderball. This experience went a long way in souring him on the 007 films.
Warner Bros. has released The Hill in a quasi-bare bones edition. Thankfully, they included the original production featurette which gives excellent insights into the filming and includes rare footage of Connery at Cannes. There is also a trio of war movie trailers for this film, Operation Crossbow and Battle of the Bulge. Hopefully, there will be a deluxe edition some day with Lumet participating. For now, however this is literally king of The Hill in terms of recent releases of classic movies.- Lee Pfeiffer
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