The Hill (1965) – Brutally Stunning

Director:  Sidny Lumet

Cast:  Sean Connery. Harry Andrews. Ian Bannen. Ossie Davis.

Platform: Internet Archive (free)

War films usually talk about the glory of dying for the flag and country. Very few talk about what happens when someone questions the system or the superiors. In every Armed Force , infractions or indiscipline is usually dealt in the harshest of manners – black mark in the record, punishments and finally court martial with dishonorable discharge.

In the 1960s , the WW2 war movie as a genre was slowly winding down , no doubt helped by the decline of the British Empire. Vietnam was slowly boiling and the attention was focused there. The Cuban Missile Crisis had also given a stark reminder how close the world had come to Nuclear War. In this atmosphere, anti-war sentiments were rising and with the Vietnam War , burst into the mainstream with bitter divisions across families and even in Europe.

It is in this atmosphere that The Hill was released in 1965. And flopped, despite good critical reviews. this was a clear case of  lead actor Sean Connery’s image as super-spy James Bond,that caused the problems. The audience went – “James Bond is bald”? “In a black and white while the world had already moved to colour? Where is the war “?

These seemed to be the questions contributing to the film’s box office fortunes. However Connery said that it is one of his most favorite films and the film has gained in reputation and prestige over the years.

Plot:  Soldiers on various disciplinary charges are sent to a military prison, somewhere in the North African desert. The Regimental Sergeant Major Bert Wilson (Harry Andrews) is the man who runs the prison despite a nominal officer who is always absent from his post. He has a sadistic subordinate Staff Sergeant Williams (Ian Hendry) and a somewhat compassionate Staff Sergeant Harris (Ian Bannen). Into this maelstrom the five prisoners arrive . Trooper Joe Roberts (Sean Connery), Private Stevens (Alfred Lynch), black Private Jacko King (Ossie Davis) from the West Indies, private Bartlett (Roy Kinnear), Private Jock McGarth (Jack Watson). They have to climb the man made mound of sand known as The Hill , while carrying two large sandbags and wearing full kit – in the blazing heat of the North African desert. Who will break first? And how?

Sean Connery missed the premier of Goldfinger (1965) as he was shooting for The Hill , in Spain. This is the first of many ‘non Bonded’ superb performances from Connery; it took lots of time for the audience to accept that this was NOT BOND but Connery the actor (later Bond actors had it relatively easy as they did regular non Bond roles in addition to Bond).

As the lowest of ranks, a private / trooper is nothing but a bunch of flesh and blood to be molded by the Sergeants into “fine British soldiers’.  Wilson takes pride in his job to make the most reluctant undisciplined solider into a fit specimen and thus the five are his pet peeves – they don’t seem to be breaking under the severe punishments and the torture of The Hill.

Soon one by one the soldiers start breaking. There is a conflict between Wilson and Harris as to whose method is the best to shape the soldiers. Their prize is superiority  and seniority, while soldier’s pay their price with their physical and mental well being. Wilson resents being challenged by anyone, including the doctor (Michael Redgrave) who says that the prisoners are not in a fit condition to undergo punishment; “I will decide whether they are fit or not” goes Wilson.

This view of the Army as a place where men are broken and then remade into automatons is not very popular. Very few films could manage to show it . Kubrick did a brilliant job with his ‘in-your-face’ Full Metal jacket that covered the brutal training and then war. Here it is brutal ‘re-training’. As Roberts tells Wilson, “I think you have special plans for me. Sir”.

The film doesn’t shy away from the overall brutality of how soldiers are made, yet is compassionate about the soldiers’ reasons as to why they found themselves on charges.

As always Sidney Lumet probes deep into human behaviour to come up with insights into what makes ordinary humans break and then turn into heroes and vice versa. Usually his films are about one man against The System (in a way Roberts IS against The System) and how it crushes it or how the man overcomes it. This is simply put a brilliant film from one of the most notable film makers.

Connery is superb as Roberts but it is Harry Andrews, the war film veteran, who steals everyone’s thunder as the sadistic martinet Wilson who resents his fiefdom being challenged – be it Roberts or Harris.

It seems like Connery and Lumet liked each other so much that they went to work together in four more films : The Anderson Tapes (1971), The Offence (1973) – brilliant understated film, Murder on the Orient Express (1974), and Family Business (1989).  Easily one can even say that The Hill was the first ‘break out’ from the Bond image.

The film is free at The Internet Archive

https://archive.org/details/ThHl1965

Script – 5 out of 5

Story – 5 out of 5

Direction – 5 out of 5

Photography – 5 out of 5

Performances – 5 out of 5

Total – 5 out of 5