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The Hill (
1965) |
Original Film Trailer -
Sean Connery Ian Hendry
Harry Andrews
The Hill is a 1965 film directed by
Sidney Lumet, set in a
British army prison in
North Africa in
World War II. It stars Sean Connery, Harry Andrews,
Ian Bannen,
Ossie Davis, Ian Hendry,
Alfred Lynch,
Roy Kinnear and
Michael Redgrave.
Plot
In a
British Army "glasshouse" (military detention camp) in the
Libyan Desert, prisoners convicted of service offences such as insubordination, being drunk whilst on duty, going
AWOL or petty theft etc. are subjected to repetitive drill in the blazing desert heat.
The arrival of five new prisoners slowly leads to a clash with the camp authorities. One new
NCO guard who has also just arrived employs excessive punishments, which include forcing the five newcomers to repeatedly climb a man-made hill in the centre of the camp. When one dies a power struggle erupts between brutal
Staff Sergeant Williams (Ian Hendry), humane Staff Sergeant
Harris (Ian Bannen),
Regimental Sergeant Major Wilson (Harry Andrews), and the camp's
Medical Officer (Michael Redgrave) as they struggle to run the camp in conflicting styles.
Roberts (Sean Connery) is a former
Squadron Sergeant Major from the
Royal Tank Regiment, convicted of assaulting his
Commanding Officer - which he explains to his fellow inmates was because he was ordered to lead his men in a senseless suicidal attack. Roberts openly scorns
Williams brutality and serves as challenge to his authority. The
RSM is a career soldier who sees his vital task as breaking down failed soldiers, then building them back up again, in his words, "into men!"
Staff Sergeant Williams is new to the prison, and his ambition is matched only by his cruel treatment of the prisoners; he seeks to use their suffering as means for promotion. "And what are you supposed to be," Roberts asks him when he is accused of cowardice in battle, "a brave man in a permanent base job?" The RSM seems to agree; in another scene, he slyly mentions the fact that the
Germans were bombing the UK (including the civilian prison Williams worked at) just as Williams was volunteering for prison duty in
Africa.
Staff Sergeant Harris is the conscience of the prison who sympathises with the men, too closely, according to the RSM. The officers of the piece, both the CO (
Norman Bird) and the Medical Officer, take their duties casually and, as Roberts points out, "everyone is doing time here, even the screws
."
In the finale, the camp's Medical Officer and Staff Sergeant Harris decide to report the abuses at the camp. Sadistic Staff Sergeant Williams goes to administer one final, perhaps fatal, beating to
Sergeant Major Roberts, when two prisoners intervene and appear to beat Williams to death while Roberts pleads with them to stop.
Cast
Sean Connery as
Joe Roberts
Ian Hendry as Staff Sergeant
Williams
Harry Andrews as Regimental Sergeant Major
Wilson
Ian Bannen as
Harris
Alfred Lynch as
George Steovens
Ossie Davis as
Jacko King
Roy Kinnear as
Monty Bartlett
Jack Watson as
Jock McGrath
Michael Redgrave as The Medical Officer
Norman Bird as Commandant
Neil McCarthy as
Burton
Howard Goorney as Walters
Tony Caunter as
Martin
- published: 09 May 2013
- views: 13970