SnoopyStyle It's a British Army prison in WWII North Africa. Insubordinate British soldiers are sent there to be drilled ruthlessly. One of the tasks is to run up and down a man made hill. Joe Roberts (Sean Connery) is one of five new prisoners. He had punched his commanding officer for ordering a suicidal attack.There are some great performances. The most powerful coming from Harry Andrews. Everybody is delivering top level stuff. It's a contained movie in that it's contained by the base. In that way, it's more like a play. Sidney Lumet allows his actors to chew up the screen. It's great.

sandnair87 Sidney Lumet's The Hill is a stark, uncompromising look at the inside of a British military prison in North Africa during WW II. The all-male film, based on Ray Rigby's autobiographical play, is about the brutal mistreatment of prisoners by the screws at a stockade for court-martialed British soldiers.The titular 'hill' is a monstrous man-made pile of sand seared by the blazing sun, to be used as a means of punishment in the blistering heat. A sadistic martinet Major Bert Wilson (Harry Andrews) runs the show here with an aim to break the soldier-prisoners down and then build them up to return as soldiers. His fascist method of discipline is to have the inmates clambering with full kit in the heat up and down the dreaded hill even if they are exhausted, as part of a punishment designed more to break a man's spirit rather than provide corrective treatment. The screenplay puts the spotlight on a new bunch of five new prisoners, one of whom is the hard-mouthed tank-man Roberts (Sean Connery). Together, they form an eclectic mix but all have one thing in common: they are terrorized by Sergeant Williams (Ian Hendry), a particularly sadistic new guard chosen by Major Wilson, who relishes the task of marching the men up and down the hill and watching them suffer. When Williams goes too far and causes the death of on the five men due to heat stroke, it sparks off a mutiny and Roberts decides to lodge a charge of murder against Williams. The stage is thus set for a dramatic and riveting confrontation, thrusting the drama to its bruising, ironic end.In this long and unrelenting documentation of life in a military stockade, Sidney Lumet comes up with the sobering revelation that inhumanity is not unique with the enemy, in his own inimitable style. The cinematography is superlative as Oswald Morris shoots the film in monochromatic hues, making you feel parched from minute one. The acting is also top-notch. Harry Andrews is devastating as the sergeant major that runs the camp - a taut, controlled administrator who is a professional military man and Ian Hendry is brilliantly sinister as the evil sergeant who precipitates the crisis. Connery tears up the screen as the rebellious inmate, giving an intelligently restrained performance, carefully avoiding forced histrionics. Ossie Davis gets some of the best scenes and plays them superbly.'The Hill' is a harsh, sadistic and brutal entertainment, made without any concessions to officialdom - among the best of the sub-genre has to offer.

graham-turner One of the best movies ever made. Compelling story of inmates in a army prison during World War 2. New arrivals have to deal with the heat, a rigid regime and a new Staff guard eager to make a name for himself. A masterclass in character driven drama that makes all action driven, over the top, stunt laden, explosion filled, car-chasing, fight filled flicks pale into insignificance. Sean Connery's best with Ian Bannen, Harry Andrews, Ian Hendry et al all on top notch form. Special mention to Ossie Davis with a sparkling performance. Some people may be put off by the Britishness of it all, but the conflict and the tension is multi-lingual in its hostility of human discord.

Tamakela Secret This is one evergreen film. This depicts perfectly the quintessential characters which make up every British Army regiment, even today. This shows the injustices that the colonial forces enacted on the working class or so called less "educated" serving soldier, and the incompetence of "educated" officers leading men into and during wars. The characters are depicted perfectly, Monty Bartlett played by Roy Kinnear, is not a coward, but has an inherent fear of the authorities he knows has class can never beat. Barltett who should command nothing but apathy for being a petty thief still gains sympathy for his weak, obese figure. I could go on with each character. Watch the film it is one of the best I have seen depicting the British Army. I know I served over 22 years in the Forces.