The Hill (1965) on Netflix
In a British Army prison in the Libyan desert in World War II, five new prisoners arrive under Staff Sergeant Williams. Trooper Joe Roberts, a squadron sergeant major, resists the brutality.
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- Rotten Tomatoes75%
Trailer
Plot summary
Soldiers convicted of military offenses are drilled in punishing heat at a British prison in the Libyan desert. Five new men arrive together: Roberts, a former squadron sergeant major jailed for striking an officer; McGrath, a northerner; Stevens, an office clerk who went absent; Bartlett, convicted of selling stolen tires; and King, a West Indian. Staff Sergeant Williams runs the punishment, including repeated runs up the camp's manmade hill, and singles out the weakest prisoners. Regimental Sergeant Major Wilson backs his staff, while Staff Sergeant Harris sympathizes with the men. Roberts challenges Williams's authority. Williams openly seeks promotion and tries to impress the RSM.
Cast
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Did you know?!Facts and trivia about The Hill (1965)
Can contain spoilers, watch the movie first.
- Screenwriter Ray Rigby had himself served time in a military prison. Producer Kenneth Hyman had other writers rework his script, but when Sidney Lumet joined as director he went back to Rigby's original draft, then cut about 100 pages with him before shooting.
- Sean Connery took the part precisely because it was the opposite of James Bond, and he knew the two were linked: he said the backers only put up the money for The Hill because of his reputation as 007.
- Sidney Lumet and Sean Connery got on so well that they made four more films together, The Anderson Tapes, The Offence, Murder on the Orient Express and Family Business. The Hill was also the first of seven films the American director made in Britain.
