Home from the Hill (1960)

To me, this movie is perfection.

I don't have all the words right now but this film is a work of art.

The performances transcend the film's tropes, grounding it in characters that feel more complete than this subgenre often produces.

By the time the dramatic fireworks start popping off, each one feels earned.

I recently read the novel on which this film is based and was curious about how it was adapted. By the end of the novel everyone dies...well not everyone, but dad, mom, son and the wild boar are all dead. In the film, not everyone dies, plus there is an extra son played by George Peppard. The son from the book is played by George Hamilton. Near the end of the film the two Georges throw some punches at each other. I doubt George Hamilton could beat George Peppard in a fist fight in real life. If the two squared off in a tanning contest, I think we all know who would win that one. I realized when I watched this film that I like movies where the ending involves one of the characters walking off into the sunset with an uncertain future. Hamilton's character dropped out of high school, so he could focus on hunting in both the book and movie. Since he dies in the book, it does not matter that he is under educated. When he wanders off at the end of the film, I'm guessing he'll probably have to get his GED or somehow enroll again in high school if he want to improve his job prospects. We know he is a determined young man because near the beginning of the film he sat in the woods for two hours trying to catch a snipe. I liked the scene where Mitchum was really hung over and he dunks his head in the water trough. Before that Peppard drags him from the floozy's apartment where Mitchum had apparently spent a lost three day weekend. I think I recall reading once that Mitchum said he was hung over for most of the production of The Winds Of War, so maybe he didn't need to act much here. At any rate, he is brilliant and the most perfectly cast character other than Burt Mustin as the gas station attendant.

"Home from the Hill" is a 1960 big, sprawling film about the Hunnicut family, led by Robert Mitchum. Eleanor Parker plays his unhappy wife, George Hamilton plays his unhappy son Theron, and George Peppard plays a ranch hand named Rafe. Luana Patton is Theron's unhappy girlfriend Libby.Captain Wade Hunnicut is the wealthiest and most powerful man in the Texas town in which he lives, but he's a philanderer, which has made his wife Hannah turn against him. She has basically raised their son Theron because she agreed to stay with Wade on that condition. When Theron reaches his late teens, though, Wade changes his mind and decides to make a man out of him. This means learning to use a shotgun, hunt, and learn something about women, though Rafe sort of schools him in that.Theron, however, finds out a family secret and grows to loathe his father and reject him. There are other complications as well concerning Theron's girlfriend Libby Halstead and her father (Everett Sloane).This film plays out like a big soap opera but it holds one's interest. The accents are a little broad - in one scene it almost sounded like they were playing a game of one-oneupmanship as to whose accent was the broadest.Younger people probably don't realize that George Hamilton had a film career. He was young, handsome, and could brood with the best of them. Today he parodies himself, having realized his limitations as an actor, though he's always been extremely likable. In this film, actually, he's quite good, in part thanks to Minnelli's direction.George Peppard, on the other hand, always took himself very seriously and turns in an excellent performance as Rafe, a man carrying around a lot of hurt but won't let anybody see it.Mitchum has a strong presence as Wade. He was a very charismatic actor and gives his character some real bite. Eleanor Parker has little to do, but her performance is that of a woman who, like Rafe, keeps the pain inside. It's a very subtle performance.The characters in this film are very well developed. It's a good script with fine direction by Vincent Minnelli, so you wouldn't expect less than very good-excellent.The ending of this film is satisfying, and the family drama rings true throughout. Recommended.

Southeast Texas game-hunter, a married man with a reputation for womanizing, wants to get a hunting rifle into the hands of his son, whom he fears is becoming a mama's boy; meanwhile, a young, swaggering associate of the hunter teaches the mild-mannered lad about girls. In the earliest portions of "Home from the Hill", director Vincente Minnelli nearly reconstructs a rural variation on "Tea and Sympathy" (which he also directed); after a muddled, melodramatic opening, the film becomes less a coming-of-age story than a tale of family secrets revealed, and the second-half of the picture is surprisingly serious and bracing (though rendered in typically glossy M-G-M fashion). George Peppard and George Hamilton are both excellent, far outshining the unhappy adults (Robert Mitchum--miscast--and Eleanor Parker, who keeps fiddling with her costumes as if she were a maiden lady). Peppard, in particular, has some wonderful physical bits of business, convincingly playing a small-town bachelor stud toying with the idea of growing up. Minnelli allows the dialogue-heavy plot to unfold carefully, slowly, but those who stick with it will find a rewarding drama of honor and responsibility. Constance Ford is terrific in small role as a bar floozy, and Everett Sloane gives a highly sympathetic turn as a businessman with family troubles of his own. **1/2 from ****

I loved this movie! I saw it originally as a teenager and am still in love with it today. If they ever do a remake of it, I'd love to play Eleanor Parkers, part! Robert Mitchum was at his all time best, as this truly lovable yet misguided man of the world. George Peppard can still make women fall in love with him, 47 years later and I don't believe George Hamilton ever gave a better performance. Luana Patton was believable as the scared teenager in love. As a whole, I'd say it was one of the best movies of 1960, if not of all time. This is southern life and love at it's best. If you play close attention, you'll see a lot of older character actors, Denver Pyle, for instance, that make the movie seem real, as though you were in Texas, living through the heartache and break with them, great performances by all!