The Angry Hills (1959)

Best movie of this year hands down!

A brilliant film that helped define a genre

I like movies that are aware of what they are selling... without [any] greater aspirations than to make people laugh and that's it.

Fun premise, good actors, bad writing. This film seemed to have potential at the beginning but it quickly devolves into a trite action film. Ultimately it's very boring.

This is a well-cast and quite enjoyable Greek-set World War II yarn,which manages to entertain even with the studio edits(Which caused confusion to some).War Correspondent Robert Mitchum is suitably both laconic and heroic as he,initially reluctantly,seeks to escape Nazi-occupied Greece with a memorised list of Greek Patriots who will feed information to the Allies,whilst feigning collaboration with the Germans. Acting is generally good,with Mitchum and Gia Scala(As the Greek Village girl who aids him and loves him)bonding well together.Some interesting supporting performances too,including a surprising but vital appearance by Sebastion Cabot later in the movie. We also have a risqué(For 1959)early Taverna scene,featuring the "exuberant" Singer/Dancer Marita Constantinou,which must have been filmed twice in anticipation of possible Censorship. The VHS copy I have from the U.S.A shows her bosom discreetly covered - The recently acquired DVD(U.K)reveals her to be topless! Overall,some good,nostalgic location filming:The Plaka,Tourkolimano,etc.;adds atmosphere to this likable Adventure/Drama.

Copyright 1959 by Raymond Stross Productions. Released through Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer. New York opening at neighborhoods: 15 July 1959. U.K. release: 8 March 1959. Australian release: 4 June 1959. 9,461 feet; 105 minutes. SYNOPSIS: Wounded by a Nazi collaborator, a war correspondent in 1941 Athens, flees to the hills.COMMENT: This confused and muddled tale of espionage in war-torn Greece, is the result, Aldrich claims, of savage cutting and mutilating by producer Stross after shooting had been completed. This would certainly explain the totally inept concluding sequences, but not the general slackness and lack of suspense throughout the last hour or so of a rather rambling yarn. (Even an attempt to tighten the movie still further has worked no magic. The print under review runs only 97 minutes, not 105). Some of the acting is best described as hesitant. Aldrich states in a rather roundabout way (he blames himself rather than the actor) that Mitchum was totally uncooperative, although it is really only in the last third of the movie that Mitchum suddenly decides to stop taking direction. Up to that point, he is quite acceptable. Perhaps he simply lost confidence in the script. Indeed, until the sudden introduction of Elizabeth Mueller, the screenplay is one of Bezzerides' best. The plot deploys some memorable characters and out-of-the rut dialogue. I particularly enjoyed Marius Goring's brilliant portrait of a punctilious, hypochondria-cal German major who dreams of a little man as big as his thumb.The first half of the movie is all directed in an appropriately bravura style. A swinging light in a museum sequence, heralds a really breath-catching chase scene. The interrogation sequence with Baker running his finger along the map, the night raid and the execution episodes are also prime examples of Aldrich's masterly directorial flair.

Having watched this film as a 10/11 year old child in Manchester,UK in 1969, I am intrigued by the very explicit topless dancer scene! I think that I would have remembered this scene, and wonder if it was censored in the UK!! Otherwise not a bad movie, though it was overlong. It would definitely have looked better in colour.Interesting to see so many top rate actors in one film, even though some only had brief roles. Stanley Baker and Gia Scala would appear together in another Greek located film two years later, namely "The Guns Of Navarone"! Personally, I think the look of the film was quite good. The locations, and set dressing,period vehicles looked quite authentic. If I remember correctly in the UK this film was shown on a double bill, with a Tarzan film as the second feature. The Tarzan film was in colour!!

Considering that this film was made from a Leon Uris novel AND stars Robert Mitchum, you might easily assume it would be a wonderful film. However, it's very ordinary and nothing more. The novel is certainly among Uris' weakest and the story simply isn't that extraordinary. It's watchable enough--but not compelling enough to make it a must-see for anyone but die-hard Mitchum fans.The film is set in Greece during the Nazi occupation. An American reporter (Mitchum) is given a list of collaborators--a list he's entrusted to get to the British. However, the Nazis learn of him and the list and spend most of the film pursuing him across the nation. Basically, he hops from one tiny village to the next and the Nazis commit atrocities in the towns in order to try to get the folks to turn in the American. Along the way, there is a woman (naturally) who falls in love with him as well as another woman who MIGHT be in love with him. Can he make it out of the country and deliver the list? See the film if you really need to know.Overall, the film is fair to middling. While not a bad film, there really isn't a lot to make it stand out--unless you adore Mitchum or want to see Sebastian Cabot in a VERY unusual role.