THE HILL

Sean Connery is most famous for playing James Bond, but his best performance in my view came in the 1965 film The Hill. Set in a military prison in North Africa during the Second World War, Connery plays a tank sergeant-major who is disciplined and sent there for striking his superior officer. It's a classic prison drama, with the authorities trying to break the prisoners down by making them run up and down the hill (a man-made mix of stone and sand) in the blazing sun in full kit. Needless to say, one of the guards is sadistic and goes over the top, leading to a crisis.

So, not a hugely original story. But what makes the film so good is the quality of the acting. Not only Connery himself, but stalwart British actors such as Harry Andrews, Ian Bannen, Ian Hendry and Michael Redgrave.

I watched it on Turner Classic Movies this evening and was reminded of how good it is, despite its being shot in black and white.

Walter Blotscher