Hungry Hill

A film adaptation of a (lesser-known) Daphne Du Maurier novel, HUNGRY HILL offers an interesting, yet mostly bleak look at social divide. This costume drama juxtaposes the bourgeois copper mine owners the Brodricks with the working family the Donovans, paralleling their lives and constant feuding over a 50 year-period.

Margaret Lockwood gets first billing as Fanny Rose, who marries into the wealthy Brodrick family. Miss Lockwood gets one of the better parts on offer here, her character arc changing from a wilful coquette to a bright young married, and then finally to an elderly widowed woman looking back on life. Dennis Price plays her husband, who wishes to reconcile with the Donovan clan. Cecil Parker is memorable as the head of the family, whilst a young and lovely Jean Simmons appears briefly as Jane, younger sister of Price.

The bleakness of the source material does not give the film much to work with, and the film is often talky and mundane in many stretches. The production values, while adequate enough, do not really enhance the work. It's just not great drama.

Perhaps the most interesting part of the film is seeing young Michael Dennison do a fairly credible job in the sort of role that either James Mason (bound for America) or Stewart Granger would have performed with aplomb back in the early 40's. He plays spoiled Henry Brodrick, son of Lockwood and Price, who re-ignites the tension between the two families after a brief stalemate. Dennison seems to be channelling the Mason we saw in Gainsborough melodramas such as THE MAN IN GREY and FANNY BY GASLIGHT in his venom-spitting scenes. His character is really quite hateful, yet his indulgence in such vices as drinking, gambling, women and even murder provide a bit of spark to the proceedings.

5/10.

In County Cork, the most republican corner of Ireland, an Anglo-Irish landowner (Brodrick) invests in a copper-mine that brings welcome employment to the villagers, whose spokesman (Donovan) manages to find grievances from the start, and calls down a curse on his employer's family.

And that's the setup for the best part of a century, which could have made for a fairly predictable bosses v. workers drama, except that we're in the capable hands of Daphne du Maurier, who never wrote a predictable word in her long life.

Top of the bill, deservedly, is Margaret Lockwood, who comes waltzing into the lives of the Brodricks, playing havoc with the young brothers. "No-one will ever put me in a cage" she declares to one of them, played by Dennis Price, then adding "But I could be caught if I wanted", prodding the hesitant suitor into the proposal she's waiting for. Cecil Parker makes a plausible stovepipe-hatted patriarch, and a teenage Jean Simmons adds much charm as a younger sister, as does Dermot Walsh in his screen debut - but visibly stricken by the family curse.

The scenes down the mine are well-handled, theft of copper being a running theme. The thieves have hollowed-out a secret cavern in which to hide the copper, where Brodricks and Donovans alike are able to take refuge in a sudden flood.

But the high point is a truly poetic mixing of the two families, when the Brodricks bring in one of the Donovans to play the fiddle at a grand ball up at the house, when he gets carried away and sweeps them all into a wild jig outside in the courtyard.

We can't reveal the ending, but it has a lot to with the winding-up of the curse, along with a prayer for peace that some might consider a bit hopeful.

"Hungry Hill" is an Irish area where some 19th century families bicker over copper mining. Some good-looking sets and costumes make this film look like a grand production is going to unfold, but don't get your hopes up. The characters and story lines are introduced in a most unappealing manner. The structure is dull, even though it's adapted with personal help by reliable author Daphne du Maurier (of "Rebecca" fame). It's likely the original novel had more life.

Probably the most engaging part is played by lovely Margaret Lockwood (as Fanny Rose). There is some fun in watching Ms. Lockwood's sprightly courtship with Dennis Price (as "Greyhound" John Brodrick) - and, she ages into one youthfully beautiful old lady. Early on, the young and radiant Jean Simmons (as Jane) is a brief attraction. Lockwood and "grown-up" son Dermot Walsh (as "Wild" Johnnie Brodrick) have some good dramatic confrontations, later in the running time.

***** Hungry Hill (1/7/47) Brian Desmond Hurst ~ Margaret Lockwood, Dermot Walsh, Dennis Price, Cecil Parker

Cecil Parker offers us the thread to guide us through this adaptation of Daphne du Maurier's novel about the dynastic aspirations of the "Brodrick" family, and of their trials and tribulations over a long period of history spent feuding with the local "Donovan" clan. It all starts when an altercation at their copper mine results in the death of his son "Henry" (Michael Denison) and follows the efforts of subsequent generations to try to put the past to rest (or not!). It's not the greatest of stories, this, but Parker and his eldest son, the well-meaning "Greyhound John" (Dennis Price), along with a strong performance from the always reliable Margaret Lockwood as his ambitious wife "Fanny Rosa" and Dermot Walsh as their aptly monikered son "Wild Johnnie" give us quite a few decent characters to follow. Terence Young helped the author adapt the screenplay and Brian Hurst has done a reasonable job, but somehow the story lacks punch. It takes way too long to get anywhere and the production itself is somewhat pedestrian. I did enjoy it, but that is probably because I am a fan of the three lead actors - I am not sure anyone will remember the film for long, though.

"Hungry Hill," based on a novel by Daphne DuMaurier, concerns a 50-plus year family feud between copper mine owners, the Brodricks, and the people who work for them, the Donovans.

The film stars Margaret Lockwood as Fanny Rosa, who marries Dennis Price, known as "Greyhound John Brodrick" because he breeds greyhounds. His father (Cecil Parker) is Copper John. A very young and lovely Jean Simmons has a small role as Price's sister.

Fanny and Greyhound John have several children, one of whom is Henry (Michael Dennison), who becomes a wild child when he grows up. As someone else mentioned, Dennison is very much like James Mason. We get to see Lockwood as a flirtatious young woman, a settled married one, and finally, an elderly widow.

The film is somewhat slow, but though it is in black and white, you can see the beauty and luxury of the 19th century costumes.

For some reason the characters were hard to connect to, with the possible exception of Lockwood. She is the thread who goes throughout the film, and we see some real character development. It's a very good performance.