Hungry Hill

Adapted from a Dahpnee DeMaurier novel about a hundred year feud between Irish families Hungry Hill suffers from trying to cover too much ground in just over an hour and half. Working it's way through three generations Hill's cast, save for family patriarch Copper John Broderick (Cecil Parker), remains constantly in tragic transition with characters barely developed before disappearing for the duration.

Copper John brings employment to Hungry Hill by opening a mine but the resentment of the townspeople led by the Donovans runs deep. Brodrick can be stern and firm in family and business matters but the head of the Donovan clan is even more implacable and it leads to a mining disasters. Years pass and the hatred ebbs and flows as Brodrick loses children and grandsons assume leadership roles in the company while the Donovans stew in their juices and almost become part of the family.

Hungry Hill never really builds up much steam. For the most part it remains disjointed and lifeless with the stubborn patriarchs facing off first followed by the next generation along with an ironic romantic twist that leads to more tragedy. Brian Desmond Hurst's direction fails to ignite passion in scenes or cast as well as make much sense of the feud by forgoing detail in favor of passing years, leaping ahead without finishing up and leaving gaping holes in the plot. Making matters worse censorship further obfuscates the plot regarding a tryst between a Donovan and Brodrick that Hurst's ham fisted direction deals with through clumsy innuendo.

Daphne DuMaurier helped adapt one of her lesser known novels, Hungry Hill to the big screen in 1947. Possibly the problem is that it is one of his lesser known novels and was not that good a read to begin with.

Hungry Hill is where a copper mine is started by Cecil Parker the head of the Brodrick clan and Parker's his usual arrogant self once again on the screen. This piece of property the other family, the Donovans, feel the Brodricks cheated them out of way back when so this was an ongoing feud when the viewer enters the picture. When the mine opens the head of the Donovans, Arthur Sinclair, pronounces a curse on the Brodricks.

The Brodricks due seem like a cursed clan, but the curse also seems to ring down on the Donovans as well over the three generations that this tale is told.

The primary characters are Margaret Lockwood who marries into the Brodricks and Dennis Price who becomes a lawyer and tries not to have anything to do with the mine. They raise a new generation of Brodricks who have their own problems with the Donovans, especially young Dermot Walsh.

Cecil Parker being the fatuous oaf he is turns out to be a great businessman, but that's about all he is. He makes mistakes in the raising of both his son and grandson that really are the cause of a lot of the issues.

Jean Simmons has a brief role as Dennis Price's sister who I wish we had seen more of. She's in at the beginning and then we're told she marries an army man and is now in India. Smart girl, she showed sense in getting away from the Hungry Hill curse.

Hungry Hill moves at way too slow a pace. It's like a British version of The Magnificent Ambersons, the director's vision of Ambersons that is. Maybe it needed someone like Orson Welles at the helm.

"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

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.

In Hungry Hill, the Brodricks and the Donovans are feuding. They have been for generations, and they're teaching their children the same hates. It's a tale as old as time, really; Irish family feuds are legendary.

Cecil Parker heads the leading Brodrick clan, joined by Dennis Price, Dermot Walsh, and Jean Simmons. I won't tell you any more about the plot, but I'm sure you can imagine every tragic turn. It's an epic saga, so passionate romances, violence and death, forbidden love, and parent-child arguments should be expected. Also, the families squabble over ownership and management of a coal mine, so you can expect some problems in the mine at some point.

If you like these types of movies, this one is very good. You'll get a lump in your throat, and you'll want to shake the characters' shoulders, and you'll get caught up in the grandeur of 1800s Ireland. In the end, you'll probably feel a little drained, since the movie's timeline carries through decades, so take a brisk walk afterwards or throw in a comedy to lift your spirits.