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The Angry Hills (film)
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Wikipedia article
'The Angry Hills' is a 1959 American-British war film directed by Robert Aldrich and starring Robert Mitchum, Stanley Baker and Elisabeth Mller. It is based on the novel by Leon Uris.
Plot
Set in Greece in 1941, before and after the German invasion, the film follows an American journalist who possesses a list of Greek resistance leaders. Having memorized the list he destroys it and is then pursued by various groups of people keen to have it: Communist resistance fighters, the Gestapo and Greek collaborators.
Cast
* Robert Mitchum as Mike Morrison
* Stanley Baker as Conrad Heisler
* Elisabeth Mller as Lisa Kyriakides
* Gia Scala as Eleftheria
* Theodore Bikel as Dimitrios Tassos
* Sebastian Cabot as Chesney
* Peter Illing as Leonides
* Leslie Phillips as Ray Taylor
* Donald Wolfit as Dr. Stergion
* Marius Goring as Colonel Elrick Oberg
* Jocelyn Lane as Maria Tassos
* Kieron Moore as Andreas
* George Pastell as Papa Panos
* Patrick Jordan as Bluey
* Marita Constantinou as Cleopatra
* Stanley Van Beers as Tavern Proprietor
* Alec Mango as Phillibos
* Kostas Gousgounis as Agent(uncredited)
Production
Uris' novel was published in 1955. Because of its Greek setting, Uris was hired to write the screenplay for 'Boy on a Dolphin'.Drama: Indie Setups Announced by Cummings, Chandler; Hello, Barry Fitzgerald Scheuer, Philip K. Los Angeles Times November 21, 1955: 41.
Film rights were bought by Raymond Stross in England, who said he wanted Clark Gable for the lead.Smart Detective Role Pursued for Peck; Ross Story Stars Mitchell Schallert, Edwin. Los Angeles Times 14 Jan 1957: C9. Stross eventually set up the film with MGM and New York's Cine World Productions, and announced Robert Mitchum would star. According to Mitchum, Alan Ladd was meant to play the lead but the producers drove out to Ladd's house and met him after "he'd just crawled out of his swimming pool and was all shrunken up like a dishwasher's hand. They decided he wouldn't do for the big war correspondent. So, what happened? Some idiot said, 'Ask Mitchum to play it. That bum will do anything if he has five minutes free.' Well I had five minutes free so I did it."
Pier Angeli was wanted for the female lead.Disney Will Produce New Film in Ireland
Hopper, Hedda. Los Angeles Times 26 Feb 1958: 20. Elizabeth Mueller was cast instead.
Leon Uris did the first draft of the screenplay. However Aldrich had it rewritten by A.I. Bezzerides, who had written 'Kiss Me Deadly' for Aldrich.
The film was shot from June to December 1958 with location shooting in Greece and interiors at MGM-British Studios.Alain Silver and James Ursini, 'Whatever Happened to Robert Aldrich?', Limelight, 1995 p 251On Location in Greece By John N. Rigos. The Christian Science Monitor [Boston, Mass] 22 July 1958: 7.
Robert Aldrich had just made 'Ten Seconds to Hell' in Germany. He later recalled:mr. film noir stays at the table Silver, Alain. Film Comment8.1 (Spring 1972): 14-23.
Box office
According to MGM records the film earned $510,000 in the US and Canada and $775,000 elsewhere, resulting in a loss of $497,000.
It had admissions of 588,260 in France.[http://translate.googleusercontent.com/translate_c?depth=1&hl=en&prev=search&rurl=translate.google.com.au&sl=fr&u=http://www.boxofficestory.com/box-office-robert-aldrich-c23331915&usg=ALkJrhiBj0BwkGhyaAI9UwR7ZxAaQO_fGg French box office results for Robert Aldrich films] at Box Office Story
Legacy
Robert Aldrich later said the film was "disappointing not because it's not a good picture but because it could have been good. It had a potential that was never remotely realised... you feel sad about 'The Angry Hills'... I'd know how to make 'The Angry Hills' better in a thousand ways."
References
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