Der kupferne Berg

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.

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.

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.

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.

Margaret Lockwood is excellent, especially as she ages, from a rather wild young woman to a pathetic addict in London, exiled from Ireland by her own son, ruining herself at the roulette.

Everything in this film is about the same vein: tragedy as the result of self abuse, recklessness, whisky, brawls and terrible conflicts lasting over 50 years, as these hard-headed Irish never can take it easy and always are carried away by their bad temper. The exception is Dennis Price, the one with a diplomatic talent and some human understanding crossing the limitations of self-centredness, while his father Cecil Parker is the most impossible of all starting all the trouble and beating his grandson into a rogue.

It's all very Irish, you have seen it all before, they never change but stick to cultivating their hard heads making it worse by revelling in whisky, and there will always be hard relentless fights for nothing. After 50 years, according to this story, there is at last peace between the two families, but how long will it last? Probably not any longer than at most until the civil war with mad dogs and Irishmen, unionists and nationalists; but the film is worth seeing for Margaret Lockwood and Dennis Price, and another thing: the famous ball scene, when the fiddler gets too eager and leaves his pianist behind, bolting into a general gig of astounding dimensions, leading the entire ball into an orgy of dancing in the garden. It's a splendid scene, which hardly ever has been surpassed, until the latest "Anna Karenina" version 2012 with Keira Knightley with a similar ball scene transcending the stage.