Sor María

Convicted murderess, Valerie Carns (Ann Blyth), is being transported to Norwich to be executed when a flash flood strands her and her guards at a convent hospital.

As Nurse Sister Mary (Claudette Colbert) grows to know Valerie, she becomes convinced of her innocence and sets out to find the real killer... and gets much disapproval from doing so ...

King of melodrama Douglas Sirk sharply directs this whodunnit in which several people harbour a secret that could stop an innocent woman from being hanged. There's wonderful gothic atmosphere, drama especially around the convent; corridors, shadows, arched windows and winding stone staircases, complete with a bell tower, of course. The cute face of Claudette Colbert is luminously-lit as she puts on her detective hat on in the race of ensnaring a killer - a killer amongst a small group in a convent. Sounds very much like Agatha Christie. Unlike in a Christie novel, it's not hard to guess who the killer is, but it's a highly enjoyable film nevertheless, with fine acting (Claudette Colbert, Ann Blithe and Michael Pate are standouts) and a very strong plot teemed with enough suspense. Maybe some flashbacks would've been good to flesh out the "murder". Ends with a nail biter sequence on top of a bell tower.

When there is a flooding in Norfolk, many locals move with pets and animals to the local convent and hospital that is isolated from the mainland when the dam collapses. Sister Mary Bonaventure (Claudette Colbert) coordinates the arrangement with the Mother Superior (Gladys Cooper) to lodge and feed the unsheltered people. Soon she meets Valerie Carns (Ann Blyth), who was convicted for fratricide and condemned to the gallows on the next day, but is trapped in the convent with Sgt Melling (Gavin Muir). Her brother Jason died of overdose and she was responsible to give his medicine to him. Sister Mary, who is the nurse of Dr. Edward Jeffreys (Robert Douglas), talks to Valerie and is convinced that she is innocent. Dr. Jeffreys' testimony in court was crucial for her sentence. His wife Isabel Jeffreys (Anne Crawford) is very sick in the hospital. Valerie asks Sister Mary to bring her fiancé Sidney Kingham (Philip Friend) to the convent, and she does to Norfolk by boat with the employee Willie (Michael Pate) to bring him to stay with Valerie in her last hours. Willie comments a letter that he kept with him and Sister Mary tries to find evidences in old newspaper that may prove Valerie's innocence.

"Thunder on the Hill" is a melodramatic film directed by Douglas Sirk and with Claudette Colbert and Ann Blyth in the lead roles. Despite the mystery, the plot is too religious and has many flaws. For example, how Sister Mary is convinced that Valerie is innocent after talking for a short period with a bitter and aggressive woman? How easy is to her to find evidences in the newspapers and no lawyer had given much attention to the detail. But for fans of old movies, there is not much importance these flaws. The performance of Claudette Colbert is great. My vote is seven.

Title (Brazil): "Agonia de Uma Vida" ("Agony of a Life")

"Thunder on the Hill" is a film I thought I should like. After all, it's directed by Douglas Sirk and stars Claudette Colbert. However, all the film's many parts didn't add up to a film I particularly liked. It's a shame...it could have worked had the script been a little better...such as having more subtlety.

Colbert plays Sister Mary...a nun who works at an isolated hospital. The place has been cut off from the mainland and a prisoner on the way to her execution (Ann Blythe) arrives with her police escort. They, too, have been trapped by the storm. Soon after Sister Mary meets the condemned woman, she's completely convinced of her innocence and spends the rest of the film trying to prove this.

So why was I left flat by the film? Well,the major problem was having Sister Mary THAT sure of the woman's innocence...only moments after meeting her! It simply didn't make much sense. Had she said that she THOUGHT the woman might not be guilty it would have made a lot more sense. Likewise, nearly everyone thought there was no chance the woman was innocent...none. That sort of black/white thinking seems more like bad writing than real life. As a result, it took me right out of the picture.

Based on a undistinguished play, in lesser hands this would have been totally forgettable. Director Douglas Sirk endows it all with a sense of style but still does not manage to salvage the pedestrian stagy dialog.

Claudette Colbert is as always, winning in her role as the nun with a feisty spirit she finds difficult to hold in check and Gladys Cooper lends her renowned haughtiness. While there are some well played smaller parts there's much wooden acting too which bogs the film down measurably.

One can't help wondering if Hitchcock ever saw this, as the climax in the bell tower is a forerunner of the famous scene from "Vertigo", but there the similarity ends.

Since Sirk went on to become an important director, this film is of certain interest, but not one to make any particular effort to hunt down.

There really isn't anything to criticize about this movie. The plot was interesting and well handled; the cast was good. This is a solid movie and well worth watching.