A casa da colina

I think this is Vincente Minnelli's great unsung film and may in fact stand as his best. It features one of Robert Mitchum's most perfect performances. The movie is provocative in terms of its ideas of manhood(some of its themes, particularly those concerning hunting, are very Hemingway-ish)This movie also presents a way of living that is today becoming increasingly anachronistic and unpopular. It is for this reason also that it is so fascinating - it presents a window to an ever diminishing way of life. Of course it is first and foremost a melodrama, but this aspect I found to be often overshadowed by the secondary themes and the little details, like Robert Mitchum's den (was there ever a room that defined machismo the way this one does?).

Home From The Hill though it is located in Texas has the look and feel of those southern stories made so popular back in the day by William Faulkner and Tennessee Williams. This is not the Texas of say Giant, this is East Texas which bares quite a lot of resemblance to the delta country of Louisiana and Mississippi. And Robert Mitchum's Wade Hunnicutt is not quite the same kind of local patriarch as Rock Hudson's Bick Benedict.

Whatever else Bick Benedict was he was certainly loyal to Elizabeth Taylor. Whereas Robert Mitchum's been absolutely notorious for sowing his wild oats around the whole region. Eleanor Parker stays married to him, more for the sake of propriety than anything else, and for their son George Hamilton.

Some of Mitchum's good old boy drinking buddies like Guinn Williams and Denver Pyle send young Hamilton on that southern tradition, a futile snipe hunt. That little prank actually sets the whole plot of the film into gear. It's supposed to be women who gossip, but these good old boys also with some of their locker room gossip that Everette Sloane overhears that sets the climax of the film going.

Robert Mitchum is cast in one of his best roles and it's ironic that he was a second choice for Clark Gable. I doubt that Gable could have done better with this part. The always dependable Eleanor Parker matches Mitchum all the way with her performance as the suppressed wife.

George Hamilton and George Peppard got very good roles in Home from the Hill in the salad days of their respective careers.

Though Home from the Hill does veer into soap opera it's held together primarily by director Vincent Minnelli and by a great cast he assembled.

If you want lampooning small towns with big rich families with tons of troubles; then you need to be watching "The Long Hot Summer" or "Cat on a Hot Tin Roof". If you want a good enthralling movie with strong character acting and a believable story line then this is the one for you. Having grown up in the South, especially in a small rural town I completely understand and can relate to this movie. It centers around what most of my generation had in our small towns, that one rich family who owned everything. Naturally this movie ratchets up the drama, so if you are not from this region you may think it unrealistic. Robert Mitchum is in one of his bests roles as the Cap'n. The troubles and trials of their marriage spill over into their son's life. Theron's youthful care free teenage life finally gives way to his budding adult manhood but somehow is related to the problems of his parents with a little of his own to throw in. I would recommend this movie to anyone, its a past gone era of life that I remember so well and well acted.

Though not one of its director's best, this film has to be one of the best ways to pass a rainy afternoon or dull night. Robert Mitchum has two sons: one legitimate (George Hamilton, who is spoilt and preppy) and one illegitimate (George Peppard, who is macho and resourceful but also one of nature's gentlemen, and lives in a hut with his dogs, waiting patiently for a word of kindness from his father). Mitchum also has a Southern belle wife who's locked the bedroom door against him for 18 years. Simmering tensions and overcooked dialogue make this just incredible fun - see it if you can.

Good movie with acceptable protagonist quartet such as Robert Mitchum , Eleanor Parker , George Hamilton and George Peppard ; all of them playing an enjoyable story with gritty subject matter . It deals with Captain Wade Hunnicutt (veteran Robert Mitchum) , he is a Southern landowner in a Texan town ; he is also a known womanizer who has relations with many of the local ladies , which has turned his spouse Hannah (enjoyable Eleanor Parker) against him . She has brought up their son Theron (a very young George Hamilton) to be dependent upon her ; as he approaches 18 and he reaches adulthood , he then asks his father to teach him to be a man and he is soon fishing and hunting . Wade insists on taking over his upbringing , initiating him in his way of life . But Wade has conflicts with his wife , son and foreman Rafe . Meanwhile , Theron falls in love for the shopkeeper (usual secondary Everett Sloane)'s daughter (Luana Patten ,though Shirley Knight tested for the role of Libby) . However , he has the door slammed in his face by the girl's daddy . Theron is under the watchful eye of Rafe (George Peppard) , Hunnicutt's loyal employee who hides a dark secret to affect whole family . As Theron learns the family secrets, he is upsetting and decides to make his own way in life . It all leads to death , family confrontation , murder and tragedy.

This is a pensive examen of a dysfunctional family in ¨Soaper¨ style and it contains emotion , thrills , imaginative sidelights , interesting dialog ; though overlong and sometimes static . It depicts the stormy events take place into a family whose womanizer father , subsequent gossips and other sorrowful happenings lead to fateful as well as tragic deeds . Very good acting by Robert Mitchum as a surly as well as rich father , the wealthiest and most powerful citizen in his town and Eleanor Parker as embittered wife who lives in the same house but are estranged and living separate lives ; however , these roles were first suggested as a vehicle for Bette Davis and Clark Gable . The picture is noteworthy for giving George Hamilton his first big break , plus George Peppard is top-notch as a foreman with good heart . Furthermore , a gorgeous Luana Patten , an attractive actress who being a little girl usually played for Walt Disney Productions , unfortunately , she early died . Fine support cast giving brief but nice acting such as Everett Sloane , Ray Teal , Dub Taylor , Constance Ford , Anne Seymour and Denver Pyle , among others . Colorful and glowing cinematography filmed in Panavision by Milton Krasner . The majority of location filming took place in Oxford, Mississippi, near the University of Mississippi campus and in Clarksville, Texas . Rousing and sensitive original musical score by Bronislau Kaper .

This melodrama , typical and brilliant MGM , was well produced by Sol C. Siegel and Edmund Grainger ; being efficiently directed by Vincente Minelli . Vincente was an expert on musicals , being hired by MGM for many years . After working on numerous Mickey Rooney/Judy Garland vehicles , usually directed by Busby Berkeley , Arthur Freed gave him his first directorial assignment on ¨Cabin in the sky¨ (1943), a risky screen project with an all-black cast . This was followed by the ambitious period piece , the classic ¨Meet me in St. Louis¨ (1944) whose star Judy Garland he married in 1945 . Many of his films included in every one of his movies features a dream sequence such as ¨Four horsemen of Apocalypse¨ . Employing first-class MGM technicians , including Erich Von Stroheim , Minnelli continued directing musicals as ¨The band wagon¨ (1953) , ¨Kismet¨, ¨The pirate¨ , ¨ An American in Paris¨ , ¨Brigadoon¨ as well as melodramas as ¨Some came running¨ (1958) , ¨Madame Bovary¨, ¨The sandpiper¨ , The home from the hill¨ and urban comedies like ¨Designing woman¨ (1957), occasionally even working on two films simultaneously . In his last average film titled ¨Nina¨ worked with his daughter Liza Minnelli . Rating ¨The home from the hill¨ : Better than average , it's a good story though sometimes falls plain , well worth watching .