User reviews

Based on the Leon Uris novel 'The Angry Hills' is a disappointment. This is a long rambling film and and Mitchum has a long ramble through it, just about acting. Characters appear and disappear, the plot wavers, stops and starts. There are other interesting actors equally wasted; Sebastian Cabot, Donald Wolfit, Marius Goring, and tough guy Stanley Baker doesn't even get to face off with Mitchum. Theodore Bikel comes out better with a sad but sympathetic performance, even when being nasty.The female characters are thinly drawn.

The best things are the clear, crisp photography and the extensive use of location shooting. The hills may be angry but they sure look pretty.

Always liked Robert Mitchum in most of his films and for some reason did not view this late 1950's film. This film is suppose to take place in Greece during the year 1941 and is occupied by the lunatic Nazi forces. Robert Mitchum,(Mike Morrison), is an Army officer who manages to somehow get involved with some very secret information that can help the underground forces in Greece to destroy the Nazi strong holds during WWII. Mike Morrison meets up with a Greek gal and becomes romantically involved with her along with an other young gal who is very confused about what to do with her children. It is rather long and drawn out and at the same time, Robert Mitchum seemed very bored with his role and gave very little enthusiasm. The film wound up being very boring and way too long. The Nazi officer in charge was always sick and complained about not having a PULSE !

Considering that this film was made from a Leon Uris novel AND stars Robert Mitchum, you might easily assume it would be a wonderful film. However, it's very ordinary and nothing more. The novel is certainly among Uris' weakest and the story simply isn't that extraordinary. It's watchable enough--but not compelling enough to make it a must-see for anyone but die-hard Mitchum fans.

The film is set in Greece during the Nazi occupation. An American reporter (Mitchum) is given a list of collaborators--a list he's entrusted to get to the British. However, the Nazis learn of him and the list and spend most of the film pursuing him across the nation. Basically, he hops from one tiny village to the next and the Nazis commit atrocities in the towns in order to try to get the folks to turn in the American. Along the way, there is a woman (naturally) who falls in love with him as well as another woman who MIGHT be in love with him. Can he make it out of the country and deliver the list? See the film if you really need to know.

Overall, the film is fair to middling. While not a bad film, there really isn't a lot to make it stand out--unless you adore Mitchum or want to see Sebastian Cabot in a VERY unusual role.

The opening developments in this picture are promising in the manner that Hitchcock so often exploited: an innocent bystander finds himself in the wrong place at the wrong time, and is drawn into intrigue of which he has no prior knowledge, and in which he has no interest. But he has something that the villains want - while all he wants is to get out of the situation alive. So far, so good. It is not long, however, before the complications give way to standard action fare, the emphasis now being on hiding, getting away, deciding who is trustworthy - elements used many times in many pictures, some better, some worse. Ultimately, the story disappoints. There are rewarding performances by steely-eyed Stanley Baker, and sweaty, cowardly Theodore Bikel. Robert Mitchum plays the lead role with competence, if not distinction.

With such an accomplished director (Aldrich) and author (Uris) involved, I was really surprised that this wasn't more of a success, but as previously discussed by others, this was probably over-edited and over-cut. Robert Aldrich also directed The Dirty Dozen, and TWO Bette Davis films (Baby Jane and Sweet Charlotte). Robert Uris wrote numerous books on the subjects of war and international conflict. The lead, Robert Mitchum was no slouch either, having starred in so many big films - Cape Fear, Out of the Past, Sundowners, Night of the Hunter. In Angry Hills, he is Mike Morrison, a journalist caught up in wartime Europe. He checks into his hotel, and meets someone who wants to give him a secret list that is to be delivered to British intelligence when he returns to London. He refuses, and that's when the adventures begin. Morrison escapes the clutches of the bad guys, (several times) and pops up in a village that has been conquered by the Germans. He is looked after by the beautiful "Eleftheria" and her family. (Gia Scala, who died quite young at age 38. she has an interesting write-up on wikipedia.org) He hangs around town, and then scoots off to another town. Keep an eye out for Sebastian Cabot, best known as the butler on the show "Family Affair", made a couple years after Hills. It's entertaining enough, and a believable tale, but the whole time, I got the feeling that he could have left the various villages much earlier to avoid trouble; he just seemed to dawdle around town for the sake of the script. Still, a good WW II adventure story.

Having watched this film as a 10/11 year old child in Manchester,UK in 1969, I am intrigued by the very explicit topless dancer scene! I think that I would have remembered this scene, and wonder if it was censored in the UK!! Otherwise not a bad movie, though it was overlong. It would definitely have looked better in colour.Interesting to see so many top rate actors in one film, even though some only had brief roles. Stanley Baker and Gia Scala would appear together in another Greek located film two years later, namely "The Guns Of Navarone"! Personally, I think the look of the film was quite good. The locations, and set dressing,period vehicles looked quite authentic. If I remember correctly in the UK this film was shown on a double bill, with a Tarzan film as the second feature. The Tarzan film was in colour!!

Stephen Dade's noirish black-and-white cinematography is the best thing on view in Robert Aldrich's early (1955) and all-too standard-issue tale of an American (Robert Mitchum) involved against his well-developed instincts for survival in resisting the Nazis in a periphery (Athens and the title hills of Greece). There's a conventionally cold-blooded Nazi commander (Marius Goring), Theodore Bikel in the Peter Lorre role of the cowardly collaborator, a wooden Stanley Baker as a less-cowardly one, Elisabeth Müller and Gia Scala as brave love interests, and Robert Mitchum in what might be considered the Humphrey Bogart role if Mitchum had not essayed it a number of times himself. And in a variant on the Sidney Greenstreet role, every bit as rotund but more jovial is Sebastian Cabot. The set-up is handled well, but the middle of the movie drags through reprisals and miraculous escapes by the antihero. The low point is a discussion about values between Mitchum and Müller and the final scene is a bolt from the blue of redemption. The movie is watchable, not least for the Greek locations, but inferior to earlier Aldrich westerns and his superb WWII melodrama "Attack!"

The poster on the cover is misleading. Mitchum (as Mike Morrison) never held an assault rifle (a handgun a couple of times) and there never was a bombing scene in the film. The hide and pursuit action was pretty well produced. However, this film lost a lot of money for MGM. imho, what moviegoers want for an ending is for two highly-paid heads to come together for that studio rent-paying, theater-filling, popcorn-selling KISS. This does not happen in this film. In fact, the ending, while positive, is kind of weird.

There are only two hills worth seeing in this film; and you will see them early on in the film. The movie could have been titled "The Hills are Alive With the Sound of Nazis", but deferred to The Angry Hills. Mitchum tries to rescue this turkey, but the script is hopeless. The rest of the cast is uninspiring (and Mitchum, too, at times, seems uninspired. The events are convoluted and, at times, repetitive. Both Stanley Baker and Sebastian Cabot are horribly miscast, and look embarrassed to be in this production. The production values are of the lowest quality, and one gets the feeling of a home movie being made at times. Don't waste your time.

This is a well-cast and quite enjoyable Greek-set World War II yarn,which manages to entertain even with the studio edits(Which caused confusion to some).War Correspondent Robert Mitchum is suitably both laconic and heroic as he,initially reluctantly,seeks to escape Nazi-occupied Greece with a memorised list of Greek Patriots who will feed information to the Allies,whilst feigning collaboration with the Germans. Acting is generally good,with Mitchum and Gia Scala(As the Greek Village girl who aids him and loves him)bonding well together.Some interesting supporting performances too,including a surprising but vital appearance by Sebastion Cabot later in the movie. We also have a risqué(For 1959)early Taverna scene,featuring the "exuberant" Singer/Dancer Marita Constantinou,which must have been filmed twice in anticipation of possible Censorship. The VHS copy I have from the U.S.A shows her bosom discreetly covered - The recently acquired DVD(U.K)reveals her to be topless! Overall,some good,nostalgic location filming:The Plaka,Tourkolimano,etc.;adds atmosphere to this likable Adventure/Drama.

It's 1941 and Athens is about to fall to the Nazis. Journalist Mike Morrison (Robert Mitchum) has just arrived. The last plane is leaving in six hours. He's casually taking a bath when he's visited by Dr. Stergiou. Stergiou gives him a list of Greek patriots willing to cooperate with British intelligence. With the list only in his memory, he becomes a target for the invading Nazis, their collaborators, and communists.

The movie needs to start with more anxiety. He has six hours and he's lackadaisical. I know it's meant to set him up as a cool rogue cad. Instead, it makes him look careless. That's no slight to Mitchum. He's acting the every bit of his movie stardom. This is an exceedingly dangerous situation and he should be selling that more. The tension does ramp up over time but it could never excel. Indeed, he says that he's made a big circle back to where he started. That's how one feels about this movie. It moves and it moves but it feels like it's moving in a circle.

Robert Mitchum stars in "The Angry Hills" from 1959, directed by Robert Aldrich and written by Leon Uris. The film also features Gia Scala, Theodore Bikel, Stanley Baker, and Sebastian Cabot.

Mitchum plays Mike Morrison, a journalist during World War II, who is given a list of undercover people who will seem to collaborate when the Nazis move into Greece. The battle for the list begins, as Morrison goes on the wrong and is helped to hide by the Greek resistance.

A list of secret agents, a list of double agents, a list of Nazi collaborators, a list of resistance members...this has to be the most overused plot in film history. It was recently used as the "Macguffin" in Skyfall. We've seen it in dozens upon dozens of films.

When you use a hackneyed plot, you've got to do better than this film, which is overly long and overly talky. I have no problem with "talky" scripts as long as the dialogue is good -- All About Eve comes to mind. "The Angry Hills" is not of that caliber. Rather than action scenes, it has meandering scenes and does not hold interest. The characters aren't well defined enough.

Robert Mitchum is always good, and in fact, the cast is good, doing their best with a mediocre script. It's not much of a story. Nice scenery, though, and Sebastian Cabot seems like he's doing Sydney Greenstreet.

For any Leon Uris fans who might stumble across this "adaptation", please note: this film bears strikingly little resemblance to the book. It takes place in Greece and some of the characters' names are the same -- that's about it. Besides the lack of fidelity to the novel, the movie is just plain bad. It's muddled, with poor acting and poor story telling. Your time will be better spent rereading the book.

One of Robert Mitchum's and Director Robert Aldrich's Least Impressive Films. Both Usually Reliable Professionals are Off Their Game on this one. It is a Flat and Tired Movie from the Beginning, Never Managing to Grab Hold of the Story's Intrigue and it is Lacking in the Period Setting of WWII.

The Movie Looks Like a 1959 Movie set in 1941. The Action is Dull and Telegraphed and the Suspense Never Builds Beyond its Premise. The Script is a bit Confusing and Nothing in this Misfire Maintains Anything More than Mediocrity.

A Dud and a Disappointment from All Involved. The Almost Two-Hour Length is Excruciating.

The Angry Hills casts Robert Mitchum as an American foreign correspondent embedded to use today's terminology with the British troops who are evacuating Greece after the German invasions blitzkrieg catches them flat footed in the summer of 1941. The Germans were invading to pull their Italian ally's chestnuts out of the fire as the Italians got bogged down in the Balkans. This took needed troops from their Russian invasion and in my personal opinion it was the point where Hitler started losing the war.

But who knew that then. Mitchum comes into possession of a list of underground contacts and the Nazis in the person of SS Colonel Marius Goring and Gestapo head Stanley Baker spend the entire picture covering both Athens and the countryside in search of him. Neither Baker or Goring are too squeamish in their methods.

I think the film might have been better had Mitchum been a bit more interested in the project. According to Lee Server's comprehensive biography on him, he was most indifferent. For the usual reasons with him he was on the film simply for a Greek vacation.

The supporting players took up some of the slack and the ones to watch out for are Baker and Theodore Bikel. Especially Bikel he was truly hateful as Nazi collaborator who pimps out his sister to Baker who has her children as hostages. The sister is Elizabeth Mueller who in turn is pimped out to Mitchum to draw him into a Nazi trap.

Bad or mediocre pictures never prevented Mitchum from having a good time. Server's book tells a rollicking story of Mitchum and Stanley Baker matching drinks with Mitchum a clear winner. Baker was no slouch in the hell-raising department, but apparently he was outclassed.

I was thinking ooh Robert Mitchum, Leon Uris, Greece, WEEE.

They were going for some kind of Orson Welles Intrigue/Thriller, but this film was subtle archetypes not doing much! Sadistic Nazi kind-of Cynical yank OK, Slimy Greek/Nazi sympathizer, then the wild-cards that drop in every 15 minutes to, y'know, mix it up!

Laugable dialog, I'm paraphrasing here" We were the hunters, yet suddenly WE'RE the hunted", UGH!

If your going to have a complicated plot, trim all those useless scenes that trail off to nowhere.

Good cinematography, awkward interiors, but excellent composition when they filmed outdoors.

I've said enough, See TOP SECRET, same idea.

It's pretty much his signature for Robert Mitchum to take his shirt off in his movies, but it's not every day you get to see him in the bathtub! "If you're a good girl, I'll let you scrub my back," he jokes when he thinks room service has come into his hotel room. Ladies, you might want to rent The Angry Hills if you want to see him adjusting the faucet with his feet.

And where else can you see Robert Mitchum go to a nightclub and hide his eyes in embarrassment as a topless singer dances at his table? It's pretty hilarious, and perhaps the most blatant "Take that, Code!" movie I've ever seen. Maybe an edited version was released in the United States, because I can't imagine a scene like that being released without any uproar from critics and censors.

This movie does have a plot, though, besides bathtub scenes and topless scenes. Robert Mitchum gets hold of a list of collaborators to the Greek Resistance, and while he tries to help the Greek people, he also has to dodge Nazis and undercover Nazis who want to steal the list. He doesn't know who he can trust, and when Elisabeth Muller comes into the picture for romance, she just might have an ulterior motive. If you like these types of movies, there's nothing really wrong with this one. It's pretty typical of the genre, but unless you really like underground resistance movies set during WWII, you probably won't come across it.

"The angry hills" (1959) directed by Robert Aldrich is a lovely movie in black and white where Greece is at stake as country considered a little just before a slow penetration and strange German invasion, in which as story of wartime and peaceful purpose it is yet very interesting for appreciating its local culture. Differently understood by a kind of war press correspondent, between urban and rural landscapes and gestures in this land of symbolic Paternon and democratic values, among crossfires of snipers on streets and roads and suddenly opening doors for surviving at any price even with guerrilla peasants help. What it seems in a given scene located in a folkloric local at Athens, during the installation of the special smooth occupation entering with the almost gentle invader, is the naked chest of a dancer in a frontal touch of love, after the exhibition at a stage inside for also mixed origin officers in which the correspondent is there at his table.

Obviously in a kind of freedom of the time, by director Aldrich during this movie production - whose screenplay is somehow far away of the book where it came from, without the visit of the writer himself to Greece when he had written his book - concerning the sex-appeal without too much corruption, but maybe more passion in free love in wartime. Where Robert Mitchum in his character of correspondent of war ridicules the prudery and attraction from his colleague nearby his common table at there in this evening. Meanwhile, aside observing this sincerity like of the someone, seemingly enormous like Maria Callas at the time, when still unknown voluntarily or not by the effect of Aldrich direction, who was risking his career here. This is an interesting framework of a mixed population, shared by contradictory feelings about foreigners, when a stranger like him came during the evening bringing hope.

The complicated plot is here useful for registering the evidence of difficulties, however also in which a better comprehension for separating the treachery from the betrayed and protecting what is sure and not capable to pass away. Namely, under torture and after giving to the occupant the others civilians, whom not having clearly cooperated with the enemy ; under these circumstances of stressing the strength out of the laws and only by barbarity, for spelling against the will of the local authority. It was like that that the war correspondent it was there between two love affairs, meanwhile and by no means essays escaping from the mountains with some children. But finally by the port of a given island, there is a small ship from a local fisherman for them, when by the window of the police station from the occupants one of his lovers, a beautiful lady, is inside with one of the collaborators, that in a deal accepts intuitively this young and her sacrifice : forgotten the sad affair only for will solving it as account for the resistance, after the war finished.

More like The Confused Hills because I defy anyone to make sense of the usually good A. I. Bezzerides' screenplay. There are numerous story holes, unmotivated actions and bad decisions. To list just the four most prominent:

1) How exactly does Mitchum's American newsman get from an allied troop truck in perfect consciousness to lying delirious in a Greek peasant hut?

2) One moment Mitchum is being nursed to health by a pretty Greek peasant gal and in the very next scene they are passionately embracing. (Can we have a modicum of motivation, please?)

3) Why is the Greek peasant gal suddenly killed off in the middle of the friggin movie and offscreen, no less, so that it has zero dramatic impact?

4) I watched Gia Scala's long, boring love scene with Mitchum TWICE and still don't get why she collaborated with the Nazis.

Director Robert Aldrich pins the blame for the above creative transgressions on producer Raymond Stross who yanked the film from Aldrich when he was done and authorized his own cut so maybe Bezzirides' script wasn't so horrible, but, still, this is one godawful mess of a film and would have rated lower than it does except for some good support from Theodore Bikel, Stanley Baker and Marius Goring as various types of Nazi scum. Solid C.

PS...Even the Greek location shooting, usually a plus, is undone by undistinguished cinematography.

It could have a double meaning.

The topless dancer scenes are very daring. It has just been on Turner Classic Movies in the UK. I would of liked to a have been present at the no doubt legendary drinking sessions .

The brilliant Leslie Phillips hamming it up shamelessly with Robert Mitchum. Showing an early glimpse of his well known lecherous persona. This combines with a certain amount of gravitas as the film picks up pace and and gets a bit like a bogart film. Take your pick as to which one there are girls a plenty all willing to turn our hero into the fall guy.

aaah the days before sexism.

this is a very scenic romp.

Even if I hadn't read the book, this movie would have still made no sense.

The plot (there's a plot), is Swiss cheese. No story, no continuity. The acting is terrible, I assume the actors are doing the best that they can with this horrible script.

Now, after reading the book, this movie is a total disappointment.

The book at least tells a story from beginning to end.

I can only assume that major parts of the story was edited out of the movie. The scenes just don't make any sense.

And I don't get the soundtrack. It's really annoying because it doesn't match at all.

Avoid this, not worth your time. But the book is a good read.