''Hungry Hill'' is a 1947 British film directed by

Brian Desmond Hurst Brian Desmond Hurst (12 February 1895 – 26 September 1986) was a Belfast-born film director. With over thirty films in his filmography, Hurst has been hailed as Northern Ireland's best film director.Screening will honour 'NI's best film ...

and starring

Margaret Lockwood Margaret Mary Day Lockwood, CBE (15 September 1916 – 15 July 1990), was an English actress. One of Britain's most popular film stars of the 1930s and 1940s, her film appearances included ''The Lady Vanishes'' (1938), ''Night Train to Munich' ...

Dennis Price Dennistoun Franklyn John Rose Price (23 June 1915 – 6 October 1973) was an English actor, best remembered for his role as Louis Mazzini in the film ''Kind Hearts and Coronets'' (1949) and for his portrayal of the omnicompetent valet Jeeves ...

, and

Cecil Parker Cecil Parker (born Cecil Schwabe, 3 September 1897 – 20 April 1971) was an English actor with a distinctively husky voice, who usually played supporting roles, often characters with a supercilious demeanour, in his 91 films made between ...

with a screenplay by

Terence Young Terence or Terry Young may refer to: *Terence Young (director) (1915–1994), British film director * Terence Young (politician) (born 1952), Canadian Conservative Party politician * Terence Young (writer), Canadian writer * Terry Young (American p ...

and

Daphne du Maurier Dame Daphne du Maurier, Lady Browning, (; 13 May 1907 – 19 April 1989) was an English novelist, biographer and playwright. Her parents were actor-manager Sir Gerald du Maurier and his wife, actress Muriel Beaumont. Her grandfather was Geor ...

, from the 1943 novel by Daphne du Maurier.

Plot

A feud is waged between two families in Ireland – the Brodricks and the Donovans – over the sinking of a copper mine in Hungry Hill by "Copper John" Brodrick. The feud has repercussions down three generations. Copper John Brodrick wants to mine copper at Hungry Hill. Of his two sons, Henry is enthusiastic but Greyhound John is reluctant. The mine goes ahead despite opposition of the Donovan family. Fanny Rosa flirts with both John and Henry. The Donovans lead a riot at the mine which results in Henry's death. John becomes a lawyer and is the heir to the mine, but is reluctant to take over. He resumes his romance with Fanny Rosa.

Cast

as Fanny Rosa *

as Greyhound John Brodrick *

as Copper John Brodrick *

Michael Denison John Michael Terence Wellesley Denison (1 November 191522 July 1998) was an English actor. He often appeared with his wife, Dulcie Gray, with whom he featured in several films and more than 100 West End theatre productions. After a conventiona ...

as Henry Brodrick * F.J. McCormick as Old Tim * Arthur Sinclair as Morty Donovan * Jean Simmons as Jane Brodrick * Eileen Crowe as Bridget *

Eileen Herlie Eileen Herlie (March 8, 1918 – October 8, 2008) was a Scottish-American actress. Personal life Eileen Herlie was born Eileen Isobel Herlihy to an Irish Catholic father, Patrick Herlihy, and a Scottish Protestant mother, Isobel Cowden, ...

as Katherine * Barbara Waring as Barbara Brodrick * Michael Golden as Sam Donovan *

Siobhán McKenna Siobhán McKenna (; 24 May 1922 – 16 November 1986) was an Irish stage and screen actress. Background She was born Siobhán Giollamhuire Nic Cionnaith in Belfast in the newly-created Northern Ireland into a Catholic and nationalist family. ...

as Kate Donovan * Dan O'Herlihy as Harry Brodrick *

Henry Mollison Evelyn Henry Mollison (21 February 1905 – 19 July 1985) was a British theatre and film actor. He was the brother of the actor Clifford Mollison. During World War II, he was held as a Prisoner of War for five years by the Nazis, after his ...

as Dr. Armstrong *

Dermot Walsh Dermot Walsh (10 September 1924 – 26 June 2002) was an Irish stage, film and television actor, known for portraying King Richard the Lionheart in the 1962 television series '' ''Richard the Lionheart'. Early life Born in Dublin, Walsh was t ...

as Wild Johnnie Brodrick *

Eddie Byrne Eddie Byrne (31 January 1911 – 21 August 1981) was an Irish actor. Career His stage work included many appearances with Dublin's Abbey Theatre, and also work with the National Theatre in London. Outside Ireland he is probably best known ...

as Hennessy

Production

Daphne du Maurier's novel was a best seller. Film rights were bought by Two Cities who assigned

William Sistrom William "Billy" Sistrom (19 March 1884 – March 1972) was an English film producer who worked in the United States. Biography Sistrom was born in Lincolnshire, England. He began work with Universal Pictures. Later he joined RKO Pictures in 19 ...

to produce.

was the director and it was decided to film on location in Ireland. Background filming began in

County Wicklow County Wicklow ( ; ga, Contae Chill Mhantáin ) is a county in Ireland. The last of the traditional 32 counties, having been formed as late as 1606, it is part of the Eastern and Midland Region and the province of Leinster. It is bordered by t ...

in September 1945. Studio filming did not begin until March 1946 in Denham. The female lead was offered to

Geraldine Fitzgerald Geraldine Mary Fitzgerald (November 24, 1913 – July 17, 2005) was an Irish actress and a member of the American Theater Hall of Fame. In 2020, she was listed at number 30 on ''The Irish Times'' list of Ireland's greatest film actors. Early li ...

but she was unable to get out of her US commitments. The producers approached

Sally Gray Constance Vera Browne, Baroness Oranmore and Browne (''née'' Stevens; 14 February 1915 – 24 September 2006), commonly known as Sally Gray, was an English film actress of the 1930s and 1940s. Her obituary in ''The Irish Times'' described he ...

who turned it down as she did not wish to grow old on camera. Margaret Lockwood played the role instead, once she finished with ''Bedelia''. Lockwood's real life daughter player her daughter in the film.

Robert Cummings Charles Clarence Robert Orville Cummings (June 9, 1910 – December 2, 1990) was an American film and television actor who appeared in roles in comedy films such as '' The Devil and Miss Jones'' (1941) and ''Princess O'Rourke'' (1943), and in ...

was mentioned for the male lead. According to

, Brian Desmond Hurst wanted Seamus Locke to play Wild Johnny but producer Bill Sistrom insisted on Walsh. "They had a bit of a barney over that", says Walsh. "After I made an exhaustive test, Sistrom called in all the girls from the front office, sat them down and ran the test. The girls got me the part!"Brian McFarlane ''An Autobiography of British Film'' p 589 Walsh says the film took around five months to make. "Every shot was composed, they'd spend hours trying to get it as beautiful and as dramatically effective as possible."

Critical reception

The New York Times ''The New York Times'' (''the Times'', ''NYT'', or the Gray Lady) is a daily newspaper based in New York City with a worldwide readership reported in 2020 to comprise a declining 840,000 paid print subscribers, and a growing 6 million paid ...

'' wrote, "the film's running time is about average, ninety minutes, but the narrative, for all its ample conflict, progresses so ponderously that it seems interminable ... The few moments of effective cinema in "Hungry Hill" are so fleeting as to be easily forgotten, but the sequence wherein a staid ball is turned into a lively jig session by the infectious music of a fiddler from the town is a bit of expert staging which you probably won't see duplicated again soon. The spontaneity and brilliant conception of this scene is almost sufficient cause to make one show more tolerance toward 'Hungry Hill' than it deserves." Britmovie called it a "stirring Irish saga based on the epic novel by Daphne du Maurier." ''Filmink'' magazine said the film "was clearly Rank's attempt at making a Gainsborough melodrama, only classy" and "all the ingredients are there – costumes, rivalries, feuding brothers – but the filmmakers stuff it" by failing to focus on one character or theme and lacking stars to partner with Lockwood.

References

External links

* * *
''Hungry Hill''
a Britmovies

at the website dedicated to

Review of film
at ''Variety'' {{DEFAULTSORT:Hungry Hill (Film) 1947 films 1940s historical films British black-and-white films British historical films Films based on works by Daphne du Maurier Films based on British novels Films directed by Brian Desmond Hurst Films about feuds Films set in Ireland 1940s British films