A Hill in Korea

During the Korean War in 1951, a small force of British soldiers is in danger of being cut off by the advancing Chinese army. The plot emphasizes the plight of the National Servicemen who, as they say, were "old enough to fight, but too young to vote."

The film also depicts a "Friendly-fire" incident, in which the British are bombed by the Americans. (refer to Friendly-fire incident in the Battle of Hill 282)

The film opens in Korea with a British Army patrol, led by Lt. Butler. In the patrol is tough veteran Sergeant Payne, a slightly psychotic Corporal Ryker, and the cowardly signaller Wyatt. As they search a small village, one of the party falls victim to a bomb planted in a small shack. With the death of one of his men, Butler moves the patrol out of the village. Out in the open plain, Butler and Payne discover a large force of Chinese soldiers heading directly for them. Sending Payne and the patrol back towards their own lines, Butler and three of his men stay behind to cover the withdrawal. After fending off two attacks, Butler discovers Lance Corporal Hodge is dead. Payne returns with the patrol, informing Butler that they were cut off by other enemy forces.

The patrol heads through the village and up a winding path towards an isolated temple located on a hill, with only a steep cliff to its rear. On the way, Wyatt throws away the only radio because he cannot be bothered to carry it up the hill. Then they run into an enemy patrol on the path. They ambush the Chinese, and continue up to the temple. With the Chinese knowing now exactly where they are, Butler must keep his troops together, and fend off the enemy attacks.

{{castlist|

• George Baker as Lieutenant Butler
• Harry Andrews as Sergeant Payne
• Stanley Baker as Corporal Ryker
• Michael Medwin as Private Docker
• Ronald Lewis as Private Wyatt
• Stephen Boyd as Private Sims
• Victor Maddern as Private Lindop
• Harry Landis as Private Rabin
• Robert Brown as Private O'Brien
• Barry Lowe as Private Neill
• Robert Shaw as Lance Corporal Hodge
• Charles Laurence as Private Kim
• Percy Herbert as Private Moon
• Eric Corrie as Private Matthews
• David Morrell as Private Henson
• Michael Caine as Private Lockyer

}}

The film was based on a novel by Max Catto which was published in 1954 and based on true events.PICTURE SHOW Gossip Filmer, Fay. Picture Show; London Vol. 66, Iss. 1711, (Jan 14, 1956): 3-4. Film rights were optioned by Ian Dalrymple’s company, Wessex Productions. Dalrymple borrowed George Baker from Associated British to play the lead. Juliam Aymes took leave from the BBC to direct the film.{{cite news|title=TV and radio|newspaper=Liverpool Echo|date=16 April 1956|page=8}}

Robert Shaw said "I had quite a nice part, that of a simple country boy."{{cite book|first=Lilian|last=Ross|page=146|title=The Player: a profile of an art|chapter=Robert Shaw|publisher= Limelight|year=1984}}

The film was shot on location in Portugal from September to November 1955, followed by studio work at Shepperton Studios in London.{{cite news|title=Five films in 12 months|newspaper=Lincolnshire Echo|date=27 September 1955|page=4}}{{cite web|url=https://historyproject.org.uk/sites/default/files/HP0229%20Cedric%20Dawe%20-%20Transcript.pdf|website=British Entertainment History Project|title=Interview with Cedric Dawe, art director|first=Roy|last=Fowler|date=19 November 1991}}{{cite news|newspaper=Herald Express|date=31 October 1955|page=4|title=Making Money But artistically}} Baker recalled in his memoirs, "It was cheaper to keep us all there [in Portugal] rather than pay air fares back and forth to England. The actual location was miserable; miles from anywhere, in the middle of sand dunes. The heat by midday was almost unbearable. We were based in Lisbon and had a two-hour drive to work every morning and, of course, two hours home at night."Baker p 173

Michael Caine was cast in part because of his experience in the Korean War, where he had served as a soldier. He later said, "My function as a technical advisor was completely ignored during the making of the film. For example, I advised the crew to spread the troops wide as the latter advanced, which was militarily correct, but they replied that they didn't have a lens of sufficient width to take it all in! I also pointed out that the officer would have removed his signs of rank and worn a hat, the same as the other men, to disguise which one was in command, but George [Baker] was allowed to go into battle with all badges and hat gleaming, every inch an officer. In a real fight, he would never have lasted all of ten seconds." He was paid £800.{{cite book|url=https://archive.org/details/michaelcaineclas0000bray/page/46/mode/2up?|page=47|title= Michael Caine : a class act|last=Bray|first= Christopher|year=2006}}

Caine added, "The most glaring mistake that I never brought to their notice was that Portugal did not in the least resemble Korea; if anything, Wales was more similar. I did not say anything because I wanted to stay in Portugal – I could go to Wales at any old time."{{cite book|first=Michael|last=Caine|title=What's it all about?|page=104|year=1992}} Caine later recalled, "I had eight lines in that picture, and I screwed up six of them."{{cite web|url=https://www.independent.co.uk/arts-entertainment/films/features/michael-caine-the-butler-with-bite-494329.html |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190201065310/https://www.independent.co.uk/arts-entertainment/films/features/michael-caine-the-butler-with-bite-494329.html |archive-date=2019-02-01 |url-access=limited |url-status=live|website=The Independent|title=Michael Caine the Butler with Bite|date=17 June 2005}}

According to Caine, "the company held on to the film for ages before releasing it. After a year of waiting for the perfect moment, with true movie genius they premiered the film on the night that we invaded Suez.

The film debuted at the Edinburgh Film Festival on 2 September 1956, over a month before the invasion of Suez. The Daily Telegraph argued "the characters, though not particularly original or drawn at any great depth, are sketched in sufficiently to arouse interest."{{cite news|newspaper=The Daily Telegraph|date=3 September 1956|page=9|title=An action in Kora}} The movie was released in London cinemas in 20 September 1956 with the premiere attended by Gerald Templer.{{cite news|title=March|newspaper=Evening Standard|date=21 September 1956|page=20}}

George Baker recalled in his memoirs that the film's release "coincided with a national newspaper strike and, although Dilys Powell put it in her top ten films for 1958 at the end of the year, we didn’t get a single review at the time of its release."Baker p 177

Contrary to Baker's statement there were some reviews when the film came out. The Evening Standard felt it had familiar plot and characters but "Julian Aymes manages to get his camera closer to the real men than most and reveals the human beings beneath the dirt and the khaki."{{cite news|newspaper=Evening Standard|date=20 September 1956|page=7|title=Back to Korea}} The Daily Herald felt it was "an exciting film with good acting."{{cite news|newspaper=Daily Herald|date=21 September 1956|page=3|title=Anthony Carthew at the films}} The Daily Mirror said the film "hit the spot".{{cite news|newspaper=Daily Mirror|date=21 September 1956|page=19|title=Robert Tee at the pictures}} Variety called it "well made".{{cite magazine|title=A Hill in Korea|magazine=Variety|page=7|url=https://archive.org/details/variety204-1956-10/page/n94/mode/1up?|date=10 October 1956}}

Michael Caine commented, "The picture went straight down the pan, and my movie career along with it. I bemoaned the fact that nobody had seen the film, until I actually saw it myself. I was terrible! My voice was awful...My eyelashes are blond and so are my eyebrows, which has the effect in close-up of something speaking that hasn't got a face, and it's not much better in medium shot..My appearances were mercifully few, the editor having decided that the cutting-room floor was the ideal place for my first effort at international stardom."{{cite web|website=Turner Classic Movies|title=A Hill in Korea|first=Jeff|last=Strafford|url=https://www.tcm.com/this-month/article/320066}}

Linsday Anderson later wrote that the movie:

Is far from being a realistic film about modern war. It is not about its futility; and it says nothing very convincing about courage. It is not about why we were right to send these men to fight in Korea, and it is not about why we might have been wrong, either. Presented with a certain, ineffective good taste, it is a pointless reworking of stale conventions: the isolated patrol, the inexperienced lieutenant, the fatherly sergeant, the coward — and, of course, the inevitable chorus of indomitable Cockney wit. The Bren guns blaze away; the British infantrymen grit their teeth in close-up; the Chink Commies are mown down. ‘Honest,’ as one of the characters remarks, ‘it binds you rigid.’{{cite book|first=Lindsay|last=Anderson|page=492|url=https://archive.org/details/neverapologiseco0000ande/page/492/mode/1up?|chapter=Guys and Dolls, A Hill in Korea, Smiles of a Summer Night|title=Never Apologise|year=2004}}

The film was released in the US in late 1957. The Los Angeles Times called it "taut, no-nonsense".'Rodan' New Japan-Made Horror Film C S. Los Angeles Times 14 Nov 1957: C10.

Caine said his performance in the film led to his agent firing him. However director Julian Aymes later cast Caine in a small role in a TV play The Lark.{{cite book|page=151-152|title= Michael Caine|last=Freedland|first= Michael|year=2000 }}

• {{cite book|title= The way to Wexford : the autobiography|last=Baker|first= George|year=2002}}
• Time Out Film Guide, published by Penguin – {{ISBN|0-14-029395-7}}
• {{cite book|last=Lentz|first=Robert J.|title=Korean War Filmography|year=2003|location=Jefferson, North Carolina|publisher=McFarland & Company|isbn=978-0-7864-1046-0|page=148|oclc=50630520}}

{{Reflist}}

• {{IMDb title|0049302}}
• {{Rotten Tomatoes|hill_in_korea}}
• [http://historyonfilm.com/a-hill-in-korea/ A Hill in Korea] at History on Film
• [https://letterboxd.com/film/a-hill-in-korea/ A Hill in Korea] at Letterbox DVD
• [https://www.tcm.com/tcmdb/title/77684/hell-in-korea A Hill in Korea] at TCMDB
• [https://web.archive.org/web/20170911103034/http://www.bfi.org.uk/films-tv-people/4ce2b6ac51b0b A Hill in Korea] at BFI

{{DEFAULTSORT:Hill In Korea, A}}

Category:1956 films

Category:1956 war films

Category:British war films

Category:Films based on British novels

Category:Korean War films

Category:Films with screenplays by Ian Dalrymple

Category:Films scored by Malcolm Arnold

Category:Films set in 1951

Category:Films shot in Portugal

Category:Films shot at Shepperton Studios

Category:1950s English-language films

Category:1950s British films

Category:British black-and-white films

Category:English-language war films