A Hill in Korea (1956)   Starring: George Baker, Harry Andrews Stanley Baker, Robert Shaw and Michael Caine Optimum Classic RRP: £15.99 OPTD1501 Certificate: PG Available 22 June 2009

A lone British patrol is scouting through Korea when they encounter a larger Chinese force. Unable to retreat, the patrol does what they can to survive, but as the battle continues their time starts to run out...

A Hill in Korea (1956 - 1 hr, 18 min, 16 sec) is a film which purports to celebrate the lives of both enlisted and national service fighting men, who were sent abroad to fight for the empire. The film was directed by Julian Amyes, who worked predominantly as a television drama director. The film was based on a novel by Max Catto.

The film is less of a story than it is a record of a moment in time. The lack of sufficient establishing shots means that the location is indistinguishable from any other World War Two film made around the same time; there is not even much of a narrative. They turn up they fight, they die. But that’s not really the point of the film; this is a character study of men under the threat of death, as wave upon wave of Chinese infantry attack their position.

If for nothing else the film remains important due to its impressive cast, many of whom would become important actors during the sixties and seventies.

George Baker plays the inexperienced officer, Lieutenant Butler, who leads a collection of regular army and national service troops, essentially civilians who were drafted into the army; he is ably served by the hard bitten Sergeant Payne (Harry Andrews). Each of the men in the patrol acts as a cipher, so we have the cowardly Wyatt, whose action, of throwing away their only radio, goes a long way to dooming the patrol, as well as the cocky one - each man appears to only have a single character trait to play with.

Along with some less memorable actors the film also stars Robert Shaw, Stanley Baker and Michael Caine. Although this minor part is Caine’s debut performance he would fare much better when he was later paired once again with Stanley Baker in Zulu (1964).

The film has a very clean black and white print, with a mono audio track, and is presented with an aspect ratio of 1.66:1. The disc contains no extras.

It’s an odd little film which is generally acted very well. As a record of English police actions in Korea it is less than satisfying, but as a study of men under pressure it’s well worth a look.

6

Charles Packer