Thunder on the Hill

There really isn't anything to criticize about this movie. The plot was interesting and well handled; the cast was good. This is a solid movie and well worth watching.

Based on a undistinguished play, in lesser hands this would have been totally forgettable. Director Douglas Sirk endows it all with a sense of style but still does not manage to salvage the pedestrian stagy dialog. Claudette Colbert is as always, winning in her role as the nun with a feisty spirit she finds difficult to hold in check and Gladys Cooper lends her renowned haughtiness. While there are some well played smaller parts there's much wooden acting too which bogs the film down measurably. One can't help wondering if Hitchcock ever saw this, as the climax in the bell tower is a forerunner of the famous scene from "Vertigo", but there the similarity ends. Since Sirk went on to become an important director, this film is of certain interest, but not one to make any particular effort to hunt down.

What an utterly wonderful film this is, I watched it based on a few reviews I'd glanced over and was not disappointed. From a time of film making where story telling and acting were order of the day, as opposed to violence and special effects. Two beautiful performances from Claudette Colbert and Ann Blyth, both are wonderful in their respective roles, Blyth was such a screen beauty, such a shame her career didn't sky rocket. A great story, and such an unusual premise, you could be forgiven for thinking that the situation would be ordinary and dull, but far from it. The closing action is brilliant, and done in a way that looks very believable. A wonderful movie 9/10