A rich and powerful landowner tries to make a man out of his tenderfoot son while dealing with an illegitimate son and an estranged wife. This is perhaps the finest drama Minnelli ever made, as he elicits terrific performances from his stars. Mitchum is perfectly cast as the hard-drinking womanizer who has some regrets. Parker occasionally goes overboard but is otherwise fine as his estranged wife. Peppard turns in arguably his best performance as Mitchum's son from a dalliance with a maid. Even Hamilton does well in a role that seems to be tailor-made for Anthony Perkins. This long and absorbing drama is marked by good cinematography and score.
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kenjha28 September 2010
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wes-connors19 December 2010In 1960s Texas, real estate tycoon Robert Mitchum ("Captain" Wade Hunnicutt) is wounded, by the husband of one of his many feminine conquests, during a hunt. Young handy-man George Peppard (as Raphael "Rafe" Copley) comes to Mr. Mitchum's aide. Nobody talks about the fact, but Mr. Peppard is Mitchum's 22-year-old illegitimate offspring. Mitchum employs Peppard, but does not officially recognize him as a son. Mitchum's "legitimate" son and heir is gangly good-looking 17-year-old George Hamilton (as Theron Hunnicutt). Peppard chain-smokes, swings a rifle, and does other manly things. Mitchum beds women.
But, young Mr. Hamilton is known as a "mama's boy." He gets his main nurturing from mother Eleanor Parker (as Hannah). Though still sexy, Ms. Parker keeps her bedroom door locked. The film top-bills Mitchum and Parker, but deals mainly with the "coming of age" story concerning Hamilton's character, how it effects others in the cast, and uncovers buried emotions. Described as "wet behind the ears," Hamilton is taught how to hunt "like a man" by brotherly Peppard. Then, he is encouraged to ask pretty Luana Patten (as Elizabeth "Libby" Halstead) out for a date. Hamilton figures out what to do with her on his own...
Beautifully adapted by Irving Ravetch and Harriet Frank Jr., from a William Humphrey story, "Home from the Hill" is a surprisingly effective indictment of illegitimacy. Director Vincente Minnelli manages the material exceptionally well, bringing the characters and situations to life; this is absolutely necessary, since the basic story is very often told. Known mostly for his musicals, Mr. Minnelli received award nominations from the "Director's Guild" and "Cannes Film Festival".
His theatrically poetic performance won Peppard a "Supporting Actor" award from the "National Board of Review". This group placed the picture at #7 for the year and gave Mitchum a combined "Best Actor" award for "The Sundowners" and "Home from the Hill". Peppard was also nominated by the British Academy and "Film Daily" in supporting and newcomer categories. The later noted Ms. Patten in the juvenile category, but "The New York Film Critics" polled her at #8 as "Best Actress".
In the critics' mind, Hamilton seemed to be playing second fiddle to Peppard, but he had just received similar accolades, for "Crime & Punishment, USA" (1959). Hamilton makes you believe he is the naive teenager he is playing. Watch Hamilton in the scene he plays with mother Parker, after several hours on a picnic with girlfriend Patten. From the moment he walks in the door, Hamilton leave you with no doubt about what the couple has been doing. Now, that's "method" acting.
******** Home from the Hill (3/3/60) Vincente Minnelli ~ George Hamilton, Robert Mitchum, George Peppard, Eleanor Parker -
Boba_Fett113816 July 2007This is a well made typical genre movie that features some solid emotions and characters and offers some well written plot elements.
It's a coming of age movie but it also is a (melodramatic) family drama. These type of movies really had been popular in the past and most of them also are really great ones to watch. Too bad they just don't make movies such as these anymore. This movie might not be the best in its genre but it has more than anything other elements in it to compensate for this.
One of them most definitely is the cast. Robert Mitchum once again gives away one fine performance. The movie also features a great and still young looking George Hamilton and George Peppard, though Mitchum on the other hand still looks the way he did 20 years before this movie.
The movie handles all of the genre elements really well and know to bring it in a good and original way. Definitely a surprising movie from Vincente Minnelli, who got his fame for directing other type of- and less serious movies. I especially like the way George Hamilton's character gets developed and changes throughout the movie, from a mothers-child to a real adult. It was also great how they handled the Robert Mitchum character. They make him not-likable but at the same time also intriguing and interesting enough to not hate him. It's sort of too bad that they made the mistake to let his character slowly disappear out of the movie for most of the last third of the movie, while he starts off as the main character. The movie does a good job at portraying the relationships between the characters, which is an essential part for movies such as these.
Despite the fact that the movie its story definitely has soap-opera like dramatic developments in it, you still get drawn in to it, which is I think due to the interesting characters and actors that portray them. It keeps the movie real.
The movie is set in the South of the United States, which gives the movie that special kind of- and warm atmosphere. Its sets, costumes and props all add to this. The time period the movie is set in also definitely benefits the movie. The movie also has a surprising good and likable musical score, by Bronislau Kaper.
Worth seeing if you get the chance to.
8/10
http://bobafett1138.blogspot.com/ -
A-No.110 May 2000I think this is Vincente Minnelli's great unsung film and may in fact stand as his best. It features one of Robert Mitchum's most perfect performances. The movie is provocative in terms of its ideas of manhood(some of its themes, particularly those concerning hunting, are very Hemingway-ish)This movie also presents a way of living that is today becoming increasingly anachronistic and unpopular. It is for this reason also that it is so fascinating - it presents a window to an ever diminishing way of life. Of course it is first and foremost a melodrama, but this aspect I found to be often overshadowed by the secondary themes and the little details, like Robert Mitchum's den (was there ever a room that defined machismo the way this one does?).
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sggar006 October 2005If you want lampooning small towns with big rich families with tons of troubles; then you need to be watching "The Long Hot Summer" or "Cat on a Hot Tin Roof". If you want a good enthralling movie with strong character acting and a believable story line then this is the one for you. Having grown up in the South, especially in a small rural town I completely understand and can relate to this movie. It centers around what most of my generation had in our small towns, that one rich family who owned everything. Naturally this movie ratchets up the drama, so if you are not from this region you may think it unrealistic. Robert Mitchum is in one of his bests roles as the Cap'n. The troubles and trials of their marriage spill over into their son's life. Theron's youthful care free teenage life finally gives way to his budding adult manhood but somehow is related to the problems of his parents with a little of his own to throw in. I would recommend this movie to anyone, its a past gone era of life that I remember so well and well acted.
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SnoopyStyle1 July 2020Captain Wade Hunnicutt (Robert Mitchum) is shot by a jealous husband during a hunting trip. He's a wealthy powerful womanizer in his Texas town. Hannah (Eleanor Parker) is his long-suffering wife. She promised to stay as long as she raised their son Theron (George Hamilton). He's now 17, innocent and somewhat clueless. Rafe Copley (George Peppard) is Wade's right hand man. Wade wants to toughen Theron into a man like himself rather than a momma's boy.
It is often the case that the word melodrama denotes an inferior film. It's hard to say that the melodrama here has detracted from this movie. It is easy to say that the material demands the melodrama and the movie steers into it. The acting is terrific and well-fitting. This is like a night time soap and it is a good example of one. -
a141681118 November 2006First, my regards and condolences to those actors, actresses, and the people involved with the making of this movie, who are still living and those that are no longer living.
Though it portrayed a family in East Texas experiencing many family issues and situations that were real occurrences of the South, in the 1950's. It was actually made in Oxford, Mississippi. The home of William Faulkner and was where, John Grishom, graduated from Law School.
I am not a big critic of movies, yet considering the times (the middle to late 1950's), the audience, and man and woman's role during those years, certainly, the movie portrayed many aspects that society was confronted with, especially in the South. It may have been true of the North as well, yet I have limited knowledge of that area of the country, during the 1950's.
As previously mentioned, I have watched this movie many times, and more than most, and the reason is, because I was the infant (the baby in the wedding near the end of the movie). I was only 2-4 months old at the time of the wedding ceremony. I'm glad they got married!!! I have just turned 48 years of age and find people are still watching the movie. There must be something about the movie that keeps people in their seats.
I consider it an 8 out of 10 on the movie scale. It is a movie to watch, take note of the past, and the interesting changes that have occurred with man, woman, and family, over the past 50+ years. In addition to what has not changed, over the past 50+ years.
Actually, I think it is a 10 out of 10 on the movie scale, because I was in the movie, and because they got married, I had parents! -
ma-cortes6 November 2013Good movie with acceptable protagonist quartet such as Robert Mitchum , Eleanor Parker , George Hamilton and George Peppard ; all of them playing an enjoyable story with gritty subject matter . It deals with Captain Wade Hunnicutt (veteran Robert Mitchum) , he is a Southern landowner in a Texan town ; he is also a known womanizer who has relations with many of the local ladies , which has turned his spouse Hannah (enjoyable Eleanor Parker) against him . She has brought up their son Theron (a very young George Hamilton) to be dependent upon her ; as he approaches 18 and he reaches adulthood , he then asks his father to teach him to be a man and he is soon fishing and hunting . Wade insists on taking over his upbringing , initiating him in his way of life . But Wade has conflicts with his wife , son and foreman Rafe . Meanwhile , Theron falls in love for the shopkeeper (usual secondary Everett Sloane)'s daughter (Luana Patten ,though Shirley Knight tested for the role of Libby) . However , he has the door slammed in his face by the girl's daddy . Theron is under the watchful eye of Rafe (George Peppard) , Hunnicutt's loyal employee who hides a dark secret to affect whole family . As Theron learns the family secrets, he is upsetting and decides to make his own way in life . It all leads to death , family confrontation , murder and tragedy.
This is a pensive examen of a dysfunctional family in ¨Soaper¨ style and it contains emotion , thrills , imaginative sidelights , interesting dialog ; though overlong and sometimes static . It depicts the stormy events take place into a family whose womanizer father , subsequent gossips and other sorrowful happenings lead to fateful as well as tragic deeds . Very good acting by Robert Mitchum as a surly as well as rich father , the wealthiest and most powerful citizen in his town and Eleanor Parker as embittered wife who lives in the same house but are estranged and living separate lives ; however , these roles were first suggested as a vehicle for Bette Davis and Clark Gable . The picture is noteworthy for giving George Hamilton his first big break , plus George Peppard is top-notch as a foreman with good heart . Furthermore , a gorgeous Luana Patten , an attractive actress who being a little girl usually played for Walt Disney Productions , unfortunately , she early died . Fine support cast giving brief but nice acting such as Everett Sloane , Ray Teal , Dub Taylor , Constance Ford , Anne Seymour and Denver Pyle , among others . Colorful and glowing cinematography filmed in Panavision by Milton Krasner . The majority of location filming took place in Oxford, Mississippi, near the University of Mississippi campus and in Clarksville, Texas . Rousing and sensitive original musical score by Bronislau Kaper .
This melodrama , typical and brilliant MGM , was well produced by Sol C. Siegel and Edmund Grainger ; being efficiently directed by Vincente Minelli . Vincente was an expert on musicals , being hired by MGM for many years . After working on numerous Mickey Rooney/Judy Garland vehicles , usually directed by Busby Berkeley , Arthur Freed gave him his first directorial assignment on ¨Cabin in the sky¨ (1943), a risky screen project with an all-black cast . This was followed by the ambitious period piece , the classic ¨Meet me in St. Louis¨ (1944) whose star Judy Garland he married in 1945 . Many of his films included in every one of his movies features a dream sequence such as ¨Four horsemen of Apocalypse¨ . Employing first-class MGM technicians , including Erich Von Stroheim , Minnelli continued directing musicals as ¨The band wagon¨ (1953) , ¨Kismet¨, ¨The pirate¨ , ¨ An American in Paris¨ , ¨Brigadoon¨ as well as melodramas as ¨Some came running¨ (1958) , ¨Madame Bovary¨, ¨The sandpiper¨ , The home from the hill¨ and urban comedies like ¨Designing woman¨ (1957), occasionally even working on two films simultaneously . In his last average film titled ¨Nina¨ worked with his daughter Liza Minnelli . Rating ¨The home from the hill¨ : Better than average , it's a good story though sometimes falls plain , well worth watching . -
Robert Mitchum is a rich and powerful man. He's also a 'man's man'--tough, adventurous, a great hunter and one who likes to lead a manly life. However, he also has the morals of a sewer rat--and frequently sleeps with women--even though he's married (to Eleanor Parker). As a result, their marriage is VERY strained and they are distant. They have a son (George Hamilton) and the parents both want to shape him into their sort of man. As for Hamilton, he desperately wants to be respected by his father and be the manly sort. He has no idea what sort of reprobate his father is--that is, until he asks out a nice girl and her father flatly refuses to allow this. The pair decide to start dating on the sly.
As Hamilton is molded into a man like his father, he's told by his father to be mentored by one of his most trusted employees (George Peppard). Eventually, however, Hamilton learns that this 'employee' is actually his dad's illegitimate son as well what sort of man his father really is--and it sends him off the deep end. When his girlfriend becomes pregnant, what sort of man will Hamilton turn out to be? And, what will become of this rich but no account family? And what about George Peppard--what about him?! This is a glossy soap opera, though it may not appear so when it begins. In many ways, it's in the same tradition as "Peyton Place" and "A Summer Place"--enjoyable, glossy, very well-acted and a bit trashy--but mostly enjoyable. It ended very well--very, very well. And, the film has a lot to say about what it means to be a man...a REAL man. -
JLRMovieReviews14 April 2014Robert Mitchum, Eleanor Parker, George Peppard and George Hamilton star in this family drama, directed by Vincente Minnelli. Mitchum has a bad reputation in his small hometown as an unfaithful husband to wife Parker and with other men's wives. He may even be shot by a jealous husband someday, I think somebody in the film said. Because of this and probably other reasons, Parker has been passively punishing him by withdrawing from him and withholding affection and attention. Hamilton is the son, babied by mama and practically ignored by daddy. But one day Mitchum decides Hamilton is to man-up, after Hamilton is a victim of one of the town's male citizens' pranks. Peppard is an employee of Michum's who works in the fields, does manual labor, etc. and basically goes wherever Mitchum goes. But there's a story there. This is the outline of this movie about a dysfunctional family and how they relate (or don't relate) to each other. I saw this back around 1997 or 1998 and I remember on the whole not liking it terribly much. I think I didn't like the dysfunction of the family and the miscommunication. But today, while I still don't consider it an entirely satisfying movie experience, I do appreciate the performances more and find the ending in a odd way very realistic. I read here in a few others' reviews that they consider this one of Minnelli's unsung classics; I do agree that it has the Minnelli touch with its grade-A production. But I think one's enjoyment of it depends on one's liking and involvement of the characters. "Home from the Hill" seems a bit played over the top in parts, but makes for a rather modest way of spending two hours and a half with good actors.
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bkoganbing30 June 2007Home From The Hill though it is located in Texas has the look and feel of those southern stories made so popular back in the day by William Faulkner and Tennessee Williams. This is not the Texas of say Giant, this is East Texas which bares quite a lot of resemblance to the delta country of Louisiana and Mississippi. And Robert Mitchum's Wade Hunnicutt is not quite the same kind of local patriarch as Rock Hudson's Bick Benedict.
Whatever else Bick Benedict was he was certainly loyal to Elizabeth Taylor. Whereas Robert Mitchum's been absolutely notorious for sowing his wild oats around the whole region. Eleanor Parker stays married to him, more for the sake of propriety than anything else, and for their son George Hamilton.
Some of Mitchum's good old boy drinking buddies like Guinn Williams and Denver Pyle send young Hamilton on that southern tradition, a futile snipe hunt. That little prank actually sets the whole plot of the film into gear. It's supposed to be women who gossip, but these good old boys also with some of their locker room gossip that Everette Sloane overhears that sets the climax of the film going.
Robert Mitchum is cast in one of his best roles and it's ironic that he was a second choice for Clark Gable. I doubt that Gable could have done better with this part. The always dependable Eleanor Parker matches Mitchum all the way with her performance as the suppressed wife.
George Hamilton and George Peppard got very good roles in Home from the Hill in the salad days of their respective careers.
Though Home from the Hill does veer into soap opera it's held together primarily by director Vincent Minnelli and by a great cast he assembled. -
Surely this movie is not a masterpiece. The story is not really thrilling because it is to far away from real life. Sometimes you feel like you would be in a "penny novel" like we say in Austria. Non of the characters really has a deeper subscription.
But there are a lot of entertaining scenes (chasing the pig, inviting the girl...), sympathetic performances (by Mitchum, Hamilton, Parker, Sloane, Patten) and a good music.
An outstanding performance is given by George Peppard in one of his earliest movies. He is a rebel, very cool with great physical condition. I think he try to copy Paul Newman a bit but in my opinion I never saw Peppard more convincing. -
rmax30482317 June 2013I understand a number of people enjoyed this but I found it long and a little boring. It's a story of family intrigue, a kind of interactional drama, in northeast Texas. Robert Mitchum is the head honcho in this small town, given to such manly pursuits as shooting animals and bedding the wives of other men. He's highly respected. Except by the men whose trust he's betrayed, one of whom offs him appropriately.
His wife is Eleanor Parker, who dislikes him, has kept her bedroom door locked, and taken over the raising of their child, George Hamilton, as tan as ever and sounding like Tony Perkins. Hamilton's bedroom is "a boy's room", with rocks, a butterfly collection, and books. BOOKS! When Hamilton is seventeen, Mitchum decides it's time to make a man out of him. He takes the young man to HIS room, filled with the apparatus of killing and adorned with the heads of dead animals he's killed. Mitchum also has an good-natured illegitimate son, George Peppard, with whom he hangs around but doesn't treat especially kindly. Peppard lives in a hut with dogs.
I can believe that this is the way life was led by a wealthy family in northeastern Texas in the 1950s, but the production values are cheap and the story sprawls and sprawls. If I wanted to see another sprawling story about a rich family in Texas, I'd watch "Giant" again. If I wanted to watch a superbly done story of a moderately wealthy Texas family, I'd go back to "Hud." The characters' conflicts are realistically portrayed. They teeter on the edge of stereotypy without quite falling into the trap. But it's hard to like much about Mitchum. His idea of being manly, aside from the hunting and fishing, is to shout his lines. He's best when he holds it back and only allows it to peep out once in a while. -
BeccaHuffa12 January 2003Though not one of its director's best, this film has to be one of the best ways to pass a rainy afternoon or dull night. Robert Mitchum has two sons: one legitimate (George Hamilton, who is spoilt and preppy) and one illegitimate (George Peppard, who is macho and resourceful but also one of nature's gentlemen, and lives in a hut with his dogs, waiting patiently for a word of kindness from his father). Mitchum also has a Southern belle wife who's locked the bedroom door against him for 18 years. Simmering tensions and overcooked dialogue make this just incredible fun - see it if you can.
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pennygunter17 February 2007I loved this movie! I saw it originally as a teenager and am still in love with it today. If they ever do a remake of it, I'd love to play Eleanor Parkers, part! Robert Mitchum was at his all time best, as this truly lovable yet misguided man of the world. George Peppard can still make women fall in love with him, 47 years later and I don't believe George Hamilton ever gave a better performance. Luana Patton was believable as the scared teenager in love. As a whole, I'd say it was one of the best movies of 1960, if not of all time. This is southern life and love at it's best. If you play close attention, you'll see a lot of older character actors, Denver Pyle, for instance, that make the movie seem real, as though you were in Texas, living through the heartache and break with them, great performances by all!
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blanche-26 June 2012"Home from the Hill" is a 1960 big, sprawling film about the Hunnicut family, led by Robert Mitchum. Eleanor Parker plays his unhappy wife, George Hamilton plays his unhappy son Theron, and George Peppard plays a ranch hand named Rafe. Luana Patton is Theron's unhappy girlfriend Libby.
Captain Wade Hunnicut is the wealthiest and most powerful man in the Texas town in which he lives, but he's a philanderer, which has made his wife Hannah turn against him. She has basically raised their son Theron because she agreed to stay with Wade on that condition. When Theron reaches his late teens, though, Wade changes his mind and decides to make a man out of him. This means learning to use a shotgun, hunt, and learn something about women, though Rafe sort of schools him in that.
Theron, however, finds out a family secret and grows to loathe his father and reject him. There are other complications as well concerning Theron's girlfriend Libby Halstead and her father (Everett Sloane).
This film plays out like a big soap opera but it holds one's interest. The accents are a little broad - in one scene it almost sounded like they were playing a game of one-oneupmanship as to whose accent was the broadest.
Younger people probably don't realize that George Hamilton had a film career. He was young, handsome, and could brood with the best of them. Today he parodies himself, having realized his limitations as an actor, though he's always been extremely likable. In this film, actually, he's quite good, in part thanks to Minnelli's direction.
George Peppard, on the other hand, always took himself very seriously and turns in an excellent performance as Rafe, a man carrying around a lot of hurt but won't let anybody see it.
Mitchum has a strong presence as Wade. He was a very charismatic actor and gives his character some real bite. Eleanor Parker has little to do, but her performance is that of a woman who, like Rafe, keeps the pain inside. It's a very subtle performance.
The characters in this film are very well developed. It's a good script with fine direction by Vincent Minnelli, so you wouldn't expect less than very good-excellent.
The ending of this film is satisfying, and the family drama rings true throughout. Recommended. -
DudleyDoBite17 October 2009Just before the counterculture emerged and the anti-hero took hold, Hollywood was still trying to make grand, sweeping, star-studded epics. From this period in the in the very early sixties arose "Home from the Hill." An entertaining and quite engrossing film (even at its almost three hour running time) that just misses being an epic by a smidge.
Even though Robert Mitchum gets top billing, it is the "Georges" (Peppard and Hamilton) that get the screen time and it is nice to see both shine. Peppard is great, reminding one of a young Steve McQueen, and shows the promise he possessed prior to falling into schlock films like "The Blue Max" and retreating into the small screen. Hamilton is a revelation. He also shows good acting chops and makes one wonder how he became such a media caricature of himself. Mitchum, well, is Mitchum. Nothing wrong with that, but at times it seems as if he's just going through the motions. Eleanor Parker holds her own, but the women in this film are just window dressing as this movie is really boys about becoming a men.
For a man who directed his share of musicals, Vincente Minnelli's direction is a bit static and his staging is at times quite awkward. For instance, the scene where the household discovers Mitchum's character has been shot takes place in the corner of the room, behind a chair. The odd camera angle is from the other side of the room and except for a small push-in, there is no camera movement. Details and character reactions cannot be discerned, the scene just cries out for a close-up of or some type of cut. Perhaps Minnelli just wanted the audience to focus on the seriousness of the entire scene. Or Perhaps growing up with the quick edits of the MTV Generation, I'm expecting too much, probably both.
At times the story and the acting can be a bit mawkish, but that was the era. This is still a grand, old, sweeping Hollywood film, a BIG FILM, like they used to make, almost an epic. Going into it with that state of mind you will find yourself immersed in the film and the characters and nearly three hours will have passed before you know it. -
funkyfry6 September 2009I think this is probably just as good as "Some Came Running", and the hunting sequence is on an equivalent level of cinematic audacity with the finale of "Running." I'm guessing that not as many people have seen it because there's a lot of appeal to seeing Sinatra, Martin and MacLaine in a nice-looking serious film. But Robert Mitchum's no small shakes either. George Peppard actually seems like a real leading man in the movie, and completely steals it from George Hamilton. I like Hamilton's work quite a bit more the second time around though, and I feel more sympathy for his character.
There are some negatives I suppose. Some of the Texas accents seem strained, and Minnelli is such an alien himself to the whole macho milieu of the film that we're never fully comfortable in the Mitchum character's hunting den. Perhaps that's just as well. Nostalgia or sentimentality might have ruined the film's drama completely. If Howard Hawks had made it, the depiction of the Mitchum character would have become a bit too worshipful.
I was really surprised to read a few of the comments here on IMDb and find out that the character Peppard played wasn't even in the novel. To me, he's just as interesting and important as the Mitchum character, much less the Hamilton character. I've read in other places that Peppard and Minnelli clashed because Peppard was the first method actor Minnelli had worked with. Minnelli was used to being the only one who fussed around and held things up. He liked working with guys like Kirk Douglas who delivered the goods and didn't waste a lot of time thinking about it. But he got a good performance out of Peppard, I would say the best performance I've ever seen from Peppard. If I had seen this movie in 1960, I would have thought Peppard was headed for an awesome career. Apparently MGM was all fired up about him being "the new Spencer Tracy" but I don't exactly see that. I see a really sensitive actor who plays well with the other actresses and actors. I thought he was better in this film than Paul Newman was in "Hud." He was definitely more convincingly blue collar, which you wouldn't think based on "Breakfast at Tiffany's." For the first time I can think of in a Minnelli film however, the female performers don't really hold weight with the male performers. Eleanor Parker seems like she's trying much too hard, although the final scene with Peppard comes off very well. Her character makes little sense and she's not helping any. Luana Patten fails to strike real chemistry with either of her leading men, and seems like a cute ornament in an important role. It's not bad work, just not the type that would compete with the energy of the male stars in the film.
I should say more about Mitchum before closing. This was I believe the second film that Mitchum and Minnelli made together, after "Undercurrent" quite a few years earlier. That film was made when Mitchum was just finding his feet as an actual leading man. His main job in the film is to lurk stylishly in the shadows and look good in a cardigan or a smoking jacket. He has a lot more to do in "Home from the Hill", and he does it well. He has 3 really good scenes with Hamilton and at least one with Peppard. It's interesting how he grows progressively more openly cynical in each confrontation with the "legitimate" son Hamilton, finally telling him that by the time he reaches 40 he'll probably have stepped on a few toes as well. But with Peppard he's cynical from day one. The first and only real scene with the two of them together, he tells him that he should have thrown him to the dogs the day he was born. In the world of that character, it's an odd form of camaraderie, a recognition of the level of honesty that exists between the two of them.
Ultimately it's a movie that makes me happy, but doesn't completely convince me on a dramatic level. It seems to me, maybe just from my observation, that cycles tend to repeat and not reverse themselves. It's very fanciful to think that the Peppard character would end up being a responsible family man and that the Hamilton character would become unhinged and totally run away from all that money. For a movie that has so many cynical characters and speeches, the whole conclusion is pretty rosy. It really requires that you think a lot of the human species. But... it's interesting. It's more fulfilling dramatically than a story that just ends with tragedy or with a predictable and morose depiction of the status quo. I like the Peppard character, so I like the way that things turn out. But it seems improbable, a bit of a handout. Divine justice, not human justice. Maybe dramatic justice. This is really a film that shows off the strengths and weaknesses of melodrama -- the sacrificial lambs march in line, dues are paid and lessons are learned. -
moonspinner5516 December 2010Southeast Texas game-hunter, a married man with a reputation for womanizing, wants to get a hunting rifle into the hands of his son, whom he fears is becoming a mama's boy; meanwhile, a young, swaggering associate of the hunter teaches the mild-mannered lad about girls. In the earliest portions of "Home from the Hill", director Vincente Minnelli nearly reconstructs a rural variation on "Tea and Sympathy" (which he also directed); after a muddled, melodramatic opening, the film becomes less a coming-of-age story than a tale of family secrets revealed, and the second-half of the picture is surprisingly serious and bracing (though rendered in typically glossy M-G-M fashion). George Peppard and George Hamilton are both excellent, far outshining the unhappy adults (Robert Mitchum--miscast--and Eleanor Parker, who keeps fiddling with her costumes as if she were a maiden lady). Peppard, in particular, has some wonderful physical bits of business, convincingly playing a small-town bachelor stud toying with the idea of growing up. Minnelli allows the dialogue-heavy plot to unfold carefully, slowly, but those who stick with it will find a rewarding drama of honor and responsibility. Constance Ford is terrific in small role as a bar floozy, and Everett Sloane gives a highly sympathetic turn as a businessman with family troubles of his own. **1/2 from ****
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edwagreen18 December 2013When viewing this 1960 film, I thought of "East of Eden," the 1955 film which captured family conflict in a very similar way. Naturally, there are differences, but the conflict and enormous tragedy that follows were memorable in this one.
Robert Mitchum plays a philanderer in this film. His illegitimate son, George Peppard, is a hand on the farm. Mitchum considers him a worker and will not acknowledge him as his son. Mitchum, married to the versatile actress Eleanor Parker in the film,allows Parker to constantly dote on their 17 year old son, played well by George Hamilton.
Mitchum decides that Hamilton has been pampered for too long and wants him to join the man's world. Teaching him hunting is a natural solution to the problem.
When Hamilton finds out who Peppard really is, he rebels and takes a factory job. Mitchum tries to woo his son back. When Hamilton will not follow through on his responsibility, his in trouble girlfriend weds Peppard instead. Vicious town gossip linking the baby to Mitchum causes Everett Sloane, father of the girl, to create a tragedy.
The acting is first rate by all. Mitchum hadn't had a meaty part like this in years. He is tough, but yet has the common sense to know what is good for Hamilton. Parker's frustration with all this swirling turmoil leads her to a breakdown. Hamilton flees the situation and Peppard shows that he is a real man-caring to the core.
A fine movie. -
bob-790-19601817 November 2010If you read a synopsis of the movie, you'd say ho-hum. A loveless marriage. An unacknowledged illegitimate son. An unwanted pregnancy. A scandal-mongering small town. But, thanks to good writing, direction, production values, and acting (especially by Robert Mitchum and George Peppard), this movie holds your interest for its 2 1/2 hour length.
I was impressed by the two hunting scenes, finding them vivid and exciting, even if, as one reviewer says, they were not really shot in the wild.
George Hamilton starts out as a mama's boy, soft and overly sensitive, and after learning to shoot and hunt and tracking down a fierce wild boar, he still seems like a mama's boy. Blame it on his facial expression, perhaps.
The Robert Mitchum character's insistence on his son's cultivating manly virtues (for want of a better term) and abandoning boy's preoccupations like stamp and butterfly collecting is likely to offend some viewers, but he is only being true to the background portrayed in the story. -
SHAWFAN5 June 2012There's something very Greek about this compelling story as one generation visits its sins upon its offspring. Though some of your reviewers pointed out that the Rafe/Peppard character does not appear in the original novel for the life of me I can't figure out what the story would have been like without him. The development of his character and his gradual integration into his father's affection and respect is certainly one of the film's mainstays and very attractive features. If there was no Rafe character in the novel then I can only conclude that the movie script writers improved the story greatly.
I found the emotional relations between the different pairs of characters endlessly fascinating and gripping: Mitchum/Parker and their icy 18 years of separation; Theron/Rafe and their finding each other as brothers; Parker/Hamilton as the over-protective mama and her boy; Theron/Libby and their sensitive and beautifully scripted love scenes followed by their heartbreaking estrangement as Theron chooses his mother over his true love; Rafe/Libby and their equally brilliantly scripted encounters one after the other from Rafe's quiet admiration of Libby at the car washing scene to Libby's unburdening of her soul to Rafe in the restaurant and their final happiness in marriage; Mitchum/Libby's father as the one's cold dismissal of the other is eventually returned by the father's revenge and his assassination of the one he thought had shamed his family. The beautiful and emotional moments just keep coming at you one after another.
Everyone's acting was brilliant, Kaper's score was understated and beautiful, Minelli's directorial pace superb, and the scripting outstanding. Having never heard of this movie before but having sat enthralled throughout its almost three hours I thought this one one of the finest movies I have ever seen. -
jacobs-greenwood20 December 2016This big sprawling beautifully shot epic drama with credible acting features early performances by two young actors (with the same first name) that would go on to make names for themselves - George Peppard and George Hamilton. It was directed by Vincente Minnelli and features a screenplay by Harriet Frank Jr. and Irving Ravetch that recalls their later, Academy Award nominated effort Hud (1963), though this film's screenplay was based on a William Humphrey novel.
The story's about a hunter dubbed Captain, Wade Hunnicutt (Robert Mitchum), who owns most of the land and a significant chunk of a rural Texas community such that he's able to do what he pleases. However, his extramarital exploits have powerfully affected, and continue to influence his relationship with his wife Hannah (Eleanor Parker) and his two sons: the illegitimate one he allows to live on his vast property, Raphael 'Rafe' Copley (Peppard), and the one he had with Hannah, Theron (Hamilton), who thinks he's an only son until half way through the drama.
As is later revealed, when Wade and Hannah returned home from their European honeymoon cruise, five year old Rafe was there with his mother, the boy being the product of an earlier dalliance by Wade. Hannah was so enraged that she cut off marital relations with her husband. Since she was already pregnant, she stayed; when she gave birth to a son, Wade promised her that she could raise Theron without interference if she'd continue to live under the same roof. He also refused to publicly recognize Rafe as his son, though he allowed the young man to live on his acreage when his mother died. Over the years, Rafe became the Captain's keeper of sorts, a hunting buddy that would retrieve the old man from various places after his affairs and/or drunken binges. Once Theron turned seventeen, Wade was ashamed of his mamma's boy that could be fooled into going on an all-night snipe hunt by local men (Denver Pyle, Guinn 'Big Boy' Williams and others, uncredited) that looked up to the Captain, their landlord. Wade decided it was time to make a man out of Theron, that the boy was his too. He delivered this speech to his son:
"I had something from my father that his father gave to him, I'm gonna give it to you. It's late, but it's not too late. You know, one of these days I'm gonna die Theron. You're gonna come into 40,000 acres of land: cotton, beef, goats, timber ... takes a special kind of man to handle that. Kind of man that walks around with nothing in his pockets, no identification because everyone knows who you are. No cash because anyone in town would be happy to lend you anything you need. No keys 'cause you don't keep a lock on a single thing you own. And no watch because time waits on you. What I'm saying is you're gonna have to stand up and be counted. You're gonna be known in these parts as a man, or as a momma's boy."
Wade then asked Rafe to teach Theron how to shoot and hunt and the two became close like the half brothers they were, though Theron was still unawares of the blood relationship. Theron was also clueless about his father's womanizing reputation, so he is stunned by the harsh negative reaction of a local merchant, Albert Halstead (Everett Sloane), whose daughter Libby (Luana Patten) he wants to date. In time, Theron learns these truths and is outraged by them both. The first causes him to move out and get a job in a cotton packing plant, promising his father to return only when he recognizes Rafe as his son and heir. The realization of his parents situation causes him to discard his relationship with Libby shortly after their "first time" and swear off marriage. But there's a symmetry to the story, the apple doesn't fall far from the tree, Libby got pregnant by Theron but doesn't tell him, refusing to "throw herself" at him. Rafe then bails Wade's son out by marrying Libby and legitimizing her son. Later, it's clear that they'll live happily ever after.
Unaware that Libby's son is his own, Theron eyes his friends' marriage enviously. He'd moved back home because of his mother's failing health per his absence, but his sullen listless daily life brings his parents together. They discuss their lives, admit their mistakes to one another - this includes his straying induced by her locked bedroom and their mutual bad parenting - and agree to attempt a reconciliation for their son's sake. After making plans to start over with another European cruise, Hannah leaves Wade's office in hopeful spirits. As he's having a drink to celebrate their pending future, Wade is shot by an unseen person (the film had begun with Rafe saving Wade from a fatal shot by an irate 4-month married husband; Ray Teal plays the family physician). Butler Chauncey (Ken Renard), who'd apparently filled Rafe's role earlier in the Captain's life, bends over Wade's body while Hannah is in shock. Theron rushes to get Rafe, per his father's request, and then fights his brother to pursue the killer. He catches up to the man and shoots him (in what could later be called self defense). It's Albert, who'd earlier heard gossip among Wade's friends that had made him believe that the Captain was responsible for his daughter's child, per its familiar appearance. Albert had earlier tried to extort a shotgun wedding for Libby with Theron when he'd believed Wade's son was the responsible party. Theron decides to leave town. In the final scene, Hannah shows Rafe that Wade's headstone recognizes both sons; Rafe had apparently visited Hannah regularly when she'd broken down after Wade's death. -
irajoelirajoel23 September 2007Spoiler. This has to be one of Minnelli's worst films. First of all its way too long and not very compelling. The performances are OK, Mitchum was always good, but Eleanor Parker was a very limited, if lovely actress. The plot is silly and unbelievable even for 1960 (which was still really the 50's)and full of stereotypes i.e the town tramp,(played by the very fine character actress Constance Ford, the loyal "negro" servants etc. For an outdoor type of film its very claustrophobic with fake studio sets representing the woods, and is especially glaring in the opening shot. Also the film was so implausible like why the hell did Eleanor Parker stay around if she was so miserable being married to Mitchum, and can you really go along with Preppard agreeing to marry the poor dumb pregnant girlfriend of George Hamilton who walks into the sunset after killing Everett Sloan.