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.[4]
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.
Daphne du Maurier's novel was a best seller. Film rights were bought by Two Cities who assigned William Sistrom to produce.[5]Brian Desmond Hurst was the director and it was decided to film on location in Ireland.[6]
Background filming began in County Wicklow in September 1945.[7] Studio filming did not begin until March 1946 in Denham.
The female lead was offered to Geraldine Fitzgerald but she was unable to get out of her US commitments.[8] The producers approached Sally Gray who turned it down as she did not wish to grow old on camera.[9] Margaret Lockwood played the role instead, once she finished with Bedelia.[10] Lockwood's real life daughter player her daughter in the film.[11]
According to Dermot Walsh, 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!"[13]
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."[13]
Variety reported its budget at US$1.5 million[14][15] although the exact figure was £375,600.[1]
Reception
Box office
The producer's earned £113,200 from the film in the UK and only £40,800 from other territories, a total of £174,000. This was a disappointment compared to earlier Lockwood films. The movie lost almost £200,000.[16]
"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.[17]
Britmovie called it a "stirring Irish saga based on the epic novel by Daphne du Maurier."[18]
References
^ abChapman, J. (2022). The Money Behind the Screen: A History of British Film Finance, 1945-1985. Edinburgh University Press p 353
^Chapman p 353. Income is in terms of producer's share.
^A.H. WEILER (21 January 1945). "RANDOM NOTES ON THE FILM SCENE: Steinbeck Writes Mexican Picture--Thomas Jackson, Detective--Addenda A Real and Reel Sleuth Bowling Along Visitor From Britain". New York Times. p. 45.
^"LONDON LETTER". The Irish Times. 7 February 1945. p. 3.
^"FILMING OF "HUNGRY HILL" STARTS IN WICKLOW". The Irish Times. 24 September 1945. p. 2.
^Hopper, Hedda (11 February 1946). "A Rose in Bloom!". The Washington Post. p. 8.
^C.A. LEJEUNE (27 January 1946). "FILM ACTIVITIES IN LONDON: Radar's Role in the War to Be Revealed in 'Top Secret'-- Carol Reed to Make Odd Man Out' in Ireland Radar Deception With a Tint of Green Reset". New York Times. p. X3.
^Schallert, Edwin (9 March 1947). "British Film Star Irked by Censors: 'Silly,' Says Margaret Lockwood in Trans-Atlantic Phone Chat". Los Angeles Times. p. B1.
^Hopper, Hedda (12 June 1945). "Looking at Hollywood". Chicago Daily Tribune. p. 15.
^ abBrian McFarlane An Autobiography of British Film p 589
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