One of my all time favorites.

Good story, Not enough for a whole film

As Good As It Gets

While it doesn't offer any answers, it both thrills and makes you think.

HOME FROM THE HILL participates in a tradition of Fifties melodrama that encompasses most of the work of Douglas Sirk for Universal Pictures.Set in an unnamed Southern town, it focuses on patriarch Wade Hunnicutt (Robert Mitchum) trying to maintain his authority over wife Hannah (Eleanor Parker) and son Theron (George Hamilton). His moral authority has been undercut by his private life; he has been far from faithful and one of his affairs led to his producing an illegitimate child Rafe (George Peppard), who now works as Wade's full-time factotum. Vincente Minnelli's film centers on the conflicts within the family that inevitably lead to tragedy and reconciliation.For historians of late Fifties and early Sixties social history, the film is a fascinating text. Wade embraces the patriarchal ideology in which men are inevitably perceived as breadwinners while their spouses stay at home and bring up the children. He is supported in this belief by Theron's erstwhile girlfriend Libby (Luana Patten), whose principal ambition consists of wanting to "settle down," have children and enjoy the confines of her newly-fitted kitchen.Yet the film shows that belief being challenged by Theron, who begins by wanting to emulate his father's ideals of strength and masculinity (by hunting down a wild boar) and thereby escape what he perceives as the destructive feminizing influence of Hannah. In a traditional society any hint of feminine instincts automatically destroys a man's reputation. As the action unfolds, however, and Theron discovers the truth about his father, so his concepts of gender change; in the end he rebels and walks out of the house altogether. This kind of stand taken by the old against the young is traceable back to REBEL WITHOUT A CAUSE (1955).Yet Minnelli suggests that such rebellions are in fact futile. It is better to maintain one's belief in the power of marriage and the family as the basis of social stability. This is precisely what Rafe believes in; hence his decision to marry Libby, even though Libby has become pregnant before marriage. Rafe is identified as the film's moral center; despite the disadvantages he experienced as a child (when his father refused to acknowledge his existence), he grows up to be a firm believer in marriage and legitimate children.Shot in Cinemascope, HOME ON THE HILL makes considerable use of cinematic depth, especially in the way it photographs the characters talking to one another in over-stuffed rooms. There is a clever use of symbolism: when Wade talks about the future of his family to Hannah, Minnelli photographs Hannah next to one of Wade's hunting trophies hung on the wall, suggesting that she represents little more than another trophy to her husband. It is his self-interest and moral myopia that lie at the heart of the film's social conflicts.With an operatic score (by Bronislau Kaper) underpinning many of the film's dramatic moments, HOME ON THE HILL is the kind of overblown melodrama that simply doesn't get made any more, with emotions worn on the sleeve and the actors playing their roles for all they are worth. The film might be long, but it is great fun to watch.

Robert 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.

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.

Home 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.