Hill 24 Doesn’t Answer (1955)

                   “Hill 24 Doesn’t Answer” is an Israeli film that was directed by Thorold Dickinson.  It was the first feature film produced in Israel.  It is a tale set in the last hours of the 1948 War for Independence.

                   The movie focuses on four people who are sent to occupy and defend a hill before the cease fire goes into effect.  The 24 refers to the height of the hill, which means the movie is making a mountain out of a molehill.  The story of the four is being told by James Finnegan (Edward Mulhare).  Finnegan was an Irish policeman who fell in love with a Jewish woman.  His flashback shows how he came to be a fighter for Israeli independence.  Each of the other four get their own flashbacks to explain why they are willing to die for Israel.  Finnegan’s is by far the longest back-story.  The movie is more about Finnegan than the group. 

                   This is a boring movie.  Finnegan’s tale is about an incompetent policeman who falls in love with a woman he is surveilling.  It does include some action that is realistic street-fighting, although  they do pull the grenade pins with their teeth.  The cinematography reminds of “Rome, Open City”, but the screenplay doesn’t.  It is Israeli propaganda, which doesn’t disqualify it.  It’s simply not an entertaining war movie.  The cast does not make it more interesting.  Mulhare is the only recognizable actor and he is just as week as the rest.  It had the making of a good film.  The flashback structure is nothing new, but it is botched.  One of the four is not even given a flashback!  And although you might have sensed the outcome, the movie foolishly leads with the results of the hill battle. 

                   I had “Hill 24 Doesn’t Answer” on my watch list because I had seen it on some best-of lists.  I have no idea what those critics were thinking.  This is not even a good movie, much less great.  When it comes calling, don’t answer.

GRADE  =  D