The Hill premiered at the Cannes Film Festival on 22 May 1965, before its official release in June.
Written by Ray Rigby, who based the film on his own experience in a British "field punishment detention centre" during WWII, who re-worked the script with director Sidney Lumet. The film was financed due to Sean Connery's participation (it was "only because of my reputation as Bond that the backers put up the money," Connery said - the 4th James Bond film, Thunderball, would be released in December 1965).
The Hill was nominated for the Palme D'Or at Cannes (but did not receive the award), but Rigby received the award for Best Screenplay. It would receive 6 BAFTA nominations, including Best Film, Best British Screenplay, and Best Actor, and receive the award for Best Cinematography (Oswald Morris). It was the first of 7 films Lumet would make in the UK, and he and Connery would work together on 4 more films.
