''The Hellions'' is a 1961 British

adventure film An adventure film is a form of adventure fiction, and is a genre of film. Subgenres of adventure films include swashbuckler films, pirate films, and survival films. Adventure films may also be combined with other film genres such as action, ani ...

directed by

Ken Annakin Kenneth Cooper Annakin, OBE (10 August 1914 – 22 April 2009) was an English film director. His career spanned half a century, beginning in the early 1940s and ending in 2002, and in the 1960s he was noticed by critics with large-scale adventu ...

starring Richard Todd, Anne Aubrey,

Lionel Jeffries Lionel Charles Jeffries (10 June 1926 – 19 February 2010) was an English actor, director, and screenwriter. He appeared primarily in films and received a Golden Globe Award nomination during his acting career. Early life Jeffries was born in ...

, Ronald Fraser and Colin Blakely that was set and filmed in

South Africa South Africa, officially the Republic of South Africa (RSA), is the southernmost country in Africa. It is bounded to the south by of coastline that stretch along the South Atlantic and Indian Oceans; to the north by the neighbouring coun ...

Plot

A lone

law enforcement Law enforcement is the activity of some members of government who act in an organized manner to enforce the law by discovering, deterring, rehabilitating, or punishing people who violate the rules and norms governing that society. The term ...

officer, Sam Hargis ( Richard Todd), battles criminals in

when the Billings family of Luke Billings (

) and his four sons ride into town to get revenge on Hargis for a previous clash, when he ran Luke Billings out of town. At first, the locals leave all of the fighting to Hargis, saying that it is his sole responsibility. However, after the Billings kill two innocent residents, some of them arm themselves and shoot dead all the Billings except Luke who, during a fist fight with Hargis, falls from a roof and is killed.

Cast

* Richard Todd as Sam Hargis * Anne Aubrey as Priss Dobbs *

Jamie Uys Jacobus Johannes Uys (; 30 May 1921 – 29 January 1996), better known as Jamie Uys, was a South African film director, best known for directing the 1980 comedy film '' The Gods Must Be Crazy'' and its 1989 sequel '' The Gods Must Be Crazy II'' ...

as Ernie Dobbs *

Marty Wilde Marty Wilde, (born Reginald Leonard Smith; 15 April 1939) is an English singer and songwriter. He was among the first generation of British pop stars to emulate American rock and roll, scoring several 1950s hit singles including " Endless Sl ...

as John Billings *

as Luke Billings * James Booth as Jubal Billings * Al Mulock as Mark Billings * Colin Blakely as Matthew Billings * Ronald Fraser as Frank *

Zena Walker Zena Cecilia Walker (7 March 1934 – 24 August 2003) was an English actress in film, theatre and television. Biography Walker was born in the Selly Oak district of Birmingham, the daughter of George Walker, a grocer, and his wife Elizabeth Lo ...

as Julie Hargis

Reception

The New York Times ''The New York Times'' (''the Times'', ''NYT'', or the Gray Lady) is a daily newspaper based in New York City with a worldwide readership reported in 2020 to comprise a declining 840,000 paid print subscribers, and a growing 6 million paid ...

'' called it "High Noon on the veldt... wide screen drivel."'Hellions,' in British Western, Play 'High Noon' on the Veld New York Times 15 Mar 1962: 28.

References

External links

*
The Hellions
at BFI
The Hellions
at Letterbox DVD 1961 films 1961 adventure films British adventure films 1960s English-language films Films directed by Ken Annakin Columbia Pictures films Films set in South Africa Films shot in South Africa Films with screenplays by Patrick Kirwan South African Western (genre) films British Western (genre) films 1960s British films {{adventure-film-stub