''Hill 24 Doesn't Answer'' (, ''Giv'a 24 Eina Ona''), the first feature film produced in Israel, is a 1955 Israeli

war film War film is a film genre concerned with warfare, typically about navy, naval, air force, air, or army, land battles, with combat scenes central to the drama. It has been strongly associated with the 20th century. The fateful nature of battle s ...

directed by

Thorold Dickinson Thorold Barron Dickinson (16 November 1903 – 14 April 1984) was a British film director, screenwriter, film editor, film producer, and Britain's first university professor of film. Dickinson's work received much praise, with fellow direct ...

. It was entered into the

1955 Cannes Film Festival The 8th Cannes Film Festival took place from 26 April to 10 May 1955. French writer and filmmaker Marcel Pagnol served as jury president for the main competition. The first ''Palme d'Or'' was awarded, as the highest prize of the Festival, to ' ...

. The plot revolves around the personal stories of a number of soldiers who are on their way to defend a strategic hill overlooking the road to Jerusalem.

Plot

In 1948, just four hours and 45 minutes before a ceasefire takes effect, Captain Yehuda Berger instructs four volunteers - James Finnegan, an Irish former British policeman (who fell in love with a

Jewish Jews (, , ), or the Jewish people, are an ethnoreligious group and nation, originating from the Israelites of History of ancient Israel and Judah, ancient Israel and Judah. They also traditionally adhere to Judaism. Jewish ethnicity, rel ...

woman named Miriam Miszrahi); Allan Goodman, a tourist from the USA who fell in love with the struggle to found Israel; David Airan; and (at her insistence) Esther Hadassi (a Yemeni Jewish woman) - to take and hold the strategic "Hill 24", one of a number of hills dominating the highway into Jerusalem. Afterward, Finnegan relates how he first met Berger in 1946, two years before the start of the

1948 Arab–Israeli War The 1948 Arab–Israeli War, also known as the First Arab–Israeli War, followed the 1947–1948 civil war in Mandatory Palestine, civil war in Mandatory Palestine as the second and final stage of the 1948 Palestine war. The civil war becam ...

, while serving as a British policeman in

Haifa Haifa ( ; , ; ) is the List of cities in Israel, third-largest city in Israel—after Jerusalem and Tel Aviv—with a population of in . The city of Haifa forms part of the Haifa metropolitan area, the third-most populous metropolitan area i ...

. In a flashback, Finnegan is part of the police force rounding up Jews who came ashore in British-controlled

Mandatory Palestine Mandatory Palestine was a British Empire, British geopolitical entity that existed between 1920 and 1948 in the Palestine (region), region of Palestine, and after 1922, under the terms of the League of Nations's Mandate for Palestine. After ...

illegally at night. Finnegan finds an ailing Berger and Miriam Miszrahi, and goes to find medical help for Berger. He is relieved to learn that the pair escaped. Berger is a concentration camp survivor who arrived in Palestine illegally during the British Mandate period and joined the

Jewish Brigade The Jewish Infantry Brigade Group, more commonly known as the Jewish Brigade Group or Jewish Brigade, was a military formation of the British Army in the World War II, Second World War. It was formed in late 1944 and was recruited among Yishuv, Y ...

group to help other Jews make ''

Aliyah Bet ''Aliyah Bet'' (, "Aliyah 'B'" – bet being the second letter of the Hebrew alphabet) was the code name given to illegal immigration by Jews, many of whom were refugees escaping from Nazi Germany or other Nazi-controlled countries, and la ...

''. Later Finnegan and Berger encounter one another at a checkpoint, where Berger is identified. Finnegan's superior lets Berger go, ordering Sergeant Finnegan to follow him and apprehend his associates. Berger spots the police tailing him and flees. The two policemen follow him all the way to an apartment, which turns out to be Miriam's, but Berger manages to get away. When Miriam gets home, she finds the police in her apartment. Miriam, a fourth generation local resident studying to be a teacher, is taken in for questioning and detained under the Emergency Defence Regulations. She is questioned about her relationship with Berger and the Jewish Underground. As she is being questioned Berger, who has been apprehended, is brought into the station. Miriam is released the next morning. Finnegan and Browning are ordered to keep her under surveillance. After several fruitless days, Lawson tells Finnegan he can make Miriam's acquaintance, much to Finnegan's delight. Finnegan falls in love with her and he convinces her to return to Haifa with him, where she is arrested by Finnegan's superior. Miriam later joins the army to fight in the 1948 War, and Finnegan joins also. He reveals to his fellow soldiers that he is an Irish Christian. Miriam and Finnegan meet briefly as Finnegan is deployed to Hill 24. As they drive towards the site of the operation Goodman, a New Yorker, tells the story of how he and Hadassi first met when he was wounded during the battle for the Old City. Hadassi, working as a nurse, helped care for him until the forces surrendered. They then signed up for Berger's unit together. The four die on the hill. Hadassi's body is found still clutching an Israeli flag. It is declared that the Hill has been claimed for Israel.

Cast

Edward Mulhare Edward Mulhare (8 April 1923 – 24 May 1997) was an Irish actor whose career spanned five decades. He is best known for his starring roles in two television series, '' The Ghost & Mrs. Muir'' and ''Knight Rider''. Early life and career Mulha ...

as James Finnegan *

Haya Harareet Haya Harareet (; 20 September 1931 – 3 February 2021) was an Israeli actress and screenwriter. One of her major film roles was playing Esther, Ben Hur's love interest in the 1959 Hollywood-made film ''Ben-Hur''. Early life Haya Neuberg () was ...

as Miriam Miszrahi * as Capt. Yehuda Berger (as Michael Shilo) *

Michael Wager Michael Wager (born Emanuel Weisgal, April 29, 1925 c. January 2012) was an American film and television actor. Wager was born in New York, New York, and nicknamed "Mendy". He was the son of Meyer Weisgal, a journalist, publisher, playwright, f ...

as Allan Goodman * as the Rabbi *

Margalit Oved Margalit Oved (born 1934) is an American-Israeli dancer and choreographer, who was born in the Aden Protectorate. After being airlifted to Israel in 1949 in Operation Magic Carpet, she became involved with the Inbal Dance Theater for the followin ...

as Esther Hadassi * Haim Eynav as Ya'acov *

Arik Lavie Arik Lavie (; 9 March 1927 – 29 June 2004) was an Israeli pop-rock-folk singer and actor. Early life Lavie was born to a Jewish single mother named Edith Hauben who gave birth to him at the age of 19. His father was a medical student from R ...

as David Airam (as Arie Lavi) * as the Mercenary :and in order of appearance. * Eric Greene as Browning * David Hershkovitz as Kiosk Owner * Stanley Preston as Lawson * Mati Raz as Interpreter * Shraga Friedman as Travel Agent * Ruth Rappaport as Hospital Nurse * Shoshana Duer as Hospital Matron * Arie Zeidmann as Itzik'l * Leon Gilboa as French Official * Abraham Barzilai as Arab Official * David Ram as Israeli Official * Burton Most as U.S. Official :Guest Players *

Shoshana Damari Shoshana Damari (; 31 March 1923 – 14 February 2006) was an Israeli singer known as the "Queen of Hebrew Music." Biography Shoshana Damari was born as Shodia Damari on the eve of Passover in Dhamar, Yemen as the eldest daughter in a family ...

as The

Druze The Druze ( ; , ' or ', , '), who Endonym and exonym, call themselves al-Muwaḥḥidūn (), are an Arabs, Arab Eastern esotericism, esoteric Religious denomination, religious group from West Asia who adhere to the Druze faith, an Abrahamic ...

Woman * as The Jerusalem Commander (as Yosef Yadin)

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Hill 24 Doesn't Answer 1955 films Israeli black-and-white films Films about the Arab–Israeli conflict Films directed by Thorold Dickinson Films set in 1946 Films set in 1948 Films set in Haifa Hebrew-language films English-language Israeli films 1950s English-language films 1955 multilingual films Israeli multilingual films Israeli war films 1955 war films English-language war films