IMDb > The Englishman Who Went Up a Hill But Came Down a Mountain (1995)
The Englishman Who Went Up a Hill But Came Down a Mountain
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The Englishman Who Went Up a Hill But Came Down a Mountain (1995) More at IMDbPro »

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Overview

User Rating:
6.4/10   6,633 votes
MOVIEmeter: ?
Down 47% in popularity this week. See why on IMDbPro.
Director:
Writers:
Ivor Monger (story)
Christopher Monger (writer)
Contact:
View company contact information for The Englishman Who Went Up a Hill But Came Down a Mountain on IMDbPro.
Release Date:
12 May 1995 (USA) more
Genre:
Tagline:
A romantic comedy about a town that wouldn't give up. A man who couldn't get out. And the mountain that brought them together.
Plot:
When an English cartographer must tell a Welsh village that their mountain is only a hill, the offended community sets out to change that. full summary | add synopsis
Plot Keywords:
Awards:
1 win & 1 nomination more
User Comments:
Wonderfully light little comedy with an eye on Ealing more (64 total)

Cast

  (Cast overview, first billed only)

Hugh Grant ... Reginald Anson
Tara Fitzgerald ... Elizabeth aka Betty from Cardiff

Colm Meaney ... Morgan the Goat

Ian McNeice ... George Garrad
Ian Hart ... Johnny Shellshocked (Jones)
Kenneth Griffith ... Reverend Jones
Tudor Vaughan ... Thomas Twp
Hugh Vaughan ... Thomas Twp Too

Robert Pugh ... Williams the Petroleum
Robert Blythe ... Ivor
Garfield Morgan ... Davies the School
Lisa Palfrey ... Blod Jones
Dafydd Wyn Roberts ... Tommy Twostroke

Ieuan Rhys ... Sgt. Thomas
Anwen Williams ... Mavis
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Additional Details

MPAA:
Rated PG for mild language.
Runtime:
99 min
Country:
Language:
Color:
Color (Eastmancolor)
Aspect Ratio:
2.35 : 1 more
Sound Mix:
Company:

Fun Stuff

Trivia:
Almost at the end of the film is an aerial shot, the camera speeding toward six descendants of the villagers standing on Ffynnon Garw, which is just like a shot at the end of Sirens (1993). Both films starred Hugh Grant and Tara Fitzgerald, and Robert Jones was an executive producer on both. more
Goofs:
Errors in geography: The Bristol Channel should be visible from the hill. Also missing is the Taff River and Castell Coch. more
Quotes:
[first lines]
Narrator: For some odd reason, lost in the mists of time, there's an extraordinary shortage of last names in Wales. Almost everyone seems to be a Williams, a Jones, or an Evans. To avoid widespread confusion, Welsh people often add an occupation to a name. For example, there was Williams the Petroleum, and Williams the Death. There was Jones the Bottle, and Jones the Prize Cabbage...
[...]
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Movie Connections:
Referenced in Who the #$&% Is Jackson Pollock? (2006) more
Soundtrack:
Men of Harlech more

FAQ

This FAQ is empty. Add the first question.
12 out of 16 people found the following comment useful.
Wonderfully light little comedy with an eye on Ealing, 27 January 2003
Author: bob the moo from Birmingham, UK

In 1919 the first world war is raging but in a small Welsh village two Englishmen arrive to measure the village's mountain. When a pre-assessment reveals a prediction of below 1000ft the villagers are worried – but are incensed when the official measurement is 20 feet shy of `mountain' and they find they now have a `hill' instead. They plot to keep the men in the village until they can pile enough earth on top of their hill to make it over 1000ft and win back their mountain.

This film starts strong with a great sense of humour that it can't quite sustain but is enough to win you over and get into the story. The romance doesn't come into the film until he second half but the whole film is very gentle and winning so that it all just flows together so very effortlessly. The humour at the top is a little sharper and it gets progressively slighter and mushier as it goes but it still works well. Anyone who loves the Ealing comedies should enjoy this, as it appears to aspire to that mould.

I really dislike Grant and find his whole stuttering, blinking act to be annoying most of the time – Mickey Blue Eyes is an example of the sort of performance that makes me want to give up hope for cinema. However here it works dammit! He does his usual stuff but it fits perfectly because his character has no malice and doesn't go against the stuttering etc. The support cast is rich with humour. Fitzgerald likewise keeps it all fizzy and superficial as the tone requires and Meaney is suitably funny. Griffith is very good and Hart is a surprising cameo even if his character is a little too serious for the piece.

Overall this is very slight and has a great feel of whimsy about it. If you're not in the mood for this sort of thing then it's light nature may annoy you but it was just the ticket for me and I really enjoyed it.

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Message Boards

Discuss this movie with other users on IMDb message board for The Englishman Who Went Up a Hill But Came Down a Mountain (1995)
Recent Posts (updated daily)User
burial music smiggs-4
Do they not have stones in Wales? nick220997
Plot hole? Moving soil from the bottom of the hill/mountain? echolyn1
Relationship between Betty and Morgan? AZWoman
Where is this place? IridescentTranquility
I liked everything except... britman55
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