Thunder on the Hill

A heartfelt and suspenseful mystery, Sirk's third film for Universal stars Claudette Colbert as Sister Mary Bonaventure, a nun in charge of a convent's hospital ward in Norfolk, England, whose fate becomes intertwined with that of a convicted killer, Valerie Carns (Ann Blyth), when a flood strands the latter and her guards at the convent en route to her execution. As previously withheld pieces of evidence slowly emerge, Sister Mary finds herself doubting Valerie's guilt, but her search for the truth could have fatal consequences... Despite his reputation as one of cinema's greatest ironists, Sirk's sincere fascination with the plot's mixture of melodrama and mystery is evident throughout.