Synopsis
Every gasping thrill in color by Technicolor!
Mountain climbers in the Swiss Alps mull over past problems while trying to conquer a perilous peak.
The White Tower
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Theatrical
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USA
24 Jun 1950
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Unless you're really, REALLY intrigued by mountaineering, you're probably not going to be super invested in the events of The White Tower, an RKO drama in which very little plot occurs beyond following an expedition of six - played by Alida Valli, Glenn Ford, Claude Rains, Oskar Homolka, Lloyd Bridges and Sir Cedric Hardwicke - as they climb the treacherous title peak, learning little bits of backstory along the way. Still, having such a wonderful cast certainly doesn't hurt, and the one thing that director Ted Tetzlaff really understood was visuals - he had been an acclaimed cinematographer, a particular favorite of Carole Lombard on such features as Hands Across the Table, The Princess Comes Across and My Man Godfrey,…
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The White Tower is a slightly strange adventure flick in places, and in mostly good ways.
Alida Valli assembles a team of chaps to conquer the mountain that claimed her dad's life, even though only one of them seems actually equipped to do any climbing. Glenn Ford's only going because he wants to follow her. Oskar Homolka is clearly 30 years too old. Claude Rains seems on the verge of death and is only going to get away from his wife. And then there's Lloyd Bridges, a 'former' Nazi who won't let it go and wants to show the world it could still be dominated by his kind.
There's a bit too much character stuff and maybe not quite enough…
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American styled movie in a European setting. A snowy mountain setting, with a clash of that superhuman macho Nazi-like idealism against that American quitting while you're ahead mentality as Lloyd Bridges and Glenn Ford go for the mountain top. Italian diva Alida Valli was along for the climb, but didn't have the right chemistry to be a highlight. Also had aging heavyweights Claude Rains, Cedric Hardwicke & Oskar Homolka to add to the feel of a prestigious picture. Doesn't quite reach the heights it was going for, but thanks to a Lloyd Bridges on form and the landscape, I at least was drawn in.
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This scenic location shot alpine adventure in brilliant Technicolor with a solid cast is passable entertainment but not exactly as riveting as it could have been. Most amusingly the story uses a whole film genre mastered by the Germans - the Bergfilme (or mountain film, refer to the fruitful collaborations of director Arnold Fanck and infamous actress/director Leni Riefenstahl in the twenties and thirties) to undermine the ubermensch nonsense perpetuated by a former Nazi character hiss-ably played by Lloyd Bridges. Director Edward Dmytryk was originally involved in the development and slated to direct but HUAC derailed that with their nasty business. He would eventually get his own stab at the bergfilme in 1956 with the Spencer Tracy vehicle The Mountain.
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Old-fashioned in the best sense, this mountaineering adventure boasts a stellar cast--Glenn Ford, Alida Valli, Cedric Hardwicke, Claude Rains, Lloyd Bridges, and Oskar Homolka--and a simple premise: a young woman (Valli) returns to the Swiss Alps to conquer the eponymous mountain that claimed her father's life years before. But she has to persuade several other climbers to brave the perilous ascent with her. Each has his own reason for accepting, while the lone American member (Ford), at first tagging along just to spend time with the beautiful Valli, gradually finds a deeper reason of his own.
The recent Second World War looms large over the story. Indeed, the White Mountain itself is a clear metaphor for it: the three main…
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A beautiful shot-on-location (partly) technicolor Swiss adventure from RKO! From the harmonica wolf whistle directed at Aldi Valli at her opening scene, it’s very evident that this is from the Howard Hughes era of RKO. But since Valli was loaned for this production from 20th Century Fox, David Selznick inflicted some limitations (to the dangers of location filming) on her. The potential for all filming to be shot on location was lost, but there are still lots of opening shots of the beautiful Swiss mountain scenery.
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to hell with climbing the mountain (especially since there's an infestation of nazi scum), i'm staying in the hotel with claude rains
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There are some thrilling shots of real climbers on the side of a mountain, but with early 1950's technology it's obvious that the stars are only hiking the lower altitudes or safely in the studio.
The original writer and director team of Adrian Scott and Edward Dmytryk were let go before production began when both were blacklisted. Cinematographer Ted Tetzlaff was promoted to the director's chair. The novel the film was based on is an antiwar allegory. Any hint of a political message was removed from the script.
Glenn Ford plays to his strengths and keeps his character calm in every situation. Alida Valli (here billed as simply Valli) is allowed to show emotions that she never displayed in her…
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Claude Rains climbs a mountain while wearing a jaunty hat and then has an existential breakdown. Everything else that happens is inconsequential.
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The White Tower (Ted Tetzlaff, 1950) 6/10
As mountain climbing films go this does not hold a candle to the modern-day effects which help make this genre today so real and exciting. This 1950 production, based on the novel by James Ramsey Ullmann, holds its own quite well thanks to the two visual stylists on the crew - the director Tetzlaff, an acclaimed former cinematographer, and Ray Rennahen who shoots the film in stunning colour mostly on location. The stock characters are portrayed by an eclectic cast - the anxious woman (Alida Valli) wanting to climb the mountain for her late father who died attempting it, an alcoholic failed writer (Claude Rains) wanting to redeem himself, an elderly geologist (Sir…
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Doesn't quite reach the promised heights, but a solid, confined adventure with a great cast and some use of European mountain locations.
Glenn manages to wear one of the biggest jackets and a pair of the largest boots.