Hell at the white tower

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Movie
German title Hell at the white tower
Original title The White Tower
Country of production United States
original language English
Publishing year 1950
length 98 minutes
Age rating FSK 12
Rod
Director Ted Tetzlaff
script Paul Jarrico
James Ramsey Ullman (template)
production Sid Rogell for RKO Radio Pictures
music Roy Webb
camera Ray Rennahan
cut Samuel E. Beetley
occupation

Hell at the White Tower (Original title: The White Tower ) is an American adventure film from 1950 directed by Ted Tetzlaff . Carla Alten ( Alida Valli ), the daughter of a fallen mountaineer, and five other people dare to climb the summit of the Weißhorn in the Swiss Alps . Their motivation for this dangerous mountain tour is as different as they are. The architect Martin Ordway ( Glenn Ford ) goes along primarily because he has more than just sympathy for Carla. Other participants are the mountain guide Andreas ( Oskar Homolka ), the writers Paul Delambre ( Claude Rains ), Dr. Nicholas Radcliffe ( Cedric Hardwicke ) and a German named Hein ( Lloyd Bridges ).

James Ramsey Ullman provided the script for the script. His story first appeared in Philadelphia in 1945.

action

A few years after the end of the Second World War , the Italian Carla Alten returned to Kandermatt, the Swiss fate of her father Alessandro, a famous mountaineer. In a small family pension, the owners of which already knew her father well, she made the acquaintance of several guests, such as the American Martin Ordway, a former bomber pilot, the French writer Paul Delambre and his wife Astrid, and the German Siegfried Hein.

To Carla's disappointment, the Swiss mountain guide Andreas informs her that her plan to climb the Weißhorn, which once did her father's doom, will probably not work out. He hadn't found anyone willing to take this risk. The experienced man is also of the opinion that Carla's motive to absolutely want to conquer this mountain does not form a good basis. She never got over the fact that her father lost his life when he attempted the first ascent. She is obsessed with having to conquer the Weißhorn for her father.

Carla is now trying on her own to get a group together and first asks Martin Ordway, who refuses and wants to know what it will do for him when he has reached the top and why it is so extremely important for her to give the Weißhorn conquer. She tells him the story of her father and that she wants to fulfill his lifelong dream. Martin, for his part, tells her that he is now working as an architect and takes this opportunity to try to find out whether Carla is bound. Finally he advises her to ask Hein, the German, who is an excellent mountaineer. Carla, who thinks Hein is a Nazi in disguise and can't stand, doesn't want to know anything about it.

When she asks Paul Delambre, he is immediately on fire, because he is not getting anywhere with his book, which is about the ascent of Weißkopf and the meaning of life, and another argument with his attractive wife Astrid, who does not understand anything with whom every conversation is pointless, wants to avoid. More than once he sought consolation in alcohol. In addition to the British naturalist Dr. Radcliffe, an old family friend, is of course also accompanied by the mountain guide Andreas. And after Martin has asked again, Carla manages to ask Hein too, who, after a brief hesitation, agrees to go along. Ultimately, Martin also changes his mind and goes on the difficult tour.

As expected, the ascent is not without, even if the troops are making good progress at the beginning. Dr. Radcliffe says to Martin: “To conquer a mountain means to gain self-confidence and courage.” The higher you go, the more difficult the ascent becomes. At a particularly complicated point that gives Andreas a headache, Hein takes the lead and overcomes the distance with extreme willpower, paving the way for the others. When Dr. Radcliffe tries to pull up, his rope jams, and again it is thanks to Hein that the dangerous situation is mastered. Dr. Radcliffe realizes that he has to return to the base station. Andreas accompanies him to his protection and assures that he will be back with the troops in about three hours. Hein has something against waiting. Delambre joins him, Martin and Carla stay behind. All of a sudden, Martin asks the perplexed Carla if she would like to marry him.

When Andreas is back, the three of them continue the ascent and after a while they meet Hein and Delambre. Delambre is very tired, he should stay behind, says Hein, he is only weakening the group. However, the others make it clear to him that they will stay together. Since Delambre almost completely emptied the bottle of alcohol he was carrying on the following night, there is no question of continuing the ascent with him. Delambre, however, wants the others to move on and so they promise to wait for their return in the protective tent.

The group of four embarks on the most difficult part of the ascent. The closer you get to the summit, the more inhospitable the weather becomes. Delambre is now finishing his novel, but then tears it up and lets the pages blow away. Then he moves away from the tent, the fire catches, and disappears in the blizzard. Andreas senses something is wrong with Delambre and decides to go back to check on him. The three should wait until he gets back. However, Hein opposes Martin and Carla and says that Andreas will not come back anyway, he will climb the summit alone in the early morning. In the meantime Andreas has discovered the burnt down tent, but no trace of Delambre. He knows what that means and makes the sign of the cross.

As announced, Hein has now left Carla and Martin and is on the way to the summit. Although Carla does not agree, Martin, who has no snow goggles with him, follows Hein. Soon he is so blinded by the snow that he can hardly see anything, but still walks on. When he comes across Hein, he disgusts him with the sarcastic remark that unfortunately a snow-covered traverse lies in front of them and that he can no longer help Martin with his footprints. In general, the German treats him condescendingly and says he is strong and Martin weak. He has an iron will and Martin does not have it because he climbs for a principle called the principle of superiority, fighting, conquering, and he, Martin, just like the sad rest, does not climb for any ideals. As soon as he has said that, he begins to slide. Martin wants to help him, but Hein does not take the hand offered to him. As he slips further, Martin saves him from falling at the last moment, but earns no thanks. Hein wants to try it alone again and is now finally falling into the depths. Despite his snow blindness, Martin continues to fight his way to the summit.

In the meantime, the returned Andreas and Carla have discovered the dangerous spot with the slab and, after having overcome it, come across Martin, who is now almost completely snow-blind. Although the summit is not far, Carla decides to descend in order not to endanger Martin's eyesight any further. In response to his unspoken question, she only says that the summit is no longer important to her. Four people return to the valley. On the mend, Martin wants to know from Carla if she won't regret not going any further. “No, never” is her answer.

History of origin

RKO Pictures bought the rights to James Ramsey Ullman's novel in March 1946 for $ 150,000. Edward Dmytryk was to direct and Ullman was to work on the script, which had been drafted by the writer Paul Jarrico. Ullman was of the opinion that the allegorical meaning of his novel was neglected in the script. His collaboration on the finished script has not been confirmed. The studio announced that Lilli Palmer would be the female lead and Paul Lukas would be the male lead in the film and that filming would begin in Switzerland in June 1947. However, the date was postponed due to difficulties in Europe and RKO announced shortly thereafter that the mountain shots in the Canadian Rockies and other shots in Hollywood should be shot. Dmytryk, art director Alfred Herman, cinematographer J. Roy Hunt and site director Lou Shapiro went there to check the conditions on site. The studio then surprisingly announced that the project would be put on hold for at least a year. The reasons were varied, on the one hand the Canadian Rockies were unsuitable as a location for filming because they did not correspond to the Alps at all, on the other hand work problems were mentioned in Switzerland, and also Irving Allen's mountaineering drama High Conquest , which contained a very similar plot, was just now , published. The project slumbered until 1949. Dmytryk and RKO employee Adrian Scott had already been summoned to appear before the Committee for Un-American Activities (HUAC) in 1947 and, in the course of further investigations, were banned from working. RKO fired both. The studio then named Irving Allen and Franchot Tone as replacements, and Glenn Ford and Oskar Homolka for the lead male roles. Ted Tetzlaff was named as a director. Janet Leigh , who was signed to MGM , has been announced as the new female star. The Swiss cameraman Richard Angst was named as the still photographer and the French film architect René Renoux as the production designer. Another cameraman named Tony Braun from Switzerland. At the end of June 1949 it was then announced that John Garfield would replace Glenn Ford and Alida Valli would replace Janet Leigh. At Leigh there would be problems triggering them at MGM. Ford, in turn, had accepted the role on the condition that Leigh play by his side. Ford then changed his mind, but a week later came into conflict with the studio again, this time because of the height of his fee. Now Mel Ferrer has been thrown into the balance as a replacement for Ford. In mid-July 1949, the film team was expanded to include cameraman Ray Rennahan and Ford negotiated a new fee of $ 125,000. Valli received $ 75,000 for her part. Even Richard Basehart was announced as a performer, but was not found in the finished film.

Production and DVD

The film was shot in Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes in the Haute-Savoie department in France, north of Mont Blanc , the highest peak in the Alps near Chamonix . Further recordings were made in Technicolor in the RKO Path Studios in Culver City . A mountain set was reproduced and set up for the shooting in the studio. Producer Sid Rogell and June Clayworth, who plays the ungrateful role of the woman tormenting her husband, have been married since 1938.

DVD

The film was released on DVD by RKO Radio Films.

publication

In the Federal Republic of Germany, Hell at the White Tower was shown in cinemas on August 10, 1951, in Austria under the same title in February 1952.

  • United Kingdom: 1950
  • USA: June 24, 1950
  • Sweden: November 20, 1950 under the title Vita tornet
  • Finland: February 16, 1951 under the title Valkoinen torni
  • Portugal: March 5, 1951 under the title A Torre Branca
  • Denmark: April 26, 1951 under the title Det hvide tårn
  • Australia: July 20, 1951
  • Japan: July 29, 1952
  • Argentina under the title La torre blanca
  • Brazil under the title Neve e Sangue , alternatively Sangue e Neve
  • Spain under the title La muntanya tràgica
  • France under the title La tour blanche
  • Greece under the title O lefkos pyrgos
  • Italy under the title La torre bianca
  • Netherlands under the title De berg der verschrikking

Reception and aftermath

The judgment of Filmdienst .com was mixed: "One in construction implausible, symbolic canted mountain drama from the Swiss Alps, after all, compressed exciting action scenes and handsome landscape photography to a unerhaltsamen adventure with a lot of routine."

Prisma judged: "Great mountain film, shot at the original locations in the Swiss Alps."

Variety was of the opinion that a strong emotional impact was welded into the film and that Paul Jarrico had created images from Ullman's novel with elementary charm that would underline the struggle of humans who want to conquer nature. In the case of the German, embodied by Lloyd Bridges, the film used the opportunity to illustrate the cold brutality and the claims that he claims as the superman of a master race.

Bosley Crowther of the New York Times particularly focussed on the mountain scenes and felt that there had not been a more intense depiction of mountaineering in the film lately. He certified Ted Tetzlaff to have put the story in a realistic style in the picture. He carefully filmed many large and exciting scenes in the alpine panorama in Technicolor, and captured the crackling tension on the steep rock faces and the breathtaking beauty that unfolded before the eyes of the climbers. The lashing snowstorm at gloomy heights and the horror of a fatal slip are also impressive in the depiction. Crowther did not agree with the many explanations of the various symbolic actions, which could also be described as boring chatter. The critic certified that the actors played their roles pretty well. Alida Valli is beautiful and intense as an Italian girl who is inspired by the rise to establish and deal with the contact with her father, who was killed on the 'White Tower'. Glenn Ford is brilliant and persistent as a young American and of cheerful serenity. Lloyd Bridges, on the other hand, is cold and deliberate as an ex-Nazi and always wants to be the greatest. Claude Rains is boring in his role as a talkative weakling, Sir Cedric Hardwicke is pathetic and Oscar Homolka is a convincing mountain guide.

Dennis Schwartz spoke of a symbolic melodrama that had a talented cast and was especially entertaining because of its fine action sequences. It is worth mentioning that the Canadian Ford plays an American, the American Bridges a German, the Austrian Homolka a Swiss and the British Rains a French. Alida Valli, on the other hand, is rightly cast as an Italian, and the Briton Hardwicke is also used true to his true nationality.

The ruling of the United States Bishops' Conference found that the splendor of the Alps and the climbing sequences far exceeded the ostentatious character studies made in the studio. Conclusion: A lot of danger and a lot of stylized hardness.

Emily Soares said that although it was a post-war film about a difficult mountain ascent, it was only symbolic of the reorganization of the world in the wake of the Second World War and the people's search for meaning. Each of the six people who decide to venture the dangerous mountain tour has their own character and their own reasons for the dangerous undertaking.

Like Scott and Dmytryk, Paul Jarrico was blacklisted by the Committee for Un-American Activities some time after both. Lloyd Bridges also came into the focus of the committee, but was exonerated by the FBI and was able to continue his career. Glenn Ford, whose career had been interrupted during the war because of his military service, was able to continue this seamlessly with the 1946 film melodrama Gilda . Alida Valli, who was briefly traded as the new Garbo , had only moderate success in the USA and made far more successful films after her return to Europe.

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. The White Tower script info at TCM (English)
  2. a b The White Tower Notes at TCM (English)
  3. T he White Tower Warner Archive Collection (English) at dvdtalk.com
  4. Hell at the White Tower DVD uncut4you.com
  5. Hell at the White Tower at filmdienst.de. Retrieved June 3, 2016.
  6. Hell at the White Tower at prisma.de. Retrieved June 3, 2016.
  7. Review: 'The White Tower' In: Variety, December 1949 (English). Retrieved June 3, 2016.
  8. Bosley Crowther: The White Tower , Film Aboat Mountain Climbing in Alps In: The New York Times, July 3, 1950 (English). Retrieved June 3, 2016.
  9. Dennis Schwartz: "Basically just another mountain climbing pic." In: Ozus 'World Film Reports' (English)
  10. The White Tower at archive.usccb.org (English)
  11. The White Tower Articles at TCM (English)