jTube The early to mid 1970s were an interesting time for movie-making and some of the films from that era can be fun to re-visit. While not on a par with Summer of '42 or Love Story, this film has some charms that make it worth another look.Made to reach for some of the box office success of the syrupy romance Love Story, The Other Side of the Mountain tells the true story of Jill Kinmont, the teen-aged downhill skier with Olympic gold in her sights who's dealt a full Kleenex box worth of tragedies.Beautiful cinematography (although the prints I've seen lately have been dirty) takes us through her 1950s teenhood in the Eastern Sierras, full of boys, BFFs and her steely determination to win in high school ski meets.Although the tale of a vivacious girl becoming crippled is one of the biggest clichés in movies, Jill's paralyzing injury, the result of a ski race, is still memorable. In a fall on the slopes (staged unconvincingly by turning the camera on its side) Jill goes from hard-charging athlete to high-level quadriplegic, paralyzed from her chest down, left with no use of her hands, and dependent on others for every basic and intimate task.We see her imprisoned in traction, straining to move her wheelchair, helpless in a swimming pool, fretting about the medical corset that keeps her upright before a visit from her then boyfriend. But through Marilyn Hassett's portrayal, we see the same strength and determination that made her a ski champ re-emerge as she learns to live her new life on wheels. She pushes to complete her education and fights to become the first paralyzed teacher in the state. Throughout, she's supported by her family and the James Dean-ish hot-dog skier, Dick Buek, played by Beau Bridges in a likable performance. Buek spares Jill the hand-wringing weepy treatment over her plight and instead challenges her to make a life with what's she's got left. Which, it turns out, is a lot.This movie overall is not one for the ages. Larry Peerce and the scriptwriter (David Seltzer, whose next film was The Omen!) never stray from the formula, and give their actors some very stilted lines to work with. But instead, look in the corners – look at Marilyn Hassett's moments of flint underneath the pink sweaters and girly vulnerability. Look at Beau Bridges's squinty grins and twitchy physicality. Think about what it takes to turn the page on an athletic life and live in a body that you can't feel, facing each day in an electric wheelchair. And reflect that it's the story of a real person.Unfortunately this Universal release seems to have dropped off the face of the earth: I haven't seen it on any TV schedule in a long time, the VHS release is out of print and there's no DVD in site. I'm beginning to think it was a casualty of Universal's film vault fire in 2008, although the studio claims it had copies of everything. This movie was the 9th top-grossing film the year it was released, just ahead of Tommy.

Deputyj357 My girlfriend and I watched the movie, a few years later I even swiped one of Dick's lines from the movie, I told my girlfriend "I don't care if you walk, crawl or slither on your belly like a snake up the isle." It was a few years later that she went up the isle in a wheelchair, she had MS when I met her and took her from me twenty five years later. I would like to thank Jill and Marilyn for their story and performance to help us along. I am a cross between her cowboy and Mad Dog and we had a good time together while it lasted. We knew each other for twenty five years and were together for nineteen, I took care of her as a caregiver for seventeen of those nineteen until 1997 when I lost her to the MS. Again, thank you Jill and Marilyn you helped us a lot. Steve

Nazi_Fighter_David Oscar Wilde wrote: "In this world there are only two tragedies. One is not getting what you wants, and the other is getting it."To rephrase his thought, Jill suggests there are likewise only two joys... One is having God answer all your prayers, the other is not receiving the answer to all your prayers...The four words: Your injury is permanent' slam into Jill Kinmont's consciousness like a bullet... She was a ski champion, full of life, action and beauty... Now, almost totally paralyzed after a bad fall... Being Quadraplegic, means that every aspect in her life is different from that point on... Her total care is left up to other people: She cannot bathe herself, feed herself, or dress herself... Jill automatically suffers the effects of having no arms and no legs, and becomes incontenant as well...Marilyn Hassett makes Kinmont a fighter whose determination initially explodes and inspires some to have unreasonable expectations of her limited recovery... She tries to reach a state of empowerment, the right to feel proud of herself, and what she is, and what she does, and to have that pride recognized as acceptable by her love ones... The tender romance between her and Beau Bridges provides some fine moments...The film, a tearjerker based on a real case, is altogether too much of a good thing...

yenlo Even though about three quarters of the way through, this movie begins to run out of steam it still is an exceptional film. The ski equipment and clothing were dead on for the time period and adds much to the picture. Even though it was partly about skiing a person watching this doesn't have to be a skier or have ever skied to enjoy it. Superior to the sequel. A must see as far as human interest movies go.