JohnHowardReid Associate producer: Tony Braun. Producer: Sid Rogell. Copyright 28 June 1950 by RKO Radio Pictures, Inc. U.S. release: 24 June 1950. U.K. release: 11 September 1950. Australian release: 9 February 1951. Sydney release at the Regent: 9 February 1951 (ran 3 weeks). Australian length: 8,980 feet (100 minutes). U.S. and U.K. running time: 98 minutes. U.K. length: 8,818 feet.SYNOPSIS: Six climbers versus "The White Tower".NOTES: Location scenes filmed in the Swiss Alps and on the slopes of Mont Blanc. Originally designed for the Adrian Scott (producer) - Edward Dmytryk (director) team, the project was handed over to Rogell and Tetzlaff when the former gentlemen tangled with HUAC.COMMENT: A memorable film when I saw it on first release. The concluding image of the White Tower viewed from the back of a moving train as it glides into a tunnel, must rank as one of the great film moments of 1950. This moment is still super-charged today - and rendered all the more effective by a similar shot quite early in the film - in reverse - as Valli arrives. Unfortunately, these shots represent the high point of Tetzlaff s invention. Elsewhere he is little more than the competent servant of an attitudinizing philosophical script, and the (doubtless unwilling) slave to obvious studio-bound snow-storms and dialogue exchanges.However, if our belief in the proceedings is undermined by these factors, the major players go a long way towards restoring it. (Of the minor players, June Clayworth and Lotte Stein are effective, but Essler and Angold are strictly Hollywood artificers). Valli is both passionate and charming, accurately conveying the obsession of the devoted mountaineer - a neat contrast to Ford's typically relaxed, slow-to-get-involved idler. Bridges, in one of his strongest character roles, a member of the master race, powerfully conveys single-mindedness of a less attractive sort. Rains' shambling philosopher is much less exciting (though the scene in which he walks away from his burning tent is a thrilling image), Sir Cedric Hardwicke has disappointingly little opportunity to shine, while Homolka has an equally unobtrusive role as a conscientious guide.Studio cut-ins between real and faked locations, between actual alpinists and actors with immaculate hands pretending to claw across the studio floor, are more obvious to present-day viewers. Time has even dimmed some of the luster of Rennahan's color photography and muffled the emotional impact of Webb's music score. But even in a less than perfect TV print, The White Tower remains a memorable excursion for armchair mountaineers.

morrison-dylan-fan After finding him outstanding in the 1934 Film Noir Crime Without Passion,I decided to keep a look out on TV for movies with Claude Rains. Returning home from a weekend in Birmingham,I took a look at the film page on BBC iPlayer,and found a rare Adventure title co- starring Rains,which led to me climbing the white tower.The plot:After her dad dies trying to climb the mountain, Carla Alton decides that she is going to climb "The White Tower" mountain. Finding her to completely ignore their advice to not climb it, French author Paul Delambre,US pilot Martin Ordway and "ex" Nazi Hein decide to team up and help Alton up the mountain.As they climb up the mountain,the group get caught in an avalanche of their own fatal differences.View on the film:Climbing the mountain in the real Swiss Alps ,director Ted Tetzlaff (cinematographer of Hitchcock's Notorious) & cinematographer Ray Rennahan ice the movie with a great frosty atmosphere,swept up in tightly held shots being covered in mountains of snowflakes.Bringing warmth to the pre-climb with Sid Rogell's light score, Tetzlaff drowns the light in a surprising amount of gloom,where a lone fire is the only sign of life in a virgin snow wilderness.Taking on James Ramsey Ullman's novel,the screenplay by Paul Jarrico cleverly digs its heels into opening up Alton dedication to the memory of her dad,and the uneasy teamwork that sits between the heroic Ordway and "ex" Nazi Hein.Giving the team a cheerful,friendly outlook before the climb, Jarrico gives the shadow of the mountain a surprisingly sharp edge,with its sharp edges leading to an unexpected large number of the group falling to their doom.Toning down his devilish charm, Claude Rains gives a wonderful melancholy performance as Delambre,as Lloyd Bridges gives a great boo-hiss performance as snarling "ex" Nazi Hein.Joined by a rugged Glenn Ford as Ordway,the elegant Alida Valli gives a vivacious performance as Alton,who finds the memory of her dad at the top of the white tower.

moonspinner55 Young woman returns to her Swiss hometown and is determined to climb a virgin peak, the infamous "White Tower", which even her mountaineer father could not scale. She recruits a disparate group of men to accompany her, including ne'er-do-well Glenn Ford who has love in his eyes. Screenwriter Paul Jarrico adapted James Ramsey Ullman's novel for the screen, with hardly a trace of good humor but much strenuous character interaction. The RKO production is solid, with a good deal of on-location shooting in saturated Technicolor, but there's nothing charismatic about these people. Driven into danger by different ideals, they're hardly more than stock figures. Some of Ray Rennahan's cinematography is striking (particularly at the beginning), and Roy Webb composed a lovely score, yet this is hardly a classic instance of rugged adventure. ** from ****

bkoganbing The White Tower is an allegorical film about the need for cooperation among people and nations. It's no accident that this film was made during the early years of the United Nations when there was so much hope for its success. Maybe we will be one world, one day if we all cooperate.The story takes place in Switzerland and the White Tower is as yet an unclimbed Alp. Alida Valli's father died making an attempt and she wants to climb it. She manages to convince five guests of the resort hotel she's staying at to climb with her. Her party consists of Glenn Ford, Lloyd Bridges, Claude Rains, Oscar Homolka, and Sir Cedric Hardwicke. The story is what happens on the mountain and what the challenging climb brings out in all of them.Not all of them survive the trip. But you ain't gonna get me to spill the beans.Lloyd Bridges is the most interesting of the characters. He's a former Nazi who's doing it to prove Deutscheland is really uber alles. He gets quite a reality check on the mountain.The White Tower has some good color photography of some really fabulous mountain scenery. The story at times gets a big talky and bogs down, but the climax is both spectacular and real.