The White Tower (1950)
The White Tower (1950)
DVD5 | VIDEO_TS | NTSC | 4:3 | 720x480 | 6000 kbps | 4.5Gb
Audio: English AC3 2.0 @ 192 Kbps
01:38:00 | USA | Adventure
DVD5 | VIDEO_TS | NTSC | 4:3 | 720x480 | 6000 kbps | 4.5Gb
Audio: English AC3 2.0 @ 192 Kbps
01:38:00 | USA | Adventure
Six people come together in the Swiss Alps to climb a mountain, known as 'The White Tower,' which has never been climbed. While struggling together to conquer the obstacle, each climber shows his true worth, or lack of.
Director: Ted Tetzlaff
Cast: Glenn Ford, Alida Valli, Claude Rains, Oskar Homolka, Cedric Hardwicke, Lloyd Bridges, June Clayworth, Lotte Stein, Edit Angold, Fred Essler
The White Tower (1950)
The White Tower (1950)
In a Swiss Alpine village mountain climber Carla Alten, who has just arrived from Italy, organizes a climbing party, intending to scale the nearby "White Tower" peak. Although Carla's dear friend Andreas, a veteran mountain guide, warns her that none of the local guides wants to join her party because of what happened to her and her father years before on the Tower, Carla is undaunted. Carla, whose father, a world-renowned mountaineer, died while trying to reach the top of the infamous Tower, asks American Martin Ordway to make the climb. Despite his attraction to Carla, Martin, a former bomber pilot who has been drifting since the war, declines the invitation, stating that he has no reason to go. Carla then asks English naturalist Nicholas Radcliffe, another old friend, and Paul Delambre, an alcoholic French author who has been writing a novel about the Tower, to join the group, and they both gladly accept. At Martin's urging, Carla puts aside her anti-Nazi sentiments and also asks Hein, a hearty young German, to go. That night, Paul tells his beautiful but disapproving wife Astrid that he is making the climb in order to "come alive again," but she makes no effort to understand him. Just before the group is to depart, Martin observes Carla praying fervently at her father's gravesite and, moved by the intensity of her devotion, decides to accompany her for part of the trip. Soon after starting the climb, Paul and the middle-aged Nicholas stop briefly for a rest and are criticized by Hein. Hein then dismisses Andreas' declaration that they have come to an impasse in the rock face and forges ahead to the next level. While trying to climb the same difficult stretch, Nicholas almost falls, but is saved by Hein. Despite protests from Carla, who feels strongly that the group should remain together, Nicholas announces that he is turning back. Andreas insists on accompanying Nicholas for part of the way down, but Hein, who compares mountain climbing to war, refuses to wait for the guide and pushes on with Paul. Once alone with Carla, Martin confesses his love and proposes, but Carla turns him down. After Andreas finally returns, he, Carla and Martin brave a blizzard to catch up to Hein and Paul. Exhausted by the day's climb, Paul starts to drink and announces he is quitting. Hein argues with Carla about Paul, stating that he would rather go on alone than be saddled with a weakling. The next morning, Martin, disturbed by Hein's fascistic selfishness, tells Carla that he has decided to climb to the top. The group is snow and fogbound, however, and Paul is dazed and drunk. When the sky clears, Paul chooses to remain behind, but tells Carla that she must continue in order to vanquish the demons of her father's death. He then advises Martin to go with her, as the journey will help redefine his life. After Andreas instructs Paul to stay in his tent until the group returns in two days, he leaves with the others. That night, however, during another blizzard, a drunken Paul, having finally finished his novel, knocks over his tent stove and wanders into the storm, unaware that his tent has caught on fire. The next morning, Andreas leaves to check on Paul, promising to return as soon as possible. Calling the peasant guide "superstitious," Hein predicts that Andreas will not return the following day, as it is a Sunday. When Martin angrily denounces Hein as a relentless Nazi, Carla tries to quiet the American and is accused of putting the mountain before everything. Carla and Martin awaken the next day to discover Hein gone, and an infuriated Martin insists on pursuing the German alone. While Carla waits for Andreas, who finally returns, having determined that Paul is dead, the ill-equipped Martin follows Hein's snowy footprints to the mountain top. Tired and almost snowblind, Martin finally catches up to Hein, who calls him inferior and inches cockily on to a snow cliff. When Hein becomes trapped on the cliff, Martin offers his hand, which the German grudgingly accepts. Despite Martin's help, Hein falls to his death, and Martin passes out just before reaching the top. Eventually, Carla and Andreas reach Martin, and realizing that he cannot continue, Carla declares the climb over. Back in the village, Carla tends to Martin's eyes and finally agrees to marry him
IMDb
The White Tower (1950)
The White Tower (1950)
