The Mountain — The Mountain(Blu Ray)
The Mountain is a blend of character study and mountaineering adventure/ thriller. The film dates from the mid-1950s and takes in two respected leads Spence Tracy & a young Robert Wagner. In its second half, it features a blend of dizzy mountainside footage & impressive sets, with some effective moments of tension. From Australia’s Imprint- here’s a recent Blu-Ray release of the film, taking in a bright & bold new scan of the picture, a commentary track & a few other extras.
The Mountain appeared in the year 1956. And it was filmed on location in Chamonix, Haute-Savoie, France & the towering Mont Blanc- which is the highest mountain in the Alps and Western Europe, rising 4,807.81 m (15,774 ft) above sea level. With extra mountainside sets built on Paramount backlots back in LA. The film was directed by Grand Forks, British Columbia, Canada born Edward Dmytryk. He had fifty-three features to his name- these went from rather lacklustre western The Hawk (1935), to Boris Karloff staring mad scientist contacting his dead wife horror sci-fi The Devil Commands (1941). Onto noir thriller The Snipper (1952), through to romantic drama set in a bordello Walk on the Wild Side( 1962), and shipwreck family drama He Is My Brother (1975).
The film opens with an impressive for the time aeroplane crash- as the passage jet gets lost in fog to crash into snowbound the top of the mountain. We then move down into the village which sits below the mountain- where the villages are gathering to be informed about the crash- there have been flyovers, and seemingly no one has survived, but it’s decided to still send a group of rescuers up the mountain to double check. The villagers approach ageing & white-haired cattle herder Zachary Teller( Spence Tracy) to lead the team- as he has climbed the mountain many times over the year. He downright refuses, and we find out that his last two climbs saw the loss of life. His younger twenty-something brother Chris(Robert Wagner) convinces him that they should make a two-man climb, as he helped bring up his younger brother & will do anything for him.
The first forty or so minutes focus on showing us the day-to-day life of Zachary- showing him as a kind, considerate loner, whose key focus has always been his brother. Then the brothers set off up the mountain- here we get a largely convincing blend of mountainside sets, and on-location climbing filming footage. With some nicely tense moments along the way, though some of the setups are a little overmilked.
When the pair finally get to the plane, the most effective & engaging part of the film kicks in. As we find out that Chris has very dubious motives for hiking up the mountain, the pairs close relationship becomes very strained, and a third person is added to the party.
Tracy is an excellent pick for the ageing herdsman/ex-mountain climber- really selling both his struggle with conquering the mountain one last time, and his moral compass regarding his brother. Wagner is very good as the more devious/devil-may-care brother, and the pair get some excellent scenes together.
The Mountain plays at around the one hour and forty-five-minute mark- and to be honest it could easily have been trimmed by twenty or so minutes. The film move between village drama come character study, to mountain side thriller is interesting. I think the main issue here is just how long it takes to get up the mountain- nearly forty-five minutes. All in all The Mountain is an impressively presented & filmed feature, with two effective leads & later on some nice tension/ moral dilemma drama- I just wish a little trimming could have been done.
Moving onto this recent region-free Blu-ray release. And we get a wonderful crisp & well defined 2k print of the film- and this has its positives & negatives, on the plus side the colours look wonderful & bold with the wonderful depth to the whole thing. The downside is that when we get into the switches between on-location mountain footage, and back lot filmed sets- the shifts are somewhat jarring. Moving on to the extras we get a few things- first off we get a commentary track from film historian Howard Berger- this is a very well-researched affair- though we do have a few gaps in the track from time to time, which is a little frustrating. He moves from commenting on (as he puts it) the grim & ghoulish opening shots. He talks about the original novel the film is based on which was written by Henri Troyat, and touches on some of the differences between the two. We find out that Charlton Heston nearing got the Wanger role, and that Tracy & Wanger became great friends on the set- meaning they remained close until Tracy passed in 1967. Apparently, this was the first time this location had been used for a Hollywood production. He discusses each of the lead characters' make-up, and the film's themes. He touches on the career of screenwriter Ranald MacDougall, and how there are recurring themes in all of his work. Later on, he details some of the issues faced on location, and we get quotes from interviews with the two stars from the time. He talks about the switches between on location & sets, which at the time were cutting edge. He discusses the Vistavision process the film was captured in, and it works. He comments on the film's score, and how it’s blended with sound of icy air sound effects to great effect. All in all, a worthy track. Otherwise, we have Above The Precipice ( 25.53) which is a 2022 audio interview with Robert Wagner, this is backed by a great selection of stills, trailers, and film snippets. The actor moves from talking about how his career started, moving to touch on key/important roles, as well of course The Mountain & working with Tracy. Lastly, we have a 1990 TV interview with director Edward Dmytryk( 24.44). So, a good selection of things.
The film's mix of small-town drama, character study, and mountaineering adventure is certainly interesting- and the two leads work together very well. Sure some of the early pacy issues let things down a little- but if you can sidestep those the film certainly has its worth, with this new presentation from Imprint being very nicely realized