Director: Edward Dmytryk
Screenplay by: Ranald MacDougall
Based on a Novel by: Henri Troyat
Starring: Spencer Tracy, Robert Wagner, Claire Trevor, William Demarest, Barbara Darrow, Richard Arlen, Stacy Harris
Country: USA
Running Time: 105 min
Year: 1956
BBFC Certificate: TBC
Reportedly, it was Spencer Tracy who came across Henri Troyat’s 1952 novel, ‘La neige en deuil’ and pushed a film adaptation into production at Paramount with himself in the lead role. The story was inspired by an air crash in 1950, when Air India Flight 245 hit Mont Blanc in the French Alps, killing all 48 people on board. The film, which was released in 1956, was retitled The Mountain and reunited Tracy with director Edward Dmytryk and rising star Robert Wagner, after making Broken Lance together two years prior.
The Mountain isn’t a film that gets much attention these days, not receiving particularly strong reviews (even some of the cast and crew have bad-mouthed it in later years) and not being a huge success at the box office. However, when I was offered a copy of Imprint’s new Blu-ray release of the film to review, I found myself drawn to it. For one, I was sold on the strong cast and crew but, also, I’ve recently got into climbing, so found the subject matter and setting intriguing. So, I took up the offer and my thoughts on the film and disc follow.
The Mountain opens with a passenger plane crashing into one of the peaks of Mont Blanc. Aerial reconnaissance can find no sign of life but a team is assembled from a nearby village to climb up in case of survivors and to reclaim any important cargo on board.
Zachary Teller (Tracy) was, at one time, the best mountaineer in the village and has climbed that treacherous peak on numerous occasions. As such, the team’s guide, Nicholas Servoz (Stacy Harris), asks Zachary to join them. Zachary, now an ageing shepherd, refuses. We’re told he thinks the mountain has it in for him, after claiming the lives of a couple of people he’d brought up there in the past.
So, the rescue team goes without him and fails, resulting in the death of Servoz. Zachary’s brother, Chris (Robert Wagner), sees this as an opportunity to make something of himself, after feeling trapped in this remote village. Rather than heroically saving anyone, however, he wants to climb the mountain to loot the bodies of those killed in the tragic accident.
Unable to make the journey alone, Chris forces Zachary to go with him, knowing that his (much) older brother feels duty-bound to protect him. So, the pair embark on a dangerous trek and climb up The Mountain.
I’m afraid The Mountain didn’t quite work for me. There are some potentially interesting psychological conflicts in the film, between the two brothers, but the unsubtle dialogue and mismatched performances spoil these somewhat.
Screenwriter Ranald MacDougall has some impressive credits to his name, most notably Mildred Pierce, but here he litters his script with melodramatic, bluntly spelt-out conversations, where subtlety might have delivered quite an interesting story. There’s not much of an arc to anyone’s characters either, making for a narrative that never really builds up to much.
It may seem scandalous to badmouth the great Spencer Tracy, an actor I generally have great admiration for, but here his performance is, for want of a better description, just plain weird. At first, I thought he was simply disinterested in the project but his role in making it happen suggests otherwise and, as the film goes on, you realise his quiet, held-back approach seems to be an attempt to make his character a simple man, perhaps with a haunted past. The problem is, Tracy himself exudes too much intelligence to get away with the lowly shepherd act. He also, to put it bluntly, doesn’t have the physique to convince as a legendary mountain climber. Tracy was drinking heavily at the time, which might have affected his performance too, but it just didn’t work for me, which is a shame.
Wagner proved a bit of a turn-off too. Whilst Tracy is a little too meek, Wagner pushes things too far, constantly sulking, whining and shouting at his brother. He’s supposed to be somewhat of the villain of the piece but he’s more annoying than threatening.
However, despite some big issues I had with the film, it wasn’t a total washout. Remember, the other reason I was interested in The Mountain was the climbing element and, thankfully, this is where the film thrives.
Dmytryk and his team shot as much as they could up in the French Alps, which meant it proved to be an impressive production feat for the era. Tracy and Wagner reportedly even had a hairy moment on a cable car that came off its cable. It was a tough shoot, with simply getting the cast, crew and equipment to locations proving a long, hard slog, but their efforts provide the film’s best selling point.
The great Franz Planer was the film’s cinematographer and he makes stunning use of the location’s epic vistas. As such, when the action moves up onto the mountain, the film improves a great deal. The climbing sequences, in particular, are excellent. Dmytryk shoots and edits these very effectively to wring out every ounce of tension during the brothers’ ascent. The basic kit and techniques used by the climbers made me uneasy too, having had a little experience climbing (much smaller) cliffs myself.
Though the studio-bound process shots in the climbing scenes will be blatantly clear to audiences now, who are used to near-perfect digital compositing, they’re impressively well-integrated for the time and some of those sequences are among the most exciting, as the lack of danger allows the cast (and, more often, stuntmen) to take greater risks.
The opening scene is also impressive, using an effective model shot to show what happened to the aeroplane. Dmytryk makes the interesting decision to avoid showing the final impact itself, instead holding the shot on the jutting peak that takes a wing off the plane. He then, later, cuts to the aftermath. It’s an atmospheric, attention-grabbing curtain-raiser that keeps you from switching off whilst the ensuing village scenes stumble along.
The later scenes once they reach the peak are a little less successful than the gripping climbing sequences but they’re still compelling and get refreshingly dark in places. The climax is a little rushed and dissatisfying though and the final bit of drama back in the village is rather predictable.
So, overall, The Mountain is terribly clunky whenever anyone opens their mouth but the climbing scenes are exciting enough to keep you engaged and the beautiful locations make for an impressive spectacle. It’s just a shame more care wasn’t taken over the script.
Film: 
The Mountain is out now on Blu-Ray in Australia, released by Via Vision as part of their Imprint range. The picture quality is decent. There are some light flecks and occasional slight colour fluctuations on the print and some of the processed shots can be soft but this is likely an issue with the source material. Otherwise, the film looks fantastic, with bold colours and impressive detail levels. It sounds strong too, though I heard some hiss during one scene and a repetitive background click once or twice. These could well be issues with the original soundtrack though.
Special Features and Technical Specs:
– 1080p High-definition presentation on Blu-ray from 2K scan from the original negative
– NEW Audio commentary by film historian Howard Berger
– NEW Above the Precipice – actor Robert Wagner Remembers 20th Century Fox, Spencer Tracy and The Mountain
– Director Edward Dmytryk on the “Hollywood Ten” – 1990 interview
– Theatrical Trailer
– Aspect Ratio 1.78:1
– Audio English LPCM 2.0 Mono
– Optional English subtitles
– Limited Edition slipcase on the first 1500 copies with unique artwork
Howard Berger’s commentary is excellent, providing a nice mix of analysis and context, digging into the techniques used by Dimytrick whilst giving some background on the cast, crew and production itself. I may not share his admiration for the film, but I appreciated hearing his take on it and he includes many excerpts of writing from/about those involved. These include some eye-opening stories about the difficult shoot. There are quite a few pauses here and there in Berger’s delivery, particularly towards the end, but nothing too patience-testing.
The Dmytryk on the Hollywood Ten piece is a wonderful inclusion. The director gives a clear and thoughtful explanation of what happened during the McCarthy witch hunts and how he was involved, before describing how it affected his career. It paints a disturbing picture of a troubled time in Hollywood and the USA in general.
The interview with Robert Wagner is valuable too. He discusses how his career began and developed before digging into his experiences on The Mountain and his close relationships with many of those involved. The audio interview is wonderfully complemented by classic trailers of films he starred in, as well as some brief but extraordinary behind-the-scenes clips from The Mountain.
So, whilst the disc isn’t loaded with extras, what is included is all very strong and makes the disc worth picking up, even if the film isn’t a masterpiece.
Disc/Package:
