I waited many years for this film's conversion to DVD. As a kid I remember so well watching this in black and white on "Saturday Night At The Movies".
I first bought the DVD of this, and now the Blu-Ray version, both produced by Olive Films. It's a fairly good transfer, and the Blu-Ray is decidedly better (as it should be). However, the film has not been fully restored, so there are some scenes where the color seems to fluctuate...but, that may just be a result of the age of the film (well over 50 years). Certainly not enough of a problem to make the movie less enjoyable, although oddly enough, it's the in-studio "mountain climbing" where the color varies the most, not the natural Alps footage. And, considering that much of this movie was actually filmed in the French Alps, well, it's still magnificent Vista Vision photography! And, they do a great job of combining in-studio footage with Alps backgrounds, making this more realistic than many films of its era. Unfortunately, despite being in the Alps and it's snowing...you can't see their breath! Even in Ronald Colman's 1937 film "Lost Horizon" they worked in a large freezer so you could see their breath in the mountain scenes. But again, one really shouldn't get lost in these shortcomings, because Spencer Tracy's acting makes up for it all.
Spencer Tracy has been my favorite actor pretty much all of my life, and I'm in my mid-60s (tied perhaps with Cary Grant). But it wasn't until I watched this for the third time that I fully realized why I so admired Spencer Tracy's acting -- believeablily; almost instant believability. Portraying a Clarence Darrow lawyer figure...instant believability. Portraying a judge at the Nuremburg Trials, instant believability. Portraying a father whose daughter is about to marry a Black man, instant believability. And now playing an old sheepherder who once climbed mountains...instant believability. And here, as usual, playing the moral center of the picture.
And then there is Robert Wagner, It's a good performance, although I wonder why he accepted the role. It's about as unlikable a character as you will find in any film, short of a rapist or murderer. He's brave enough to slap and belittle and old man, but a coward once he gets on the mountain. It occurred to me that Wagner's character is very much like a roommate I had for a couple of years. One evening he said, "I'm very sensitive." I responded with, "No, you're half of sensitivity -- the selfish have...you have no sensitivity toward others." (Sorry Dang). Robert Wagner was the "pretty boy" in the film, but does reasonably well.
There are two problems with this film. First, the age difference between Spencer Tracy and Robert Wagner was not reasonable to make them brothers. Father and son would have been believable, and in my view, would have worked. But then again, in most movies you have to suspend belief in one area or another, so, okay...I can live with it. The other issue here is that Robert Wagner is such a jerk (I was going to say...well, you know) that you not only know he's going to die climbing the mountain, but from the moment early on in the film when he slaps Spencer Tracy in the face, you're rooting for him falling to his death off the mountain! But, okay there, too! ;-) While we all know that Spencer Tracy wasn't doing the actual mountain climbing here -- he was already 56 and in somewhat declining health -- this must have been a tough movie for him to make. He may not have yet been the lion in winter, but he was certainly well into late autumn. But, over the years, as Tracy aged he only improved. His later years saw most of his finest performances...and this is one. The double used for the climbing did an excllent job. You could almost believe it was Tracy.
It's surprising to see Robert Wagner in such a negative role, but it's just as surprising to see Claire Trevor as a very mature washer woman in the village who has her eye on Spencer Tracy. E.G. Marshall is here, as well as William Demarest, but they both have very, very minor roles.
Many have criticized the closing scene as Tracy's character reports that he had all the ill intent while his brother was a hero. I have mixed feelings about the ending. Why should a thief and coward be given credit for something he didn't do.
I understand that Spencer Tracy didn't really like this film. I wonder if it was the film itself or the strenuous nature of the project at his age.
A fine film and a different story...well worth viewing.
I first bought the DVD of this, and now the Blu-Ray version, both produced by Olive Films. It's a fairly good transfer, and the Blu-Ray is decidedly better (as it should be). However, the film has not been fully restored, so there are some scenes where the color seems to fluctuate...but, that may just be a result of the age of the film (well over 50 years). Certainly not enough of a problem to make the movie less enjoyable, although oddly enough, it's the in-studio "mountain climbing" where the color varies the most, not the natural Alps footage. And, considering that much of this movie was actually filmed in the French Alps, well, it's still magnificent Vista Vision photography! And, they do a great job of combining in-studio footage with Alps backgrounds, making this more realistic than many films of its era. Unfortunately, despite being in the Alps and it's snowing...you can't see their breath! Even in Ronald Colman's 1937 film "Lost Horizon" they worked in a large freezer so you could see their breath in the mountain scenes. But again, one really shouldn't get lost in these shortcomings, because Spencer Tracy's acting makes up for it all.
Spencer Tracy has been my favorite actor pretty much all of my life, and I'm in my mid-60s (tied perhaps with Cary Grant). But it wasn't until I watched this for the third time that I fully realized why I so admired Spencer Tracy's acting -- believeablily; almost instant believability. Portraying a Clarence Darrow lawyer figure...instant believability. Portraying a judge at the Nuremburg Trials, instant believability. Portraying a father whose daughter is about to marry a Black man, instant believability. And now playing an old sheepherder who once climbed mountains...instant believability. And here, as usual, playing the moral center of the picture.
And then there is Robert Wagner, It's a good performance, although I wonder why he accepted the role. It's about as unlikable a character as you will find in any film, short of a rapist or murderer. He's brave enough to slap and belittle and old man, but a coward once he gets on the mountain. It occurred to me that Wagner's character is very much like a roommate I had for a couple of years. One evening he said, "I'm very sensitive." I responded with, "No, you're half of sensitivity -- the selfish have...you have no sensitivity toward others." (Sorry Dang). Robert Wagner was the "pretty boy" in the film, but does reasonably well.
There are two problems with this film. First, the age difference between Spencer Tracy and Robert Wagner was not reasonable to make them brothers. Father and son would have been believable, and in my view, would have worked. But then again, in most movies you have to suspend belief in one area or another, so, okay...I can live with it. The other issue here is that Robert Wagner is such a jerk (I was going to say...well, you know) that you not only know he's going to die climbing the mountain, but from the moment early on in the film when he slaps Spencer Tracy in the face, you're rooting for him falling to his death off the mountain! But, okay there, too! ;-) While we all know that Spencer Tracy wasn't doing the actual mountain climbing here -- he was already 56 and in somewhat declining health -- this must have been a tough movie for him to make. He may not have yet been the lion in winter, but he was certainly well into late autumn. But, over the years, as Tracy aged he only improved. His later years saw most of his finest performances...and this is one. The double used for the climbing did an excllent job. You could almost believe it was Tracy.
It's surprising to see Robert Wagner in such a negative role, but it's just as surprising to see Claire Trevor as a very mature washer woman in the village who has her eye on Spencer Tracy. E.G. Marshall is here, as well as William Demarest, but they both have very, very minor roles.
Many have criticized the closing scene as Tracy's character reports that he had all the ill intent while his brother was a hero. I have mixed feelings about the ending. Why should a thief and coward be given credit for something he didn't do.
I understand that Spencer Tracy didn't really like this film. I wonder if it was the film itself or the strenuous nature of the project at his age.
A fine film and a different story...well worth viewing.