The Mountain

The Mountain is a tidy little personality study directed by Edward Dymtryk (The Caine Mutiny.) It follows two grown brothers, Zachary (Spencer Tracy) and Chris (Robert Wagner) Teller. They have lived their entire lives in a remote picturesque Swiss village nestled in a high valley surrounded by towering Alpine peaks, the sort of place Heidi and her grandfather could easily call home. The brothers have lived together under the same roof, known the same people and lived the same lives, but they could not be more different.Both are accomplished mountain climbers, though they have both stopped. No one will climb with Chris anymore because he has gotten a reputation of being unreliable. Zachary will not climb anymore. After several accidents he has become convinced The Mountain has turned against him, and he no longer welcome there. "I don't climb anymore."Zachary is at peace with life in the valley, but Chris resents it. He resents being poor. He has grown to despise the valley, the village, his life and himself. He is prepared to do anything to get away. There is no real prospect of this happening until a passenger liner crashes near the summit of The Mountain. It is clear there were no survivors, but a government sponsored climb to the crash site is mounted anyway. When it fails, Chris announces to Zachary that he will try himself. He will go up to rob enough money and valuables to buy his way out into the world. Shocked and reviled, Zachary begs him not to try, but eventually Zachary decides he must help. He cannot stand by while his brother attempts sure suicide, trying to climb alone. The climb is tense and suspenseful. When they reach the wreckage matters become much more complicated, setting the brothers on a collision course...This movie was made during the heyday of the Hollywood Studios system, so you can be sure that a high degree of professionalism went into making this film. Directing, acting, score, editing, sound and cinematography are all solid. Special kudos for the spectacular mountain location shooting are in order. Some have questioned the obvious age difference between the "brothers," but I did not find this an issue. Some might argue Tracy's portrayal of Zachary as being 2d, but Zachary is a simple man. He is devout, reserved, almost shy, but with a granite sense of right, and an unshakable devotion to his brother,...untilThe crash site was inevitably going to be a Soundstage set. The lighting of this sequence, along with some obvious matte shots and a frankly amateurish tracking matte shot near the end were jarringly noticeable. I cannot speak to the experience of others, but I detected no issues with the movie's sound.This is no Citizen Kane, but it is a worthwhile investment of 105 minutes. It's the kind of movie that walks around with you for days after, settling in for a long time.

My parents and friends think I'm crazy for liking this movie, but I can't help that. Robert Wagner's character turns people off, and though his character is repellent, it doesn't scare me away from the wonderful scenery and Spencer Tracy's marvellous performance. My parents can't stand Robert Wagner, and a lot of people think Spencer Tracy to old to be cast as Wagner's brother but I can't imagine anyone else in the role. People shun a lot of Wagner's performances because of the rumors about him and Natalie Wood, but I like to give him the benefit of the doubt. Forget about the scandals, and tune in to Spencer Tracy and The Mountain!

I have long awaited 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".The DVD of this film, produced by Olive Films, is a fairly good transfer, although there are some scenes where the color seems to fluctuate...but then again, 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 doesn't get lost in these shortcomings, because Spencer Tracy's acting is superb.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.Robert Wagner was the "pretty boy" in the film, but does reasonably well. The supporting actors are almost irrelevant here, despite some fairly big names (Claire Trevor, for example).A fine film and a different story...well worth viewing.

Released by Paramount Pictures. Filmed in VistaVision. Good film.

Good flic

If you are a fan of Tracy or Wagner, we recommend this movie which has a moral.

Saw this movie when 15 at the local cinema way back in 1956 and was enthralled by it. It's still an excellent watch today despite the absurdity of having Robert Wagner, at least 30 years junior to Spencer Tracy, as his brother. It's not Wagner's fault. He's cast as the irresponsible one, totally unlike his dogged elder bro, and he makes a fair fist of it. However, the age disparity remains a mite disconcerting.It still matters not a lot because it's Tracy's movie anyway. It must have been a tough shoot for him, not just for the literally cliffhanger moments (of course he wouldn't have been filmed without help via studio know-how and director Edward Dmytryk builds up the tension superbly) but getting into character would have been a challenge, even for him. For a start he is playing a Swiss peasant. Without resorting to a funny accent (as he did for his Oscar-winning turn as a Portuguese fisherman in Captains Courageous nearly 20 years earlier) he asserts his reputation for being one of Hollywood's finest and adaptable actors by convincing us he really is said peasant. He is a retired climber and guide compelled to go once more up the inhospitable mountain (which looms over his shepherd hut, and winter is approaching) despite his dread and superstition of it.Anna Kashfi is way down the cast list and if remembered at all it's because she was once married to Marlon Brando. Her cameo is actually quite touching.Without CGI backup the special effects range from obvious to surprisingly good, but it's the story which carries the viewer along.The Blu-ray transfer is vivid. The colours are wonderful, especially in the occasional real locations.CAUTION:-Unfortunately my first acquired copy stop-started more and more making it frustrating and hard work to get to the end of the movie. Advertised as region B (UK compatible) Blu-ray I suspect that it was more of an A-B-C "regionless" issue which proved unsuitable for my normally reliable Panasonic, or maybe the disc was just defective, so I've had to return it. Please exercise caution when it comes to region codes anyhow.

classic film. Don 't be watching it for technical "accuracies"..just sit back and enjoy a real classic!

Great old movie, bit slow on arriving so 4 stars

My last review of this was rejected.

A plane has crashed on a high mountain plateau, there are no survivors and it is decided it is better to wait until spring before sending a recovery team.Robert Wagner has other ideas, he wants to scavenge the wreckage for money and jewelery but can't make the climb without the help of his older brother (Spencer Tracy), a man who knows the mountain better than anyone. He is of course horrified that his younger sibling wants to rob the dead passengers but knows without his help his brother will die in the climb.An excellent drama.