Reviews (1)

It's good enough, Astrid
So okay, we've all heard of the "forgotten cinematic treasures" that turn out to be a load of cockywocky, but this is the real thing.

The choice of title was unfortunate, but they didn't know that in 1950. "White Tower" is a Hollywood version of the "mountain film", a strange interwar German genre that served as a nursery for people like Leni Riefenstahl. In mountain films, a doomed climbing team composed of varied and conflicting types takes on an "unconquerable" peak, dying one by one on the way up until the only survivor reaches the top to undergo an ineffable mystical experience before freezing to death. (No wonder they lost the war.)

"White Tower" replaces the metaphysics with melodrama, and that's all to the good. The setting is the immediate postwar era, where a burnt-out GI is goaded by an ex-Nazi to join a badly-assorted climbing team. It's all uphill from there.

Glenn Ford (he looks about fourteen) plays the veteran with his usual solidity. Alida Valli, needless to say, is worth seeing in anything. Claude Rains gives a nice turn as a tormented author, with a truly wild-eyed breakdown-on-the-glacier scene ("Is it good enough, Astrid?") But the casting gets interesting with the unique appearance of Oskar Homulka, beloved for decades of portrayals of either Gestapo or KGB thugs (he's lucky the Cold War lasted so long -- he couldn't have passed as an Arab) as a good guy, a rugged, stalwart guide. Balancing this oddity, the ex-SS villain is played by none other than Lloyd Bridges. And he's good, easily overcoming all memories of "Sea Hunt" and "Airplane!".

I have no idea who Tetzlaff was or if he ever made another flick, but he did a solid job with this one. "White Tower" is a perfect example of the kind of film that used to be dismissed as "product" which in retrospect stand head and shoulders above nine-tenths of what's made today. They were good back then, and it's pictures like this one that reveal exactly how good. While it'll never knock "Kane" off the ten-best lists, "White Tower" is worth your time. Track it down before Spielberg or somebody decides to throw together a remake. ... Read more

Reviews (1)

A real sleeper....An old NEW family classic!
William Powell is wonderful in this adaptation of a story abouta poor child, David, that encompasses greed, wealth, poverty, love,and hate. Some old west excitement in California. One of those...why don't they make them like this anymore movies! If you wish to be entertained......this is your movie... ... Read more

Reviews (1)

A dynamic blend of visual and verbal delights.
Pat O'Brien plays a weary but slick detective in Panama, cutting through deception and dodging death while he tries to locate a map of rich oil fields. That's as much story as there is, and if left in Monogram's hands, this film may have been nothing special. But this was made by RKO and directed by Ted Tetzlaff, who brings a grand eye to the proceedings.

Tetzlaff lensed Hitchcock's Notorious, and this is a similarly crafted piece, with good, conspicuous, yet never intrusive direction. Tetzlaff employs well-designed scene transitions, compositions, tracking shots, and the like. In fact, I found the famed silent opening to be the *least* interesting part of the movie.

As with most RKO products of this era, some nifty dialogue is dispersed throughout, although the movie as a whole perks up considerably when the delightful and beautiful Jeffreys is on screen, especially in the wisecracking department. I had not discovered her before this, but she has a grabbing presence, in the type of role more often played by Jane Greer or Ann Sheridan.

O'Brien as our hero is not exactly possessed of a superhero's build, mind or morals, but that works in the context of the story. He's a very human character who is supremely comfortable in these limited surroundings and perhaps nowhere else, although the movie doesn't reveal much background about his Dan Hammer persona. BTW, you've gotta love that hackneyed (Dan Turner, Mike Hammer) PI name! Although I do not think any other self-respecting hard-boiled PI would be caught dead in the fuzzy fedora Pat wears here.

For comic relief there is nice old coot Percy Kilbride as Pat's driver/ sidekick/ boss/ pal/father figure. And if all those words seem to contradict each other, you're right. They do. One funny scene has him entertain Jeffreys in his broken-down cab, which he says also functions as Hammer's waiting room.
Walter Slezak is effective as a wannabe Greenstreet. His part starts out bland but gets more interesting later in the film, benefiting from some framing devices designed to portray him as a cinema grotesque, and as his methods become more brutal.
Handsome but weaselly RKO regular Jerome Cowan is fine in what is basically a throwaway role.

This movie is hurt slightly by the fact that the map everyone seeks was hidden where it was, a place I will not reveal here. But the audience finds out early on, and it lends a slight air of "Oh, come on!" to the whole affair. I know, hiding the great whatsit in plain sight is the best place sometimes, but from its location this particular mcguffin practically tweaked everyone seeking it right on the smeller. There's a good fight over the map near the end, though, so I'm mostly forgiving.

Digressions and miniscule complaints aside, I recommend this along with just about any other RKO movie from the 40's that you can find (which ain't always easy, friend). ... Read more