The Mountain

I don't know why I had "The Mountain" in my Netflix queue (this is true of many of the titles in the queue), but there it was.  So, I watched it and its awesomeness knocked me on my ass!  This is an incredible action flick from the mid-50s.

 

Spencer Tracy is not the action hero type.  He plays this role in much the same way as his turn in "Bad Day at Black Rock" (watch it if you haven't!).  In this, he plays a former mountain climber who just wants to raise his sheep and get old.  His younger brother is an absolute shithead.  One day, a passenger plane crashes in the mountains near their town.  When a rescue team is unable to scale the mountain, the younger brother decides to go up the mountain and loot the wreckage.  In order to ensure his brother's survival, Tracy agrees to guide him up the mountain.  Family drama and high altitude action ensue.

 

I think it's a credit to Spencer Tracy's talent that he is able to be a convincing mountain climber despite being a tubby and extremely old man scaling a series of movie sets.  He is so committed to his character that I never doubted for a second that he was a world class climber.

 

Credit also goes to Robert Wagner as the sleazy, younger brother.  He is just the worst.  His performance really stretches even Tracy's acting.  It's hard to believe at times that Tracy would ever try to save this guy. 

 

But he does try, and it makes for some fantastic alpine adventure.  The climbing scenes can be pretty tense and the few (main actor-less) location shots are beautiful.  But the matte work deserves a special note.  Whether it is matted photographs or occasional paintings, there are many great shots that make it feel as if the actors are really hanging 2000 feet off the side of a mountain.

 

This movie was a welcome surprise.  Many of these old action films can be a bit hokey, but not "The Mountain."  This is the real deal and would make an excellent double feature with "The Eiger Sanction."

 

7 out of 10