cmcastl As I watched it for Alida Valli and for no other reason. I am no expert on mountain-climbing but the howlers there must be for any self-respecting mountain-climber who watches this film. They would, I imagine, be shouting at the screen! Such a rag-bag of a climbing team was setting itself up for fall, literally for a fall. And anyway, when the film was set, unlike the film suggests, just after the War, no major Alpine climbs, so far as I know, had not been achieved. So, by way of example, Glenn Ford decides to go for the final ascent without the snow-blindness glasses that Valli offers him? What then happens to him? He almost succumbs to snow-blindness. I am no expert on mountain-climbing but just how dumb is that?I don't know how good the source material was but the script is pretty poor and the marvellous actors, Alida Valli, Glenn Ford, Oskar Homolka, Sir Cedric Hardwicke, Lloyd Bridges, and, of course, the inimitable Paul Raines struggle with it and through their combined performances something altogether better emerges.Would you climb the highest mountain for a lady like Alida Valli? I would and I can't stand heights! Watch it for Alida Valli, one of the most beautiful ladies ever to be captured on celluloid. The majority of actresses past and present have their brief season in the sun because of their publicity departments. In the history of cinema and genuinely beautiful leading ladies, Valli, along with Greta Garbo, is forever.Watch this film for Valli.

Xjayhawker As a film buff,I enjoy who is in this..but as a film lover, I just have to forget some illogical situations..a part played by Lloyd Bridges which may or may not have influenced his acting in High Noon two years later..young gun..so to speak..a young guy who thinks he is superior to the older guy or anyone else..and in each film..gets his comeuppance..albeit in two different ways..but still..beaten..charming Glen Ford..really was a subdued scene- stealer..Valli..the beauty..used here as an anchor of sorts..she's doing it for her dead father..Ford is doing it for her..and everyone doing this climb for their own reasons..but I do have a problem with the climb itself..Swiss Alps?..blowing..snow..near-blizzard conditions..cold..oh so cold..cold enough that you can sit outside in the night cold..just sitting and thinking about your life or lack of one..or later..climbing without your glasses because they are broken and you don't have another pair along for the climb..climbing without gloves in the freezing Alps..with your bare hands while circumventing the dangerous narrow path..getting snow blindness in the process and lest I forget..two people falling in love and getting hitched..see it for the cinematography..not for the plot holes..Oscar Holmolka..Sir Cedrick Hardwick..what's not to like..but I would only say see this when there's not much else on..it's a diversion and you can come up with your own plot holes..and Claude Raines..who shouldn't be climbing any mountains at all and you have a somewhat disjointed movie..unlikely team of climbers doing implausible things..but individually..you know you like the characters from what they did before and after this..and you are hoping this is a good outing..but overall you will be dis-appointed with this..but the high up there scenery is worth looking at..Nuff said..

blanche-2 Because it's there - well, I suppose that's a good enough reason to climb a mountain. It was motivation enough to climb Everest. However, in "The White Tower" everyone has a different reason for wanting to climb a magnificent mountain peak in the Swiss Alps that defeated the father of Carla Alten (Valli), a young woman whose goal in climbing is closure. Glenn Ford, as Ordway, is finally convinced to take the climb - his goal is Valli. And so it goes, as six climbers start on a ascent to the top.This is a gorgeous Technicolor film that was intended to be seen in a theater. The scenery is magnificent, and the cast of climbers is excellent: Ford, Valli, Claude Rains, Lloyd Bridges, Oscar Homolka, and Cedric Hardwicke. Like Walter Slezak in "Lifeboat," Bridges plays the Aryan Nazi, Hein, who hasn't forgotten his Fuhrer. He puts himself in competition with Ordway (Ford), the American looking for some post-war peace, and he hates Raines and Homolka for being the "weaklings" who are holding the team back. Rains is an alcoholic writer - he is unhappily married and wants to feel again; Hardwicke was a friend of Valli's father and wants to support her quest. Homolka is a reluctant guide who goes on the trip in spite of himself.Valli is much more vivacious and outdoorsy than she was in "The Third Man" or "The Parradine Case." Ford always has such a wonderful quality - shy, with a gentle manner, beautiful smile and that disarming, soft voice - how any woman could resist him is a mystery, though I give Valli credit for trying. He'll be 90 on May 1, bless his heart. The film has some suspenseful moments and is definitely worth a watch.

Inkwell765 About the color anyway. I enjoyed this movie, especially Lloyd Bridges Nazi mountainclimber. But I only saw it in black & white, on video yet! That's right my Turner Home Entertainment copy (out of print apparently) of this film is black & white, and them being the Colorizaion Kings! Go figure.