Le drame du Mont Cervin

Original title: Der Kampf ums Matterhorn

1928
1h 57m

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This Alpine thriller is based on the story of English climber Edward Whymper who vies with Jean-Antoine Carrel, an Italian mountain guide, to conquer the Matterhorn.This Alpine thriller is based on the story of English climber Edward Whymper who vies with Jean-Antoine Carrel, an Italian mountain guide, to conquer the Matterhorn.This Alpine thriller is based on the story of English climber Edward Whymper who vies with Jean-Antoine Carrel, an Italian mountain guide, to conquer the Matterhorn.

See production info at IMDbPro

IMDb RATING

7.0/10

YOUR RATING

See production info at IMDbPro

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7richardchatten

Man Against Mountain

Ninety years on, mountaineers rather than mountains remain the true focus of interest in movies claiming to be about mountains, as the recent 'Mountain' (2017) attests.

Despite the beautiful shots of mountains and even more beautiful shots of clouds liberally sprinkled throughout the movie, 'Der Kampf ums Matterhorn' devotes more time to the petulent face of Luis Trenker as Jean-Antoine Carrel than to the mountains which he treats as enemies to be conquered - along with rival mountaineers like Edward Whymper - rather than sources of wonder and beauty (when Wymper & Carrel finally reach the summit of the Matterhorn, the camera concentrates on them rather than on the incredible view that their expedition are the first men ever to see).

The following year the brief but vivid scenes of Trenker skiing at night through the ice carrying a torch would be exploited to far greater effect - and at the service of a much stronger story - in 'Die Weisse Holle von Piz Paulu'.

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Trivia
This film was released on 9.5mm by Pathescope around 1952, it was retitled as Drama on the Matterhorn. and was a 3-reeler, silent, running about 36min. as I recall the print quality was excellent and the photography great. As a drama the film, although silent, was eminently watchable, however, I added a music track which added greatly to the film's appeal. Well worth seeing if the opportunity arises.

Alternate versions
The surviving French and Italian release versions both contain only Acts 1 to 6 of the original 9 'Acts', ending on the reconciliation and friendship between Carrel and Whymper. The last portion of the film showing the eventual climb of the Matterhorn was excluded - possibly because depicting a British expedition defeating the Italians was seen as too politically sensitive at the time of release.