| Die weiße Hölle vom Piz Palü | |
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A promotional film poster for "Die weiße Hölle vom Piz Palü" |
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| Directed by | Arnold Fanck Georg Wilhelm Pabst |
| Produced by | Harry R. Sokal |
| Written by | Arnold Fanck Ladislaus Vajda |
| Starring | Leni Riefenstahl Gustav Diessl Ernst Petersen Ernst Udet |
| Music by | Willy Schmidt-Gentner |
| Cinematography | Sepp Allgeier Richard Angst Hans Schneeberger |
| Editing by | Arnold Fanck Hermann Haller |
| Distributed by | H. R. Sokal-Film GmbH |
| Release date(s) | November 15, 1929 (Germany) |
| Running time | 150 min. (original version) |
| Country | Weimar Republic |
| Language | German |
The White Hell of Pitz Palu (German: Die weiße Hölle vom Piz Palü) is a 1929 silent mountain film directed by Arnold Fanck and Georg Wilhelm Pabst and starring future filmmaker Leni Riefenstahl and World War I flying ace Ernst Udet.
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The wife of alpinist Dr Johannes Krafft (Gustav Diessl) dies after a crevasse fall. It is implied that the accident was due to his negligence. Ten years later the newlywed Karl Stern (Ernst Petersen) and Maria Majoni (Leni Riefenstahl) arrive in an alpine hut near St. Moritz. They meet Dr Krafft who is obsessed with the death of his wife and is still searching for her in the mountains. Together they depart to climb Piz Palü, not knowing that a storm is approaching. Trapped in the mountain and with Stern having broken his leg they are forced to spend the night on a small ledge. Dr Krafft who had given his coat to Karl does not survive until the next morning. Eventually the aviator Ernst Udet (played by himself), who is also a friend of Karl and Maria, finds the couple. He alerts the rescuers who eventually safely escort Karl and Maria back to the valley.
The film was shot from January to June 1929 in the Bernina Range in the Alps. Work was divided between the two directors. Arnold Fanck was responsible for the location shots in the mountains, Georg Wilhelm Pabst was responsible for the indoor shots and was advising Fanck in matters of dramaturgy. The set design was by Ernö Metzner, the cinematography by Fanck's long-time collaborators Sepp Allgeier, Richard Angst and Hans Schneeberger. Fanck would continue to work with actors Leni Riefenstahl and Ernst Udet in the films Stürme über dem Montblanc and S.O.S. Eisberg.
On October 11, 1929 the film premiered in Vienna. In Germany the film had its premiere in the same year on November 1 in Stuttgart. The official German premiere was on November 15, 1929 in Berlin. In the first four weeks the film was seen by more than 100,000 people at the UFA Palast in Berlin, at this time Germany's largest and most important movie theater.
In 1930 a sound film version in English was released internationally. In 1935 a German sound film version with a film score by Giuseppe Becce was produced. The film was shortened to 90 minutes. With the Nazis in power since 1933, the Jewish-sounding name "Karl Stern" was changed into "Hans Brandt". All scenes with the Jewish actor Kurt Gerron, who was murdered in Auschwitz concentration camp in 1944, were cut from this release. A remake was produced in 1950 under the title Föhn by Rolf Hansen, starring Hans Albers and Liselotte Pulver.
The original version of Die weiße Hölle vom Piz Palü was lost until 1996. The film was restored in 1997 by the German Federal Film Archive. The original film score by Willy Schmidt-Gentner is still lost.[2]
The film was well received both critically and commercially. Several film historians cite it as Fanck's most successful picture critically and Riefenstahl's as an actress. It also became the second biggest box office hit of the year in Germany.[3]
In the New York Times, Mordaunt Hall wrote that "Leni Riefenstahl is convincing", remarking on "a swift undercurrent of tenseness and anticipation that carries one along through the avalanches, up the precipitous and threatening mountainside and finally to the climax of the rescue."[3]
Both Pabst and Riefenstahl are referenced in Quentin Tarantino's Inglourious Basterds. In Tarantino's film, the movie is just ending its run as the feature attraction advertised on the marquee of Le Gamaar cinema (in French: L'Enfer Blanc du Piz Palu), with a German-language billboard of Weisse Hölle vom Piz Palü above it. Also, when questioned by an SS officer regarding his unusual accent, disguised British soldier Archie Hicox (Michael Fassbender) claims to hail from Piz Palü, and that he and his family were cast as extras in the film.
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