The White Stadium is a documentary about the second Winter Olympics, held in St. Moritz Switzerland in 1928. As such, it is an important historical document. But it is also a great artistic statement and proved to be an enormous influence on many later movies. Most of the movie's success can be attributed to its co-director, Arnold Fanck, who was the creator of the German "mountain movie" genre (yes, that really was a thing.) Not content to merely record the athletic events, the camera often cuts away to the surrounding scenery. While some people may be bored by this, the cinematography is so gorgeous I was rarely less than enthralled.
The movie has an interesting structure. Almost a half hour goes by before the Olympics even begin. (BTW, the IMDB listed runtime is incorrect. The movie is actually about 123 minutes long.) The first part is just about the town and the athletes getting ready for the event. There is even an odd interlude featuring a mostly nude couple skiing through the mountains. Then, there is the opening ceremonies which took place in a blizzard. The rest of the movie is, naturally, filled up with the competitions. Highlights include what may be the first movie appearance of Sonja Henie, an absolutely brutal hockey game between Canada and Switerzland and the only Olympic appearance of skijoring, a horse race across a frozen lake where the riders are on skis behind the horses. The cinematography is uniformly excellent (if sometimes a bit distant)with lots of use of slow motion and even some trick photography. And there is even some sly humor from time to time.
An interesting side note: the next year Fanck would direct Leni Riefenstahl in The White Hell of Pitz Palu. Reifenstahl must have been paying attention to what Fanck was doing. Not only would she go on to direct a mountain movie of her own but also Olympiad, which has long been held to be the first great Olympics documentary. With the reappearance of The White Stadium (it was considered to be a lost movie until 2011) it may be time to reconsider that claim and to reevaluate Fanck's influence on Reifenstahl.
An interesting side note: the next year Fanck would direct Leni Riefenstahl in The White Hell of Pitz Palu. Reifenstahl must have been paying attention to what Fanck was doing. Not only would she go on to direct a mountain movie of her own but also Olympiad, which has long been held to be the first great Olympics documentary. With the reappearance of The White Stadium (it was considered to be a lost movie until 2011) it may be time to reconsider that claim and to reevaluate Fanck's influence on Reifenstahl.