A few years before Leni Riefenstahl became a card-carrying member of the 'I Love Hiter Fan Club', this German actress, aviatrix and director carved out a bizarre little niche for herself. Although she only acted in less than a dozen films, I can easily think of four in which the film was set in the frozen wilds! "SOS Iceberg", "The White Hell of Pitz Palu", "White Ecstasy" and "Avalanche" all starred Riefenstahl--and she made them one after the other!
"Avalanche" (also known "Storm Over Mont Blanc") begins in the Alps with some lovely shots. However, some of the footage also looks like it's stock footage and shot using silent stock, as the speed is too fast (a common problem in the early sound era, as silent film is projected at a speed slightly slower than sound--and when the two are combined, the silent shots appear to be moving too quickly). Despite this problem, the film is quite lovely a few of the shots are amazing--and you have to admire the film crew's persistence in getting these difficult shots in the snow on top of a mountain! There is another problem with this footage, however, and it's much more serious. It seemed as if the film makers were on holiday and filmed a lot of unimportant stuff that didn't further the story at all. Wanting to get the most of their holiday snaps, they decided to put ALL of it in the film. It made the film look padded and cheap--which is a shame, as SOME of the footage was great. It also didn't seem to have any plot for the longest time--and what plot it had was quite tenuous! Plus, some of the sound (in particular the engine of the airplane) sounded bizarre and dominated the shots in which it appeared. It was very obviously and clumsily added later. You'd think the folks at AAFA-Film would have done better, as the German film industry was among the world's best during the silent era. Here, they clearly were making a second-rate film.
Overall, the film is hardly worth your time--and I rarely say things like this. It just isn't well made and has little traditional narrative. Plus, some of Riefenstahl's later snow films were very, very good...but not this one. In so many ways this film IS "SOS Iceberg" when it comes to the plot--though this latter film is so much better. You can, however, admire some of the camera work--as some of the shots are amazingly artistic. At least in this sense the film is a success.
