Snowbound (1948)

Expected more

Admirable film.

It's a feast for the eyes. But what really makes this dramedy work is the acting.

The story, direction, characters, and writing/dialogue is akin to taking a tranquilizer shot to the neck, but everything else was so well done.

A good cast occasionally lift the material in this otherwise routine adaptation of a Hammond Innes novel about a group of characters staying in a skiing hut who are involved in a mystery that turns out to be a hunt for hidden Nazi gold. The film suffers from over-obvious and occasionally poor plotting that turns it into a turgid experience at times, so thank goodness the cast elevate it with their performances.Dennis Price headlines the production as an amateur sleuth sent by Robert Newton to find out what's going on at the aforementioned hut. Once there he discovers a bunch of suspicious characters including Guy Middleton, Stanley Holloway, the ubiquitous Herbert Lom, and the lovely Mila Parely. Unfortunately Price's protagonist is so dumb that he goes around openly questioning the suspects and nearly ends up dead as a result. At least it springs to life for the frankly unbelievable climax.

Robert Newton was the selling point here but is woefully underused and after recruiting Dennis Price as a spy at the start he disappears for the major part of the running time leaving the lion's share of the screen to journeyman actors like Price and Guy Middleton. Best of the rest is Herbert Lom, the closest in talent to Newton. It's something of a Boy's Own Paper yarn albeit one with a factual premise; with the end of the war clearly inevitable the Nazis began frantically shipping plunder, in the form of priceless art, gold and even cash, either out of Europe altogether or at least well hidden within Europe and, inevitably there are those who know of it and would like to find it. This is your plot and all you need now is a motley crew to do the searching. Apart from the criminal under use of Newton it's not too hard to take.

The story is far-fetched, to say the least. Movie director Engles (Newton) picks extra Blair (Price) to keep an eye on people congregating at a ski hut for some sinister purpose. How does Engles know about this gathering? Never explained. What is Blair's sole qualification for this cloak-and-dagger job? He served under Engles in the Second World War and can be trusted. Blair blatantly questions all of the suspects, letting them know they're under his clumsy surveillance. Carla, the sole female in the bunch, promptly falls in love with him, despite her rather checkered past. Engles later stupidly shows up by himself to confront this varied bunch of cutthroats at the isolated hut. Von Kellerman (Lom), an unrepentant Nazi, blurts out the entire story without much prompting (or incentive), saying, "Why not?" The action picks up at the end and everything is sort of resolved in a ridiculous and unbelievable way.There's plenty of skiing scenes, if you're into that sort of thing. Otherwise, don't waste your time on this tripe.

Here is a very enjoyable (and very underrated) little thriller from the golden age of British movie-making. I really don't think you could ask for much more when given an interesting story, an excellent cast and solid production values. It's one of those nice films that it is very difficult not to like.Special mention must be made of the superb cinematography of Stephen Dade and the beautiful sets. These contributions will linger in your memory long after you see the picture.I would have liked to see a little more of Robert Newton since he always gives an enjoyable performance, but that is only a minor quibble.Seek this one out.