The White Hell of Pitz Palu
The White Hell of Pitz Palu German Die weisse Hlle vom Piz Pal is a 1929 German silent mountain film codirected by Arnold Fanck and Georg Wilhelm Pabst and starring Leni Riefenstahl, Gustav Diessl, Ernst Petersen, and World War I flying ace Ernst Udet. Written by Arnold Fanck and Ladislaus Vajda, the film is about a man who loses his wife in an avalanche while climbing the Piz Pal mountain, and spends the next few years searching the mountain alone for her body. Four years later he meets a young couple who agree to accompany him on his next climb. The White Hell of Pitz Palu was filmed on location in the Bernina Range in Graubnden, Switzerland. It was remade in 1950.
Four years later, a young coupleMaria Maioni Leni Riefenstahl and her fianc Hans Brandt Ernst Petersenarrive at the DiavolezzaHtte 2977 m preparing to climb Piz Pal. Recently engaged and very much in love, the couple settle in to their remote mountain hut. While paging through the DiavolezzaHtte log, Maria notices an entry forOctober 1925 written by Dr. Johannes Krafft. The entry notes that Maria Krafft died by accident in the Piz Pal glacier. Just then, Krafft arrives at the mountain hut on one of his solitary excursions. Maria offers the lonely man tea, and soon the three become acquainted.The local guide, Christian, arrives and mentions that a group of students from Zurich will be arriving the next day to climb the north face. Disturbed by the news, Krafft prepares to set out once again on his own. After Christian tells Maria that Krafft tried climbing the north face twice and failed because he was alone, she asks Hans if they should let him make the climb alone. The next morning, as Krafft prepares to leave, Hans approaches and offers to accompany the doctor, who accepts. Later when Maria discovers that Hans left with Krafft for the north face, she skiis after the men, catches up with them, and insists that they take her along. Despite the memory of his wifes terrible fate on the mountain, Krafft reluctantly agrees. Together they set off across the pristine snow for the Piz Pal north face. ........
Source: Wikipedia
