While waiting for Gary - a card carrying Fossil - to arrive for some rock climbing I sat down to a bit of history.
I watched the first half of Storm Over Mount Blanc. It is available from Netflix, and it is famous and interesting on several levels. First it was produced and directed by Arnold Fanck in 1930. Aside from working during the period of incredible creativity in German film (during the time of Metroplolis and Cabinet of Dr. Caligari) he was the originator of the Bergfilm, and was the inspiration for everything from Warren Miller's ski films to the Eiger Sanction. Second, the film features dancer-actress Leni Rifenstahl who starred in all his climbing and skiing films. (She - however - is controversial, some would say infamous, for her work on Triumph of Will and Olympia that she did for the Nazis.) Third, the film was shot during the transition period between silent and sound, and as the sound equipment was so cumbersome, in this film it was mostly used in the non-mountain scenes. Fourth, there is some spectacular skiing and flying footage. (While we make take bush-pilots for granted now on our way to Denali, mountain flying and landing on glaciers was pretty new back in 1930.) Fifth, and finally, the mountain scenery is amazing.
I am even giving some thought to an article for a magazine with the working title, "Netflix: a history of climbing."
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