In April of 1934, the Houston-Westland expedition flew over Mount Everest, clearing the peak by a few feet. It was one of those British because-it-was-there things to do, financed by Lady Houston to demonstrate that Britain still had gumption, and executed by a couple of younger aristos who, when asked how it was said "All right." Well, that was clearly worth a young fortune. British Gaumont made a movie about it, and it won an Oscar in 1936 for Best Short Subject (novelty).
The version I looked at was 40 minutes in length, clearly longer than the reported 21-minute version that won, co-directed by Ivor Montagu and Geoffrey Barkas. There are some interesting camera angles and compositions early on, but the narration is flat and uninvolving. It isn't until the fellows are sitting around discussing how they propose to do this thing that it takes on a bit of life, one of those moments when the audience seems to be eavesdropping. After that, it's some incomprehensible technical problems, people going into a tent that seems to be a huge building once you're inside, and the
The version I looked at was 40 minutes in length, clearly longer than the reported 21-minute version that won, co-directed by Ivor Montagu and Geoffrey Barkas. There are some interesting camera angles and compositions early on, but the narration is flat and uninvolving. It isn't until the fellows are sitting around discussing how they propose to do this thing that it takes on a bit of life, one of those moments when the audience seems to be eavesdropping. After that, it's some incomprehensible technical problems, people going into a tent that seems to be a huge building once you're inside, and the