The Basic Principles of Skiing
Shot in 1941, this black-and-white instructional film (featuring actor Alan Ladd) serves as a veritable time capsule on the history of the sport, with advice on ski design, schussing, lacquer, wax and toe plates.
Cold Feet
A wealthy father tries to discourage his daughter's taste for stories of the Mounted; her imagination conjures up the ideal lover as one who wears that red coat and whose slogan is "get your man." She arrives at her father's camp in the frozen North the victim of a frameup: her father had planned that his employees must discourage her in every manner possible. The idea is if she sees him she will be disillusioned. A few hunters spying the "wolves" shoot with intent to kill, and a real bear enters the hut and scatters the plotters. The scheme works well, even with all these inconveniences, until a genuine Mountie appears on the scene and administers punishment to the arch-villain and his dwarf-like henchman. As a result the girl's romantic imagination vindicates her beau ideal. The two lovers are last seen standing chest-deep in the snow.
Alpine Refuges
Documentary on alpine refuges and the life of mountaineers. The film begins with images recreating vintage mountain climbers that end up spending a night in a fortune shelter. Then the scene is linked with images of a current refuge and explains how refuges are today, showing models and images of real refuges and explaining how life is in them and the role they play in mountaineering. The film was produced in 1942 by the Instituto Nazionale Luce during the Italian Fascist regime.
Midwinter Sports in Quebec
Quebec stands 200 feet above the lower town, dominating the entire landscape. Along Duffern Terrace there runs the toboggan slide, which at night is brilliantly illuminated. Also there are ski-jumping contests that will give thrills of pleasure. Snow-shoe hiking is popular with those who prefer it, and many a cross-country hike is taken on snow five feet deep or more. Then, too, there are dog sled races, curling-club matches, coasting and tea dances. The pictures of these sports were taken while the thermometer registered from ten to thirty degrees below zero. Besides sports there are many historical points of interest in Quebec. The Chateau Frontenac, overlooking the Duffern Terrace, the lower city and ice-choked St. Lawrence River, stands on the site of the historic Fort Louis, former stronghold of the French and English governors of the Province of Quebec. The famous battlefield where the English general Wolfe died is a particular point of interest.
Operation White Tower
Brad and Barbara Washburn were filmed by National Geographic and RKO Pictures on their ascent of Mount McKinley in Alaska. The film is a pictorial record of the first scientific conquest of Mount McKinley, filmed with the cooperation of the Boston Museum of Science. The short is part of the RKO's 'This is America' documentary series.