Snowbound * (1948, Robert Newton, Dennis Price, Herbert Lom, Stanley Holloway, Marcel Dalio, Mila Parély, Guy Middleton) – Classic Movie Review 13,434

The 1948 British thriller film Snowbound is based on the novel The Lonely Skier by Hammond Innes, and stars Robert Newton, Dennis Price, Herbert Lom, Stanley Holloway, Marcel Dalio, Mila Parély and Guy Middleton.

Director David MacDonald’s 1948 British black and white thriller film Snowbound is based on the novel The Lonely Skier by Hammond Innes, and stars Robert Newton, Dennis Price, Herbert Lom, Stanley Holloway, Marcel Dalio, Mila Parély and Guy Middleton.

Robert Newton stars as British film director Derek Engles, who prepares to shoot a scene when he recognises Neil Blair (Dennis Price), an extra on his set.

Snowbound is vaguely entertaining but these are rather silly, creaky, unconvincing snow shenanigans, with film extra Dennis Price sent to the Swiss Alps ostensibly to write a film script, but really to find buried Nazi treasure. Mila Parély, Herbert Lom and Guy Middleton all have the same idea and everyone congregates in a ski lodge in the Dolomites. Who will triumph?

Stanley Holloway pops up as Price’s assistant in this daft tale with a screenplay by David Evans and Keith Campbell based on the 1947  Hammond Innes novel The Lonely Skier. The decent cast is its best recommendation, and they try hard, as always, and some of them are quite amusing.

A location unit was sent to shoot exteriors in the French Alps. Otherwise, it was shot in the studio at Lime Grove Studios in Shepherd’s Bush, west London, in July 1947.

The story may be unconvincing but it was based on real events when the Nazis hid much of the gold they had looted during World War Two. Former Nazis were among the treasure hunters who arrived in the Alps to try to recover the gold after the war.

The cast

The cast are Robert Newton as Derek Engles, Dennis Price as Neil Blair, Stanley Holloway as Joe Wesson, Herbert Lom as Von Kellerman, alias Keramikos, Marcel Dalio as Stefano Valdini, Mila Parély as Carla Rometta, Willy Fueter as innkeeper Aldo, Guy Middleton as Gilbert Mayne, Richard Molinas as rental agent Mancini, Catherina Ferraz as innkeeper’s wife Emilia,  Gilbert Davis as Commissionaire, Massino Coen as Auctioneer, S Rositer Shepherd as Lawyer, Lionel Grose as Corporal Holtz, William Price as Stelben, and Zena Marshall as Italian Girl.

Snowbound is directed by David MacDonald, runs 90 minutes, is made by Gainsborough Pictures, is released by General Film Distributors (UK) and RKO Radio Pictures (US), is written by David Evans and Keith Campbell, is shot in black and white by Stephen Dade and Reg Johnson, is produced by Aubrey Baring (executive) and Sydney Box, is scored by Cedric Thorpe Davie, and is designed by Maurice Carter and George Provis.

Release date: 3 May 1948.

© Derek Winnert 2025 – Classic Movie Review 13,434

Check out more reviews on http://derekwinnert.com