Just as the Yeti in the film stood head and shoulders over the humans, so this film stands head and shoulders over most of the horror/monster films of the 1950's.
You wouldn't think so from reading the reviews at the time though; one reviewer thought it too subtle, but that could be another way of describing it as intelligent and stylish, the qualities that make it so watchable 60 years later. The film was also saddled with a poor trailer (it's on YouTube). Obviously the marketing people didn't think the film monsterish enough; the trailer gives totally the wrong impression.
British botanist, John Rollason (Peter Cushing), along with his wife Helen (Maureen Connell) and assistant, Peter Fox (Richard Wattis) arrive at the monastery of Long Buk as the guests of the head lama. They are searching for rare plants. A team of American adventurers led by Doctor Tom Friend (Forrest Tucker) also arrives, but this party is searching for the legendary Yeti.
The Americans, Tom Friend and his associate, big game hunter Ed Shelley, are loud, brash and totally ruthless as far as preservation of the Yeti is concerned. The members of the British contingent on the other hand are masters of understatement, impeccably mannered and respectful of all life including the Yeti. This was a British film after all.
Although obviously shot on a sound stage, the monastery scenes are effective replete with gongs, monks and a head lama in deep meditation. What really gives the film visual substance are the snow-covered mountain climbing sequences; they were apparently shot in the Pyrénées, but a mountain is a mountain, and these scenes open out the film.
Eventually, Rollason accompanies Friend on his quest in the interests of science, and without spoiling things too much, they encounter the Yeti. However the outcome is unexpected and gives this film the edge over the mostly cheesy monster movies of the day.
There is a touch of Val Lewton style about this film; it has plenty of mood and there is no rush to reveal the 'monster' with the best effects left to the imagination.
You wouldn't think so from reading the reviews at the time though; one reviewer thought it too subtle, but that could be another way of describing it as intelligent and stylish, the qualities that make it so watchable 60 years later. The film was also saddled with a poor trailer (it's on YouTube). Obviously the marketing people didn't think the film monsterish enough; the trailer gives totally the wrong impression.
British botanist, John Rollason (Peter Cushing), along with his wife Helen (Maureen Connell) and assistant, Peter Fox (Richard Wattis) arrive at the monastery of Long Buk as the guests of the head lama. They are searching for rare plants. A team of American adventurers led by Doctor Tom Friend (Forrest Tucker) also arrives, but this party is searching for the legendary Yeti.
The Americans, Tom Friend and his associate, big game hunter Ed Shelley, are loud, brash and totally ruthless as far as preservation of the Yeti is concerned. The members of the British contingent on the other hand are masters of understatement, impeccably mannered and respectful of all life including the Yeti. This was a British film after all.
Although obviously shot on a sound stage, the monastery scenes are effective replete with gongs, monks and a head lama in deep meditation. What really gives the film visual substance are the snow-covered mountain climbing sequences; they were apparently shot in the Pyrénées, but a mountain is a mountain, and these scenes open out the film.
Eventually, Rollason accompanies Friend on his quest in the interests of science, and without spoiling things too much, they encounter the Yeti. However the outcome is unexpected and gives this film the edge over the mostly cheesy monster movies of the day.
There is a touch of Val Lewton style about this film; it has plenty of mood and there is no rush to reveal the 'monster' with the best effects left to the imagination.