11 - Hans Ertl, My Wild Thirties (1982), Chapter 7: “The Film Gets Colorized—But the Himalaya Still Looks Bleak”

Summary

Translator’s Introduction

Film And The Himalaya—these are two of the focal points in the long and colorful life of mountaineer, author, cameraman, and director Hans Ertl, one of the most fascinating and polarizing figures in the German climbing and cinematography communities of the interwar years. Born on February 21, 1908, in Munich, and belonging to the original “Bergvagabunden” (mountain vagabonds), a group of young Bavarian climbers pursuing their mountaineering dreams despite very meager financial means during the years of the Great Depression, Ertl forged his rock climbing skills at Buchenhain, a natural climbing area on the banks of the Isar River, together with Franz and Toni Schmid, Otto Eidenschink, Franz Fischer, Anderl Heckmair, and Leo Rittler during the second half of the 1920s. He made his early mountaineering mark with the first ascent of the north faces of the Königsspitze (3,859 m/12,661 ft.) in 1930 and the Ortler (3,899 m/12,792 ft.) in 1931, respectively, followed by the second ascent of the north face of the Dent d’Hérens (4,174 m/13,694 ft.) the same year. One year later, in 1932, against the express wish of his father, who wanted him to pursue his studies at the Technical University in Munich, Ertl joined the production team of famed mountain film director Dr. Arnold Fanck’s S.O.S. Eisberg (S.O.S. Iceberg, 1933) in Greenland as an “ice specialist” and stunt double for the film’s female protagonist, Leni Riefenstahl. Fanck’s artistry left a lasting impression on the young Ertl and served as the foundation for his own future as cameraman and director:

This was artistic cinematography in perfection; and although my Swiss comrades and I had to move silver or gold reflectors for days on end, I was fascinated by everything that was going on. For hours after work, I entered scene upon scene in my diary, noted the use of various reflectors, lenses, and filters as well as the position of the sun and made exact entries about each scene segment in connection with the dialogue. I was completely obsessed with this activity and had no scruples regarding my role as “industrial spy”! I was set on soon making my own films!

Ertl continued to develop his new craft under Fanck’s tutelage during the production of Der ewige Traum (The Eternal Dream, 1934) in 1933 before joining Prof.