Before the high-tech advancements of Fiberglas, aluminum poles, release bindings and artificial powder, it was a simpler time in the world of winter sports: It was just you, your skis and the snow that lay ahead. Rounding up works produced in the 1940s, '50s, '60s and '70s by iconic ski-film director John Jay, this retrospective sampler offers a nostalgic look at what's called "the golden age of American skiing."
Beginning in picturesque Taos, New Mexico in the Sangre de Cristo Mountain Range Jay continues on a laugh a minute cruise through Vail and Aspen, Colorado; Klosters and Zermatt, Switzerland; Japan; Sun Valley, Idaho; Mount Snow, Vermont; Persia; and New Zealand.
Known for his commentary-laden chronicles of key moments in winter sports history, the late John Jay is considered by many to be the founding father of the modern-day ski film.
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.
Famous skier Otto Lang is featured in a short documentary filmed at Mt. Whitney and Mt. Baker, and premiered on 4 February 1938 at Radio City Music Hall with NYC screenings of Disney's Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs (1937).
A film about three ski-bums (Run Funk, Mike Zuetell and Ed Ricks) that are followed by another ski bum (Dick Barrymore),with a 16mm Bolex camera, who filmed a four-month part of their nomadic and vanishing-breed way of life across four continents.
Just before the advent of the Great Depression, Henry Ford controlled the most important company in the most important industry in the booming American economy.
When an arranged marriage brings Ada and her spirited pre-teen daughter Flora to the wilderness of 19th-century New Zealand, she finds herself locked in a battle of wills with both her controlling husband and a rugged frontiersman to whom she develops a forbidden attraction.
Wrongfully convicted of murdering his wife and sentenced to death, Richard Kimble escapes from the law in an attempt to find the real killer and clear his name.
An interesting attempt at a postmodern crazy comedy with elements of parody. The plot turns on the search for the recipe of a liqueur made by the film’s financial backer.
Loving but irresponsible dad Daniel Hillard, estranged from his exasperated spouse, is crushed by a court order allowing only weekly visits with his kids.
As part of the film's promotion, a mockumentary was aired on HBO. Titled Hearts of Hot Shots! Part Deux—A Filmmaker's Apology, the mockumentary parodied Hearts of Darkness: A Filmmaker's Apocalypse, the 1991 documentary about the making of the film Apocalypse Now (which starred Charlie Sheen's father, Martin Sheen).
He is a writer and Ángela, a mature woman, is his domestic employee. Since he can't find inspiration, he decides to accompany her on her work day to other houses.
