SOURCE: Hinton, David B. “The Blue Light and the Mountain Films.” In The Films of Leni Riefenstahl, Second Edition, pp. 1-24. London: Scarecrow Press, 1991.

In the following essay, Hinton recounts Riefenstahl's emergence into the world of filmmaking—first as an actress and later as a director—and presents an overview of the preproduction history of Riefenstahl's directorial debut, The Blue Light.

Although Leni Riefenstahl's directorial career did not begin until 1931 with her first feature film, The Blue Light, she had already been in films for more than five years. She began her film career as the star actress in the films of Dr. Arnold Fanck, the founder of the “mountain film” genre so important to the German cinema during the 1920's and 1930's.

Forgotten today in his native Germany and neglected in most film histories, Dr. Fanck is nevertheless one of the most colorful figures in German film...