[TONGARIRO. NEW ZEALAND’S WINTER PLAYGROUND]

Intertitle: “Southward of the Great Thermal Belt in the North Island of NEW ZEALAND is the wonderful Tongariro National Park, where glistening snow peaks and a rumbling volcano tower thousands of feet above snow-line into glowing azure skies.”

Title: “New Zealand’s Winter Playground --- at the foot of smoking Mt. Ngauruhoe.”
Panning shot of Tongariro and Ngauruhoe.
Intertitles:
“Whakapapa Huts. At the base of Mt. Ruapehu.” Alpinists carrying stretcher of supplies beside huts and tent.
“A week-end party on ski-ing bent.” Skiers leaving from the huts towards the mountain carrying their skis. Resting in the snow of the lower slopes.
“At the great white stadium.” Arriving at a small hut. Man rushes up to another and hugs him.
“Finding their ski legs.” Skiers on a light slope crashing.
“Where even “the seats of the mighty” are liable to wear thin from intimate caress of the snow.” Eight skiers slide in unison, front to back, down slope, various incarnations of the same trick.
“Under the White Mantle -- when the blizzard had passed.” Walking through snow laden trees, woman collecting snow from bush, a pile carried under her arm, snow ball fight.
“Snow-time revels.” All-in snow fight as it snows heavily. Building snowmen. Rolling a up a rather large snowball. Woman putting final touches on snow bear. Fooling about with the snowball.
“At the end of the day.” Two women darning socks.
“And in the after glow --- there is always music--” Large group pretend to play as a band with makeshift horns, drums and strings.
“-- and perhaps a little --” Two men look through binoculars and share a joke. Binocular-vignette of a courting couple seen from behind.
“-- moonshine, when the white night drops down with its frosty glamour over Tongariro National Park.” Sunset.

‘The surviving film (held as F20536 "Tongariro. New Zealand's Winter Playground", and so-named because the main title is missing), is most likely to be "White Mantle", a Government Publicity Office production. The missing end title may well have confirmed this provenance.
General note: "White Mantle" was examined and passed by the New Zealand Film Censor on 11 December, 1926. -- Source for note: Clive Sowry, 'Filmography: Government Films 1922-1941', The Tin Shed: The origins of the National Film Unit, edited by Jonathan Dennis. Wellington: NZFA, 1981, p. 25.

"White Mantle" was filmed by Charles Newham for the New Zealand Government Publicity Office during the annual winter sports meeting of the Ruapehu Ski Club in late August 1926. Members of the forty-strong party that travelled to Ruapehu for the meeting were named in the Wanganui Herald of 20.8.1926, the list including "C. F. Newham".

A private preview screening for those appearing in the then unedited, untitled film was given at Wanganui on 27 September, 1926. A contemporary report described some of the scenes which correspond with those in the surviving film (F20536):
"Other scenes in this excellent film showed members of the party snow-balling each other while a snow-storm was in progress and a young lady "artiste" modelling a man out of snow.  . . . An impromptu jazz-band in action caused a gale of laughter. Each member of the party played an "instrument." Anything from tissue-paper and combs to radio loud-speakers were used and judging from the moving-record, the camp cook must have missed most of his culinary utensils that day. Fortunately the movie camera did not record the noise produced by the weird combination! . . . The final "fade-out" showed the winter sun sinking behind a bank of snow clouds silhouetting Tongariro's majestic peak." [Wanganui Herald, 27.9.1926, p.6.]

The first public screenings of the completed film appear to have taken place on 7 January 1927, the Majestic Theatre, Auckland, advertising in its supporting programme "N.Z. Scenic (Tongariro National Park)".  [New Zealand Herald, 7.1.1926, p.18]. A review confirmed this to be "A Government publicity film" which "revealed the wonders of the Tongariro National Park". [New Zealand Herald, 8.1.1926, p.13]. The context of its release indicates that this film could only be "White Mantle".’

Film identification and additional research by Clive Sowry.