The White Tower

An unconquered mountain provides the fulcrum for this existential ensemble drama that pits a group of desperate people against the icy summit, each other and themselves. What drives the woman determined to conquer the slopes that killed her father (Valli), her guide (Oskar Homolka), her father’s friend (Cedric Hardwicke), a wannabe Übermensch (Lloyd Bridges), a dipsomaniacal writer (Claude Rains) and a burnt-out World War II vet (Glenn Ford) to push themselves to the top? As the needs of the many collide with the arrogance and weakness of the few, the mountain’s lessons become ever deadlier. Final script penned by Paul Jarrico for the studios before the House Committee on Un-American Activities sent him overseas, adapted from the novel by James Ramsey Ullman. Directed by Ted Tetzlaff.