The White Tower 1950

Carla Alten is determined to conquer the White Tower, a daunting peak in the Swiss Alps that claimed her mountaineer father’s life. Her climbing party includes the seasoned veteran guide Andreas and four other men. The Englishman Nicholas Radcliffe worries he’s too old for the ascent, while the alcoholic French writer Paul Delambre claims he is finishing a book about the mountain, though his wife, Mme. Astrid Delambre, treats the idea with contempt and Delambre himself with utter scorn. An American former pilot named Martin Ordway has a blasé outlook on most things—except his growing attraction to Carla. To bolster the team, Carla agrees to take along the expert German climber Hein, whose wool cap bears a Luftwaffe insignia.

During the ascent, the group’s abilities and flaws are laid bare. Martin Ordway and Carla find themselves drawn to each other, even as they confront mounting dangers. Nicholas Radcliffe privately concedes his limits and decides to turn back at the next checkpoint to avoid endangering the others.

The following morning brings a new setback: Delambre is too drunk to continue. The others leave him sheltered in a tent by a safe fire. That night, a blizzard hits; Delambre digs out a hidden bottle, finishes his manuscript, and inadvertently sets the tent alight, scattering pages into the storm. He staggers off into the dark and dies.

As the climb resumes, Hein presses forward with a dangerous fixation on proving Aryan superiority by being the first to reach the summit. Ordway follows his tracks, but when a snow bridge gives way, Hein refuses Ordway’s outstretched hand and falls to his death. In the final stretch, Ordway is stricken with snow blindness and collapses just short of the peak. Carla and Andreas eventually find him; Andreas explains that Carla could reach the top, but she insists that saving Ordway and bringing him down is the more important goal.

With Ordway’s eyes recovering and no lasting harm, the two of them decide to marry.