The Cruel Tower (1956)

Director:

Lew Landers

Writers:

Warren Douglas (screenplay)
William B. Hartley (novel)

Release Date:

28 October 1956 (USA)

Genre:

Adventure | Romance

Tagline:

Savage story of the raw, reckless guys who live on the towering edge of danger...and the man-wrecking dames who push them into a pit of violence and passion!

Plot:

Story of a crew building a skyscraper. |

Plot Keywords:

Crew | Boyfriend Girlfriend Relationship | Burlesque Dancer | Unconsciousness | Coward

Cast

John Ericson	...	Tom Kittredge
Mari Blanchard	...	Mary 'The Babe' Thompson
Charles McGraw	...	Harry 'Stretch' Clay
Steve Brodie	...	Casey
Peter Whitney	...	'Joss' Jossman
Alan Hale Jr.	...	Rocky Milliken (as Alan Hale)
Diana Darrin	...	Kit
Carol Kelly	...	Waitress
Barbara Bell Wright	...	Rev. Claver
Rico Alaniz	...	Frenchy
John Indrisano	...	First Man in Boxcar
Stafford Repp	...	Doctor
Tim Ryan	...	Bartender
Dick Rich	...	Forrest
rest of cast listed alphabetically:
Kay Brown	...	Singer (uncredited)

Directed by
Lew Landers

Writing credits
Warren Douglas		(screenplay)
William B. Hartley		(novel)

Produced by
John H. Burrows	....	associate producer
Lindsley Parsons	....	producer

Original Music by
Paul Dunlap

Cinematography by
Ernest Haller		(director of photography) (as Ernie Haller)

Film Editing by
Maurice Wright

Casting by
Fred H. Messenger

Art Direction by
Bill Ross		(as William Ross)

Set Decoration by
Ben Bone

Costume Design by
Russell Hanlin

Makeup Department
Willard Colee	....	makeup artist
Madine Danks	....	hair stylist

Second Unit Director or Assistant Director
Lindsley Parsons Jr.	....	assistant director
Kenneth Walters	....	assistant director

Sound Department
Tom Lambert	....	sound recordist

Camera and Electrical Department
Lloyd Garnell	....	chief set electrician (as Lloyd L. Garnell)
Lloyd Garnell	....	gaffer (uncredited)

Music Department
Paul Dunlap	....	conductor

Other crew
Donna M. Norridge	....	set continuity (as Donna Norridge)

Production Companies

• Lindsley Parsons Picture Corporation

Distributors

• Allied Artists Pictures (1956) (USA) (theatrical)
• RKO Radio Pictures (1957) (West Germany) (theatrical)

Also Known As:

Runtime:

79 min

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Color:

Black and White

Sound Mix:

Mono (RCA Sound Recording)

Certification:

USA:Approved | West Germany:16 (nf)

Company:

Lindsley Parsons Picture Corporation

Soundtrack:

Cruel Tower

Been There a Few Too Many Times

The Cruel Tower (1956)

** (out of 4)

Often told tale of a drifter (John Ericson) who picks up work with a skyscraper crew but quickly falls in love with a girl (Mari Blanchard), which doesn't sit too well with her boyfriend (Charles McGraw) who just happens to be a crazy psycho. This is basically a low-budget remake of a group of films (TIGER SHARK, SLIM, MANPOWER) that were made at Warner Brothers and they did the story much better justice. Whereas those films dealt with power wires, this one here changes the setting to hundreds of feet up in the air and director Lew Landers really gets to do some magic with this. Some of the best moments in the film deal with people dangling off this high spaces or either falling. It appears the director really enjoyed these scenes and he managed to make them feel quite tense and at times you too feel as if you're falling. I really enjoyed the cinematography during the scenes with people falling as the camera perfectly captured the violence of the fall and i was surprised at some of the sound effects used for the bodies hitting. Considering this was 1956, the violence is a little bit stronger than you might effect. The biggest problem with the film is that we've simply seen this type of story way too many times and there's really nothing fresh or new done with it here. The performances by the three leads are enjoyable enough as they each fit their roles just fine. The screenplay isn't all that original and there's a tad bit too much hatred between rival workers to be believable. I mean, these guys all want to kill one another, which is a tad bit too far fetched to really work. Still, fans of "B" movies might want to check it out but others will probably want to stay clear.