''Top of the World'' is a 1955 American

aviation Aviation includes the activities surrounding mechanical flight and the aircraft industry. ''Aircraft'' include fixed-wing and rotary-wing types, morphable wings, wing-less lifting bodies, as well as lighter-than-air aircraft such as h ...

adventure film The adventure film is a broad genre of film. Some early genre studies found it no different than the Western film or argued that adventure could encompass all Hollywood genres. Commonality was found among historians Brian Taves and Ian Cameron in ...

, directed by Lewis R. Foster, and written by John D. Klorer and N. Richard Nash."Full credits: 'Top of the World'."
''

Turner Classic Movies Turner Classic Movies (TCM) is an American movie channel, movie-oriented pay television, pay-TV television network, network owned by Warner Bros. Discovery. Launched in 1994, Turner Classic Movies is headquartered at Turner's Techwood broadcas ...

'', January 10, 2025. The film starred

Dale Robertson Dayle Lymoine Robertson (July 14, 1923 – February 27, 2013) was an American actor best known for his starring roles on television. He played the roving investigator Jim Hardie in the television series ''Tales of Wells Fargo'' and railroad own ...

Evelyn Keyes Evelyn Louise Keyes (November 20, 1916 – July 4, 2008) was an American film actress. She is best known for her role as Suellen O'Hara in the 1939 film ''Gone with the Wind''. Early life Evelyn Keyes was born in Port Arthur, Texas, to Omar Do ...

Frank Lovejoy Frank Andrew Lovejoy Jr. (March 28, 1912 – October 2, 1962) was an American actor in radio, film, and television. He is perhaps best remembered for appearing in the film noir ''The Hitch-Hiker'' and for starring in the radio drama ''Night Beat ...

Nancy Gates Nancy Gates (February 1, 1926Katz, Ephraim (1979). ''The Film Encyclopedia: The Most Comprehensive Encyclopedia of World Cinema in a Single Volume''. Perigee Books. .P. 471. – March 24, 2019) was an American film and television actress. Early ...

Paul Fix Peter Paul Fix (March 13, 1901 – October 14, 1983) was an American film and television character actor who was best known for his work in Westerns. Fix appeared in more than 100 movies and dozens of television shows over a 56-year career be ...

, Robert Arthur, and Peter Hansen.

Composer A composer is a person who writes music. The term is especially used to indicate composers of Western classical music, or those who are composers by occupation. Many composers are, or were, also skilled performers of music. Etymology and def ...

Albert Glasser Albert Glasser (January 25, 1916 – May 4, 1998) was a composer, conductor and arranger of film music, primarily in the realm of B-movies during the 1940s, 1950s, and 1960s. He scored approximately 200 films during his career, many for American ...

composed the music to the film. ''Top of the World'' was released in May 1955, by

United Artists United Artists (UA) is an American film production and film distribution, distribution company owned by Amazon MGM Studios. In its original operating period, it was founded in February 1919 by Charlie Chaplin, D. W. Griffith, Mary Pickford an ...

. The

United States Air Force The United States Air Force (USAF) is the Air force, air service branch of the United States Department of Defense. It is one of the six United States Armed Forces and one of the eight uniformed services of the United States. Tracing its ori ...

endeavoured to support the production of ''Top of the World'' as a means to inform the public of the work of the USAF in the far north. USAF photographers would work directly with studio cinematographers. Major Stockton Shaw was assigned to the production as a technical advisor.Orriss 2018, p. 74.

Plot

Unable to fly jet missions at his age, Major (soon promoted to Lieutenant Colonel) Lee Gannon (Dale Robertson) is reassigned from a

California California () is a U.S. state, state in the Western United States that lies on the West Coast of the United States, Pacific Coast. It borders Oregon to the north, Nevada and Arizona to the east, and shares Mexico–United States border, an ...

n air base to a weather station in

Alaska Alaska ( ) is a non-contiguous U.S. state on the northwest extremity of North America. Part of the Western United States region, it is one of the two non-contiguous U.S. states, alongside Hawaii. Alaska is also considered to be the north ...

, against his wishes. He perks up on learning that ex-wife Virgie (Evelyn Keyes) now owns a nightclub in Fairbanks. Gannon reports for duty to Major Brad Cantrell (Frank Lovejoy), who explains to a skeptical Gannon how vital the weather situation is, apparently in a remote region near the

North Pole The North Pole, also known as the Geographic North Pole or Terrestrial North Pole, is the point in the Northern Hemisphere where the Earth's rotation, Earth's axis of rotation meets its surface. It is called the True North Pole to distingu ...

that could be vulnerable to a

Soviet The Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR), commonly known as the Soviet Union, was a List of former transcontinental countries#Since 1700, transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 until Dissolution of the Soviet ...

air attack. Lieutenant Mary Ross (Nancy Gates), who handles public relations, is in love with Cantrell, but he has become attracted to Virgie and plans to marry her. Virgie reveals a dark secret about her marriage with Gannon, then accuses Cantrell of sending her former husband on a dangerous mission just to get him out of the way. Stationed on a large block of

drift ice Drift or Drifts may refer to: Geography * Drift or ford (crossing) of a river * Drift (navigation), difference between heading and course of a vessel * Drift, Kentucky, unincorporated community in the United States * In Cornwall, England: ** D ...

far north of Alaska, Gannon and his men are at great risk as the floe melts and rescue aircraft are unable to land. Cantrell pilots a glider to rescue the men, with Gannon volunteering to be left behind, then stages a daring return trip. Gannon realizes he still loves Virgie, and a relieved Mary realizes she has not lost Cantrell.

Cast

as Maj. Lee Gannon *

as Virgie Rayne *

as Maj. Brad Cantrell *

as Lt. Mary Ross *

as Maj. George French * Robert Arthur as Lt. Skippy McGuire * Peter Hansen as Capt. Cochrane *

Nick Dennis Nick Dennis (April 26, 1904 – November 14, 1980) was a Greek American film actor born in Thessaly, Greece. Biography The supporting actor, who began in films in 1947, was known for playing ethnic types (usually Greek) in films such as ''Kis ...

as Master Sgt. Cappi *

Russ Conway Russ Conway, DSM (born Trevor Herbert Stanford; 2 September 1925 – 16 November 2000) was an English popular music pianist and composer. Conway had 20 piano instrumentals in the UK Singles Chart between 1957 and 1963, including two number ...

as Col. Nelson *

William Schallert William Joseph Schallert (July 6, 1922 – May 8, 2016) was an American character actor who appeared in dozens of television shows and films over a career spanning more than 60 years. He is known for his roles on ''Richard Diamond, Private ...

as Capt. Harding *Peter Bourne as Lt. "Johnny" Johnson *David McMahon as Brownie *Marya Marco as Koora

Production

''Top of the World'' began as a

Warner Bros. Warner Bros. Entertainment Inc. (WBEI), commonly known as Warner Bros. (WB), is an American filmed entertainment studio headquartered at the Warner Bros. Studios complex in Burbank, California and the main namesake subsidiary of Warner Bro ...

vehicle with filming taking place in 1953 when the then director Felix Feist, "air boss"

Paul Mantz Albert Paul Mantz (August 2, 1903 – July 8, 1965) was an American air racing and movie stunt pilot and consultant from the late 1930s until his death in the mid-1960s. He gained fame on two stages: Hollywood and in air races. Early years Ma ...

and cinematographer William H. Clothier were dispatched to

Ladd Army Airfield Ladd Army Airfield is the military airfield located at Fort Wainwright in Fairbanks, Alaska. It was originally called Fairbanks Air Base, but was renamed Ladd Field on 1 December 1939, in honor of Major Arthur K. Ladd, a pilot in the U.S. ...

and Baker Island Airfield in Alaska. The group were able to spend a month with USAF units filming their operations. While in Alaska, the Warner Bros. crew were on hand to film a dramatic rescue mission from the

B-25 The North American B-25 Mitchell is an American medium bomber that was introduced in 1941 and named in honor of Brigadier General William "Billy" Mitchell, a pioneer of U.S. military aviation. Used by many Allied air forces, the B-25 served ...

camera ship brought by Paul Mantz. The scene was later incorporated in the final film. Shortly after, in 1954, the film rights were acquired by

Lippert Pictures Lippert Pictures was an American film production and distribution company controlled by Robert L. Lippert. History Robert L. Lippert (1909–1976) was a successful exhibitor, owning a chain of movie theaters in California and Oregon. He was frust ...

and United Artists. Clothier was in charge of the aerial sequences.Pendo 1985, p. 256. He said he used an

Arriflex 35 The Arriflex 35 was the first reflex finder, reflex 35mm production motion picture camera, released by German manufacturer Arri in 1937. Function It was built around the spinning reflex twin-bladed "butterfly" mirror shutter designed by Erich Kä ...

camera to shoot scenes in the film. Paul Mantz used his B-25 bomber as a camera platform for the production, as well as flying as a contract pilot in aerial scenes.

Reception

''Top of the World'' opened in

Los Angeles Los Angeles, often referred to by its initials L.A., is the List of municipalities in California, most populous city in the U.S. state of California, and the commercial, Financial District, Los Angeles, financial, and Culture of Los Angeles, ...

on April 25, 1955 to generally positive critical reviews. ''

Variety Variety may refer to: Arts and entertainment Entertainment formats * Variety (radio) * Variety show, in theater and television Films * ''Variety'' (1925 film), a German silent film directed by Ewald Andre Dupont * ''Variety'' (1935 film), ...

'' noted that, "Details here are handled in such a fashion as to be interesting without becoming tedious as they blend into and service the personal dramatics."Orris 2018, p. 77. Aviation film historian Stephen Pendo in ''Aviation in the Cinema'', considered ''Top of the World'' to have "... some exciting moments during survival and rue scenes."

References

Notes Citations Bibliography * Beck, Simon D
''The Aircraft-Spotter's Film and Television Companion''.
Jefferson, North Carolina:

McFarland & Company McFarland & Company, Inc., is an American independent book publisher based in Jefferson, North Carolina, that specializes in academic An academy (Attic Greek: Ἀκαδήμεια; Koine Greek Ἀκαδημία) is an institution of tert ...

, 2016. * McCarty. Clifford
''Film Composers in America: A Filmography, 1911-1970.''
London:

Oxford University Press Oxford University Press (OUP) is the publishing house of the University of Oxford. It is the largest university press in the world. Its first book was printed in Oxford in 1478, with the Press officially granted the legal right to print books ...

, 2000. * Orriss, Bruce. ''When Hollywood Ruled the Skies: The Post World War II Years''. Hawthorne, California: Aero Associates Inc., 2018. . * Pendo, Stephen. ''Aviation in the Cinema''. Lanham, Maryland: Scarecrow Press, 1985. . * Pope, Norris
''Chronicle of a Camera: The Arriflex 35 in North America, 1945-1972''.

Jackson, Mississippi Jackson is the List of capitals in the United States, capital and List of municipalities in Mississippi, most populous city of the U.S. state of Mississippi. The city sits on the Pearl River (Mississippi–Louisiana), Pearl River and is locate ...

University Press of Mississippi The University Press of Mississippi (UPM), founded in 1970, is a university press that is sponsored by the eight state universities in Mississippi (i.e., Alcorn State University, Delta State University, Jackson State University, Mississippi Sta ...

, 2013. * Reid, John Howard
''History in Movies Hollywood Style''.

Raleigh, North Carolina Raleigh ( ) is the List of capitals in the United States, capital city of the U.S. state of North Carolina. It is the List of municipalities in North Carolina, second-most populous city in the state (after Charlotte, North Carolina, Charlotte) ...

: Lulu Books, 2013.

External links

* {{Lewis R. Foster 1955 films United Artists films American adventure films 1955 adventure films Films directed by Lewis R. Foster Films scored by Albert Glasser Films set in Alaska 1950s English-language films 1950s American films American black-and-white films English-language adventure films