The Cruel Tower 1956 Based on the novel of the same name by William Brown Hartley, screenplay by Warren Douglas, directed by Lew Landers. Lew has over 300 directing credits on the IMDb in a career that started in 1934 and ended in 1963. I suspect he would have continued on but he died but he died in 1962.
I noticed that The Cruel Tower had Mari Blanchard in it so I put it on. I'd just seen her in She Devil. John Ericson is riding the rails, three other men ride the same boxcar, they decide to rob John and in the scuffle he's tossed off the train. Peter Whitney finds John and puts him in the house trailer that belongs to Charles McGraw.
That's Charles and John up a chimney stack, way high up in the air. Charles is a steeplejack, he takes his crew to various job sites in the state to work on water towers and other tall structures. Steve Brodie, Peter and Alan Hale Jr all work for Charles, Mari is his girlfriend, at least on the road, he's got a wife at home.
Steve has been seeing Charles wife in secret. After Peter spills the beans Steve dies in a fall from the water tower. Things get worse when John decides to make a play for Mari and Charles finds out. Things don't go so well for Charles in the end.
Fairly well made drama but nothing special about it. You can see it on YouTube if you're so inclined. Link in the title above.
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