Dale Robertson stars as Maj. Lee Gannon, an aging Air Force jet pilot reassigned to a base in Alaska to work on an experimental military weather project called Operation Deep Freeze in the 1955 adventure Top of the World. Unhappy about the transfer, Gannon is surprised to find his ex-wife Virgie (Evelyn Keyes) also in Alaska running a nearby nightclub. Gannon's commanding officer on Operation Deep Freeze is Maj. Brad Cantrell (Frank Lovejoy), who just happens to be planning to marry-who else?--Gannon's ex-wife. Jealousy and anger permeate this love triangle as lives are thrown into jeopardy and bitter truths emerge.

Director Lewis R. Foster, who won an Academy Award as the writer of Mr. Smith Goes to Washington (1939), provides plenty of action, suspense and romance in Top of the World. Some of the exciting aerial sequences were taken from authentic footage of actual rescue operations at an experimental weather station near the North Pole. Warner Bros. had originally commissioned the footage for a film project that never got off the ground. Landmark Productions later purchased the footage to use in Top of the World. It was the first and only feature from Landmark Productions, which was formed in 1954 by producer Michael Baird and director Lewis R. Foster.

Some location scenes were filmed in and around Barter Island, Alaska and at Ladd Air Force Base (now known as Fort Wainwright) in Fairbanks, Alaska. The frozen setting adds plenty of atmosphere for this memorable adventure with plenty of nail-biting moments of suspense in the sky.

Producer: Michael Baird, Lewis R. Foster
Director: Lewis R. Foster
Screenplay: John D. Klorer, N. Richard Nash
Cinematography: William H. Clothier, Harry J. Wild
Film Editing: Robert Ford
Art Direction: Wiard Ihnen
Music: Albert Glasser
Cast: Dale Robertson (Major Lee Gannon), Evelyn Keyes (Virgie Rayne), Frank Lovejoy (Major Cantrell), Nancy Gates (Lt. Mary Ross), Paul Fix (Major French), Robert Arthur (Lt. Skippy McGuire).
BW-90m.

by Andrea Passafiume