Julie Andrews and Bing Crosby in “High Tor”

Pulitzer Prize-winning playwright, author, poet, reporter and lyricist Maxwell Anderson, came to the aid of High Tor Mountain in 1936 when he wrote an immensely popular verse play of the same name, “High Tor.” The United States Traprock Company was interested in purchasing the peak at the time and planned to remove the rear side of the mountain for the aggregate it contained. Traprock, now called Tilcon, had already tore down the peak directly south of High Tor. Anderson wove an intricate tale of bribery and the supernatural and eventually prompted the Palisades Interstate Park Commission to save the mountain from industry shovels. The story, as told by the Dramatists Play Service, begins as follows:

“Towering above the Hudson River stands a magnificent headland, High Tor, which has been known to river folk ever since Hudson first sailed up the river. Some years ago a company mined the mountain south, leaving only a false front. Now High Tor may meet with the same fate. Van Dorn, young heir to High Tor, is about to lose his rights to a double-dealing firm of real estate men. Van Dorn meets Judith, who wants him to leave High Tor and live in New York, but this he does not wish to do. Complications arise from a bank robbery in a neighboring town and the appearance of the robbers on High Tor. This is further complicated by the introduction of the ghosts of the Dutch crew of Hudson’s lost ship “Onrust,” with a resulting duel of wits between the conflicting groups.”

On March 10, 1956, the CBS network presented “High Tor” as part of its “Ford Star Jubilee” evening movie. The film starred Bing Crosby, Julie Andrews, Nancy Olson, Hans Conreid, and Keenan Wynn. It has been said that, “Bing Crosby had seen Julie Andrews in her Broadway debut in The Boy Friend (in which she was still appearing at the time), and invited her to appear in the film”. This was Julie Andrews film and television debut. Because Bing Crosby was used to shooting movies on film and was not familiar with live television broadcast, he demanded “High Tor” be conventionally filmed and then broadcast over television. Because of this, “High Tor” is considered the first made-for-TV movie in history. Segments of the movie are shot in Haverstraw and at High Tor Mountain. Haverstraw and several local legends and sites are mentioned by name dozens of times in the film by Nancy Olsen and Bing Crosby. At one point, Crosby and Olsen exclaim, “the Nanuet bank’s been robbed!” and at another segment Crosby reminisces his work at “the Chair Factory” (the Empire Chair Factory, which was just recently demolished) and compares it to Sing Sing across the Hudson River. The plot of the movie is very similar to the Broadway counterpart and is as follows:

“Crosby portrays Van Van Dorn, who owns a mountain (“High Tor”) near the Hudson River on the Tappan Zee. Van Dorn is under pressure to sell his real estate, and, at the same time, is having doubts about his impending marriage to Judith (Nancy Olson). Judith leaves him because she feels that he should sell High Tor, as the profits would provide for their future. A freak rock slide traps Van Dorn and the realtors on High Tor; as Van searches for help, he meets the spirit of a Dutch girl by the name of Lisa (Julie Andrews). Lisa and the spirits of Dutch sailors have inhabited High Tor for over 300 years since they were killed in a shipwreck. Of course, Lisa falls in love with Van. Songs include “Once Upon a Long Ago”, a duet for Crosby and Andrews, “Sad is the Life of a Sailor’s Wife”, a solo for Andrews, and “When You’re in Love”…”

No doubt, “High Tor” as the mountain, as the play and movie, is an integral part of the history that shaped the Village of Haverstraw. Few residents even realize that legendary actors like Bing Crosby and Julie Andrews starred in a film about their city and their mountain. As Haverstraw remains in the shadow of High Tor Mountain, it remains shrouded in its history as well…

1956, High Tor, Julie Andrews performs “Once Upon a Long Ago” with Bing Crosby:

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