Directed by Robert Mulligan (To Kill a Mockingbird), The Spiral Road stars Rock Hudson as an opportunistic young doctor who travels the jungles of the Dutch West Indies on a quest for knowledge and money. Planning to profit later, Dr. Anton Drager (Hudson) sets out to learn all he can about leprosy from a renowned and eccentric older physician, Brits Jansen (Academy Award winner Burl Ives). However, his journey becomes more spiritual, when a terrifying meeting with a black-magic medicine man forces him to reevaluate both his self-serving past and his plans for the future.