Snowbound

British director Derek Engles recognises Neil Blair, an extra, on his film set and pulls him into a private chat. He explains he wants to recruit Blair for intelligence work, given their past connection as Blair's commanding officer. The moment marks Blair's entry into a covert mission masquerading as a film assignment.

Engles offers Blair a job to monitor the lodge's guests under cover as a scriptwriter. Blair agrees, then travels to the Italian Alps where he meets Joe Wesson, a cameraman who is part of an elaborate ruse to pretend they are making a film. Wesson apparently does not know there is no real production.

The hotel directs them to a mountain-top lodge, but innkeeper Aldo claims there are no rooms. Blair and Wesson force their way upstairs and encounter Stefano Valdini, a guest who helps bridge the language barrier and obtain a room. The scene establishes the uneasy, secretive atmosphere of the lodge.

Back in the bar, another man claims he has a booked room but is told none are available. Wesson tells him to go upstairs and take an empty room he has spotted, and the man introduces himself as Gilbert Mayne. The encounter foreshadows the lodge's hidden network of players.

Blair is introduced to the Comtessa Forelli through Valdini; she denies having met him in Naples. In parallel, a Greek named Keramikos arrives and hints at a larger conspiracy. The men and Carla's presence suggest everyone's motives are murky and tied to the planned auction.

Blair files his report to Engles, who is keen on the fact that the lodge is to be auctioned the next day. A local hotel proprietor claims the auction is rigged, but the bidding erupts into a heated war, with an unseen lawyer making an outsized winning bid. The auction becomes a focal point for the lodge's hidden stakes.

Keramikos confides that Blair is not writing a real script, and claims Mayne was a deserter from the British Army who worked for him in Greece. The revelation deepens Blair's sense of danger and confirms a deeper network beyond a simple espionage assignment. The dynamic intensifies as trust frays.

Blair begins to fall in love with Carla Forelli, who reveals her real name is Carla Rometta. He also overhears Keramikos speaking German with another man, and Blair, who knows a bit of German, understands enough to sense a larger alliance at work. The romantic tension complicates Blair's mission and loyalty.

The next day Mayne invites Blair to ski; Mayne deliberately causes Blair to crash and leaves him in the freezing snow. He later reports Blair missing by telephone to Wesson. Carla overhears and arranges a search with Mancini, and Blair is rescued.

Engles arrives at the lodge just before a snowstorm traps all occupants for the night. In a dining-room revelation, he discloses his intelligence background and identifies Keramikos as Von Kellerman, a Gestapo agent. He explains Kellerman's objective to recover Italy's gold to fund a new fascist Germany, tying the personal stakes to global conflict.

Engles explains the backstory: Kellerman had ordered the transport of Italy's gold to Germany, with Captain Heinrich Stelben unwittingly aiding. Stelben supposedly left the gold at the lodge after being ambushed by his own men, and Kellerman learns its location and schemes to use it for reconstruction of the fascist regime. The revelation deepens the danger surrounding the lodge.

Carla attacks Mayne after learning his plot to kill her and Valdini; Mayne, in turn, shoots Valdini. Aldo kills Mayne on Kellerman's order, further entangling the lodge in a web of betrayal. Kellerman then orders everyone to dig for the gold in the cellar.

Mayne tries to free Carla but topples a lamp, setting the building alight. He dies in the ensuing blaze. Kellerman shoots Engles during the chaos, and Wesson drags Blair out of the burning basement as the lodge collapses around them.

In the smoke and ruin, Carla reveals she knows where the gold is but refuses to disclose its location, sensing it has already caused too many deaths. She cradles Blair and vows to protect him as the lodge collapses and the fire consumes the secrets that powered the conspiracy.