One of Japan's better known Communist directors (along with Tadashi Imai), Satsuo Yamamoto, purged by Toho Company in 1947, became one of the leading lights of the independent companies organized by left-wing filmmakers.

Corruption and unbridled ambition are favorite themes of Yamamoto, whose protagonists are usually anti-heroes and whose complex narratives are grim parables of modern society. In The Ivory Tower, the setting is a prominent Tokyo hospital.