Contrary to what has been written elsewhere, his death occurred two days before the scheduled end of filming on "Avalanche Express"; these last days were under the direction of the film's cameraman, Jack Cardiff, a former director. Some people on the film claimed that Robson's heart condition (which he knew to be severe) had been aggravated by filming conditions - notably the heavy drinking by his two argumentative leading men, Lee Marvin and Robert Shaw - and that he had seemed uncharacteristically enervated during shooting. To make matters worse, Shaw then also died, with most of his dialogue needing to be post-synchronized.