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There are some stories, some movies that make such a strong
impression on people that even though they are unseen for decades, they are
remembered. People long to see them again. High and the Mighty is such a
movie. Not seen since 1981, High and the Mighty is now available ina 2
disc Special Edition set. Although John Wayne is best know for his Westerns,
his aviation films often present the actor will a chance to play more
multi-dimensional character, as he does in Island in the
Sky.
Uncommon for an actor of that day, in the later years of his
career, John Wayne produced his own movies, often retaining the copyright to
them. The last of his corporate names was BatJac, which produced both these
films. William Wellman (Public Enemy, A Star is Born, Beau Geste) an
aviator himself, directed both films for Wayne. Together they hired experienced
actors for the parts.
Both films were adapted by aviator and adventurer
Ernest K. Gann from his own novels. Gann, a Hemmingway-like character, had 9 of
his novels made into movies.
You must put both these movies in the
proper perspective as products of their time. High and the Mighty
debuted at a time (1954) when air travel was just becoming available to the
average person. The route from Honolulu to San Francisco was long and over
water, a scary proposition back then. In Island in the Sky, the plane
crashes in "uncharted" terriority in Newfoundland. No GPS for those guys. The
planes have propellors, not jets.
High and the Mighty is filmed
in the then new CinemaScope which heightened the dramatic effect and which
meant they couldn't use any stock aerial footage. This is the Fifties and TV is
now a competitor for viewers, so the movies need to be grander,
bigger.
They have both been restored beautifully. Michael Wayne, the
"Duke's" son, spent a year with High and the Mighty so that we could now
see it as his father intended. The movie is long. (2 hrs., 28 min.) By today's
standards it may seem slow because the trouble dosen't start until almost an
hour into the film. The time is spent introducing the many characters. Today we
have come to expect that the characters may suffer while we rush to show off
our CGI special effects. Not so back in the Fifties. No effects meant a movie
had to succeed by storytelling alone.
High and the
Mighty
The first "disaster" film, this movie is about a plane in
trouble and how this crisis effects both crew and passengers. On the long over
the ocean route of Honolulu to San Francisco, an engine gives out. Once past
the point of no return, fuel consumption is a worry and it doesn't look good
for a landing in San Francisco. A navigator's miscalculation adds to the
tension. Will they drop into the drink of the Pacific?
John Wayne plays
the co-pilot, a man bedeviled because he had survived the plane crash that
killed his family. The role was originally Spenser Tracy's but when he backed
out, Wayne stepped in, even though it is a smaller part than he normally
tackled. Robert Stack plays the pilot, a man who proves ineffectual in the
crisis. The cast includes Oscar nominees Claire Trevor and Jan Sterling,
Laraine Day, Robert Newton, Paul Kelly, John Qualen, Regis Toomey and Paul
Fix.
Perhaps the best remembered element is the theme song written by
Russian born Dimitri Tiomkin (Rawhide, High Noon). Wayne's character was
known as Whistlin' Dan and we hear him whistling that theme. Well, not exactly.
He was actually whistling George M. Cohan's "Mary" and the Tiomkin theme was
dubbed in using a professional whistler. While the theme lost on Oscar night to
"Three Coins in a Fountain" Tiomkin's score did take home the only Oscar out of
6 nominations for the movie.
Special Features:
Disc One:
Introduction by Leonard Maltin
Commentary by Leonard Maltin, William
Wellman, Jr., Karen Sharpe, Pedro Gonzales-Gonzales and aviation expert Vincent
Longo
Disc Two: Introduction by Leonard Maltin
Featurettes:
The Batjac Story
Stories from the Set
On Director William A.
Wellman
The Music and World of Dimitri Tiomkin
Restoring a Classic
A Place in Film History
Ernest K. Gann: Adventurer, Author, Artist
Flying in the Fifties
Island in the
Sky
Likeable Captain Dooley (John Wayne) and his crew must down
their plane in frozen wilderness of Newfoundland. This area is uncharted. They
have little food or warmth. The cold is effecting their thinking. The radio is
dying and they must resort to using an emergency radio which has a coffee
grinder as it's main motor. In a morse code world, you can't send and receive
at the same time.
Things aren't any happier for the rescuers, who do
not know where Dooley and the boys have crashed. Desperate to find their
friends, they cannot afford a bad guess as to which areas to search. Having no
familiar landmarks, they fly by instinct and guts.
Wayne shows more
range in Island in the Sky than often seen in his purely heroic cowboy
roles. Captain Dooley is a man with doubts and fears which Wayne handles
admirably.
Special Features:
Commentary by Leonard Maltin, Darryl
Hickman, James Lydon, William Wellman, Jr. and aviation expert Vincent Longo
Introduction by Leonard Maltin
Featurettes:
Dooley's Down
The
Making of Island in the Sky
Flight School - The Art of Aerial Photography
Ernest K. Gann: Adventurer, Author, Artist
Flying for Uncle Sam
The
John Wayne Stock Company: Harry Carey, Jr.
Theatrical Trailer
Introduction to "Gunsmoke" TV promo
Batjac Montage |
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