|
| • Advanced Search • Help |
The High and the Mighty | Year: 1954 Directed: - William A. Wellman Actors/Actresses: - John Wayne - Claire Trevor - Laraine Day The High and the Mighty a true aviation classic John Wayne and his supporting staff made this movie an aviation classic when compared to todays flying films. When first viewed with my older brother the movie seemed so believeable. It had everything to make the movie interesting and memorable, the young and happy co-pilot, the near retirement aged flight engineer with visions of expected disaster, pretty stewardess and a host of normal looking passengers but each with a story of their own. Of course, it had the captain who was the captain in the truest sense of leadership. It followed a story line that had been traveled countless times. However, in 1954 it traveled that same course but this time from the cockpit of a DC-6. This movie classic is different. Not everyone is lifted from the page of a beauty magazine. The actors are not required to fly the plane in a thunderstorm and at the same time transfer rescue<BR>personnel through the broken windscreen of the plane at 250 mph. They allow us to watch as a truely believeable situation unfolds and real people react and win in the end. If I am lucky enough to again view this movie classic, I'm sure my mind will at the same time wander back to the first time I stepped into the cockpit of a 1950's something airliner. The smell of neopreme hoses used under the cockpit instrument panel is the same smell I would come to enjoy as a young adult when learning to fly. The thrill of "feeling the airplane in your hands" is a real feeling. But when the characters of that movie felt it, they went from a normal flight to the airplane telling them of trouble to come. The movie is believeable because the characters did a very good job of not carrying the audience to feats of todays flying films. This movie will not leave you tired of countless scenes impossible to accomplish but not impossible for Hollywood to top every year. While you know how it will end you really aren't sure until the very end. Hollywood needs to go back to movie school and watch this movie as much as us. Landmark American Film that must be seen! Tied up for years in the John Wayne estate has been the re-release of this 1954 movie, "The High and the Mighty". (which won the Academy Award for Best Song that year...look for a plaque at Mann's Chinese Theatre in Hollywood when you visit there). As a child growing up in L.A. in the 50's and 60's, I remember the then RKO TV station Channel 9 would show this movie relentlessly for years on end. Then it all stopped. The movie vanished. And now it is being held hostage for some legal reason. It is a movie filled with surplatives though younger viewers might find the lack of hyberbolic special effects, sexual gymnastics, de riguer corporate disembowlment themes, blah blah....too unsurvivable for a start-to-finish viewing. It is a vintage 50's type movie...at its best. This is John Wayne's best movie, in my opinion. He is excellent...taking him out of the cowboy theme he ultimately became cemented into. I will always remember John Wayne in my mind as he was in this movie...especially the very last scene which alone is worth the price of admission. Fittingly, the Orange County Airport is named after John Wayne, who had a career early on of appearing in films with aviation themes. Ernest K. Gann, who penned the story, was an American Airlines pilot who churned out aviation novel, one after another. His equally famous novel that was made into an excellent movie, was "Fate is the Hunter". Both of these movies deal with an aircraft incident/accident. "The High and the Mighty" concentrates on the human dynamics of a flight crew and their maintenance base trying to cope with a mechanical problem en route over the longest single over-the-ocean route in the world: Honolulu to San Francisco. It is as dramatic and technically accurate as you could possibly get. In fact, "The High and the Mighty" had all the elements of the recent Jan. 31, 2000 Alaska Airlines crash northwest of Los Angeles. "Fate is the Hunter" meticulously examines the post accident phase of aircraft crash investigation. It is almost like a Hitchock movie in terms of suspense. I don't think this movie is available either and that is a shame since there is so much junk out there that is. Glenn Ford is the star of this movie. The exciting conclusion of "The High and the Mighty" stays with you forever...much like the ending of the movie "The Spirit of St. Louis" which starred James Stewart (also a great movie and is available). "The High and the Mighty" is a true aviator's movie...it has the feel and touch of a veteran pilot at the yoke, Ernest K. Gann. All of us down on the ground here can only hope and pray that the powers to be let this great, great American film out of the hanger and let her fly again....soon. The Frist Airport Movie (1954) I first saw this movie in 1954 as a high school student and movie buff. I later classified the High and the Mighty as the first in the series of airport movies ( the only one with props instead of jets) because each passenger and crew member had a story to tell and live out. The music was wonderful as was the story line and acting. You will enjoy this film and don't be surprised if you become a whistler. This is the only movie that I have not been able to acquire for my collect. Sure will be glad when it is released. Buy The High And The Mighty at Amazon.com Buy posters at Allposters.com Jamster - the latest ringtones for your phone!  Search with Walhello on the Internet on The High And The Mighty Search with the Priority Search Engine on The High And The Mighty This page in other languages: Suomeksi | Nederlands | Deutsch
|
