Until this year, the Wayne Family had prevented release of "The High and The Mighty" from the film vaults of their estate. I think I know why. Viewing it today as the disaster film it was intended to be, I found the tension to be non existent, the danger not palpable, and it had the longest eleven minutes on record, that if I went to view it again I'm sure it would clock in at about three times as long.
I probably shouldn't hold it against the cast, which was quite stellar. John Wayne is top billed as co-pilot on a flight from Honolulu to San Francisco, captained by Robert Stack. On board are Claire Trevor, Laraine Day, Jan Sterling, Phil Harris and Robert Newton among others. My problem with the film is the rather mundane portrayal of the characters' back stories in Hawaii, which are simply not germane to the insecurity and danger they face on board a plane that loses a propeller and develops a fuel leak making their destination a question mark. Apparently offered as a "final days" look at their lives, there's nothing to make us empathize with them or feel concern for their possible fate. The first half of the film is thus presented, while the second half tries to get us ready for either a disaster or a miracle.
Now if the film were made today, I believe there would be a bit more emotion involved once the passengers knew what their situation was. But here, after Wayne's character Dan Roman describes the plane's condition, it's taken pretty much in stride. There are some minor histrionics from some of the women passengers, but all in all, it seems as if they've got other things on their mind besides being dumped into the Pacific. Take Jan Sterling's character for instance; she's worried that she's getting old and that her fiancée may not be interested in her, so she cries off her makeup, only to reapply it later, still not knowing whether the plane will crash land in the ocean or not.
Having survived a plane crash years earlier which he piloted, Wayne's character lives with the memory of a lost wife and son in said crash. With wisdom gained from having made it this far, Dan Roman manages to slap some sense into pilot Sullivan (Stack), who was ready to ditch. He probably should also have slapped navigator Lenny (Wally Brown) for his eleven minute announcement. That span was longer than any eleven minutes of any critically decisive football game on record.
I won't even get into the passenger with the gun!
"The High and The Mighty" has to be one of the coolest sounding movie titles in cinema history. Too bad it was such a let down.
I probably shouldn't hold it against the cast, which was quite stellar. John Wayne is top billed as co-pilot on a flight from Honolulu to San Francisco, captained by Robert Stack. On board are Claire Trevor, Laraine Day, Jan Sterling, Phil Harris and Robert Newton among others. My problem with the film is the rather mundane portrayal of the characters' back stories in Hawaii, which are simply not germane to the insecurity and danger they face on board a plane that loses a propeller and develops a fuel leak making their destination a question mark. Apparently offered as a "final days" look at their lives, there's nothing to make us empathize with them or feel concern for their possible fate. The first half of the film is thus presented, while the second half tries to get us ready for either a disaster or a miracle.
Now if the film were made today, I believe there would be a bit more emotion involved once the passengers knew what their situation was. But here, after Wayne's character Dan Roman describes the plane's condition, it's taken pretty much in stride. There are some minor histrionics from some of the women passengers, but all in all, it seems as if they've got other things on their mind besides being dumped into the Pacific. Take Jan Sterling's character for instance; she's worried that she's getting old and that her fiancée may not be interested in her, so she cries off her makeup, only to reapply it later, still not knowing whether the plane will crash land in the ocean or not.
Having survived a plane crash years earlier which he piloted, Wayne's character lives with the memory of a lost wife and son in said crash. With wisdom gained from having made it this far, Dan Roman manages to slap some sense into pilot Sullivan (Stack), who was ready to ditch. He probably should also have slapped navigator Lenny (Wally Brown) for his eleven minute announcement. That span was longer than any eleven minutes of any critically decisive football game on record.
I won't even get into the passenger with the gun!
"The High and The Mighty" has to be one of the coolest sounding movie titles in cinema history. Too bad it was such a let down.