Movies - Island in the Sky

Home > Listing Index > Movies > Island in the Sky (film)

	Movies - Island in the Sky

Island in The Sky is a 1953 disaster movie released through Warner Brothers. The film starred and was co-produced by John Wayne, directed by William A. Wellman, and written by Ernest K. Gann, who also wrote the novel (Island in the Sky) on which the film is based.

"Island in the Sky" and "The High and the Mighty" Similarities

Island in the Sky and The High and the Mighty are film oddities as they are two of the first all-star disaster films, which paved the way for Airport and its sequels twenty-plus years later. Both films are also two of the early John Wayne co-productions and starred Wayne. This production practice would not become widespread until the 1980s and 90s, when stars from Robert Redford to Sandra Bullock took control of productions. Both films also had many of the same crew members: producers, director, writer, cinematographer, and editor.

"Island in the Sky" and "The High and the Mighty" were out of circulation for about a quarter-century due to legal issues. Finally, they were rebroadcast on television in July 2005, the first broadcasts in twenty years, and also released as special edition DVDs that August.

Plot

"Island in the Sky" follows the personal drama of a a pilot and crew of a WWII-era DC-3 trying to survive after crashlanding in Labrador, Canada while waiting for rescue. The plane's pilot, Dooley, must keep his men alive in deadly conditions while waiting for rescue. Fellow airmen (Lloyd Nolan, James Arness, Andy Devine, Paul Fix) are determined to find them before hunger and the 70-below winter do them in. Wellman provides the narration for the stoic characters that tells us what is going on inside their minds. There is tension and fear-filled war council among the search pilots when no one's quite sure what to do next--the wrong decision could doom the missing crew--and so no one looks anybody else in the face.

Details such as the ice pick kept handily embedded in a barracks wall so that pilots can break the frozen skin on their morning wash water added to the sense of reality provided by the film.

This based on a true story of a flight on February 3, 1943; though the co-pilot did not actually die.

Review

The director, Wellman, was an aviation-movie veteran whose Wings won the first-ever Academy Award (1927–28). This film is atypical of Wayne as he does not display the machoism for which he was often criticized. His portrayal of the downed plane's captain is believeable and realistic. The black-and-white cinematography by Archie Stout (dramatic scenes) and William H. Clothier (flying scenes) are excellent. The restorations done for the DVD version released on August 2, 2005 | are superb.

Cast

John Wayne as Captain Dooley
Lloyd Nolan as Captain Stutz
James Arness as Mac McMullan, pilot
Andy Devine as Willie Moon, pilot
Harry Carey Jr. as Ralph Hunt, Moon's co-pilot
Walter Able as Colonel Fuller
Paul Fix as Wally Miller
Louis Jean Heydt as Fitch, pilot
Fess Parker as Fitch's co-pilot (uncredited)

[ Visit the complete Wikipedia entry for Island in the Sky (film) ]

This page is based on the copyrighted Wikipedia article Island in the Sky (film); it is used under the GNU Free Documentation License. You may redistribute it, verbatim or modified, providing that you comply with the terms of the GFDL.

Searches on eBay