It's a long way from Honolulu to San Francisco in a DC-4. Will a troubled plane with a cabin filled with troubled people make it? Like the actual flight, this movie is VERY long and mostly VERY boring. I recommend paying attention to the boarding procedures (Hawaii wasn't a state when this movie was made, and this is way, way before 9/11), and then, once aboard, take a nap or try a little remote control time travel to get to the "oh my God, are they going to make it or not" ending.
I'm an aviation nut. The airplane, airport, control tower and center shots are now vintage stuff. The depictions of Oakland Center didn't show a single radar scope--which makes sense for the time. The discussions of early 1950's navigation are also great from an aviation history point of view. Ernest K. Gann, the author of the book on which the movie is based, also wrote the screenplay for the movie. He was an airline pilot during the golden age of Air Transport, so you'd expect a realistic story; but, other than the last 15 or so minutes of the movie, there is very little action.
I remember thinking during the early part of the movie that there sure were a lot of petty little people with a bunch of petty little problems. (I later checked the book out from my local library and, much to my horror, discovered that the book too introduced a bunch of petty little people with a bunch of petty little problems. I never made it through the book.) but the movie, well, the last fifteen minutes of the movie just about make up for everything else.
The last fifteen minutes tell you everything you need to know . . . that co-pilot John Wayne had some "bad luck" in South America, but that when the going gets tough, John Wayne (what a surprise) is the man you want in the cockpit. Of course, the going DOES get tough, and John Wayne has to slap pilot Robert Stack into shape, just like Robert Stack sort of has to slap Robert Hayes into shape (over the Radio) in "Airplane." (In fact, the slapping scene that takes place in the passenger cabin of the 707 in "Airplane" is a perfect parody of John Wayne slapping Robert Stack in the cockpit of their DC-4. Also, "Airplane's" flight attendant blowing air into an inflatable auto pilot is a great parody of "Miss Spalding" using her mouth to gently inflate a "Mae West" on a young passenger in "The High and the Mighty.") "Airplane" is a great movie, but if you haven't seen "The High and the Mighty," you might not realize that "Airplane" is just one continuous spoof of the horrors that afflicted the people and planes that Ernest Gann wrote about. "The High and the Mighty," "The Crowded Skies," and "Fate is the Hunter" were all books/movies that "Airplane" poked fun at.
I usually imagine John Wayne riding off into the sunset at the end of a movie, but at the end of "The High and the Mighty" he disappears into the fog, whistling a tune that will stay with you for the rest of your life.
WHAT AN ENDING!!!
I'm an aviation nut. The airplane, airport, control tower and center shots are now vintage stuff. The depictions of Oakland Center didn't show a single radar scope--which makes sense for the time. The discussions of early 1950's navigation are also great from an aviation history point of view. Ernest K. Gann, the author of the book on which the movie is based, also wrote the screenplay for the movie. He was an airline pilot during the golden age of Air Transport, so you'd expect a realistic story; but, other than the last 15 or so minutes of the movie, there is very little action.
I remember thinking during the early part of the movie that there sure were a lot of petty little people with a bunch of petty little problems. (I later checked the book out from my local library and, much to my horror, discovered that the book too introduced a bunch of petty little people with a bunch of petty little problems. I never made it through the book.) but the movie, well, the last fifteen minutes of the movie just about make up for everything else.
The last fifteen minutes tell you everything you need to know . . . that co-pilot John Wayne had some "bad luck" in South America, but that when the going gets tough, John Wayne (what a surprise) is the man you want in the cockpit. Of course, the going DOES get tough, and John Wayne has to slap pilot Robert Stack into shape, just like Robert Stack sort of has to slap Robert Hayes into shape (over the Radio) in "Airplane." (In fact, the slapping scene that takes place in the passenger cabin of the 707 in "Airplane" is a perfect parody of John Wayne slapping Robert Stack in the cockpit of their DC-4. Also, "Airplane's" flight attendant blowing air into an inflatable auto pilot is a great parody of "Miss Spalding" using her mouth to gently inflate a "Mae West" on a young passenger in "The High and the Mighty.") "Airplane" is a great movie, but if you haven't seen "The High and the Mighty," you might not realize that "Airplane" is just one continuous spoof of the horrors that afflicted the people and planes that Ernest Gann wrote about. "The High and the Mighty," "The Crowded Skies," and "Fate is the Hunter" were all books/movies that "Airplane" poked fun at.
I usually imagine John Wayne riding off into the sunset at the end of a movie, but at the end of "The High and the Mighty" he disappears into the fog, whistling a tune that will stay with you for the rest of your life.
WHAT AN ENDING!!!