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Summary: Can the wait finally be over ....?
Review: *****Variety report 12/14/03 Wayne pix to be restored
'High and Mighty,' 'Island' to get homevid release By MICHAEL FLEMING The estate of John Wayne has made a deal with Cinetech and Chace Prods. to update and restore two of the actor's 1950s hits, "The High and the Mighty" and "Island in the Sky."
The films were made by Batjac, the company founded by the actor and run by his heirs. Arrangement was made by Gretchen Wayne, the widow of the actor's late son, Michael. Move came as the result of a volume of calls by fans who wanted to see the films. Both of the William Wellman-directed films will be released on homevideo sometime next year. "The High and the Mighty," which starred Wayne and Robert Stack, was originally released in 1954. "Island in the Sky," which starred Wayne, Lloyd Nolan and James Arness, was released in 1953. Batjac owns many of Wayne's best-remembered films. Michael Wayne presided over the distribution of those films until his death earlier this year. ************************
Addendum 3/1/04 Just read another blurb somewhere quoting William Wellman Jr. (the Director's son, AND the little boy in the movie that sleeps through the whole thing) stating that he had just finished working on his contribution to the DVD, and that it is coming soon.....
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Summary: The High and the Mighty a true aviation classic
Review: 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
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.
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Summary: Bring The High and the Mighy to DVD
Review: I saw The High and the Mighty when it was originally released in 1954 as a 5 five year old kid. My parents were taking my brother and I to a circus in Rock Hill, SC, on a Saturday.When I saw several clowns outside the circus I started freaking out and my parents decided that a movie would be a better choice for two young boys. We went to the PIX theater and The High and the Mighty was featured. I was awestruck with John Wayne, but more so by Dimitri Tiomkin's haunting theme, which Wayne whistled several times during the film. My parents even bought the 45 that was released that year . Several years later while in junior high school, our guidance counselor brought the man that actually performed the whistling on the film to our school for an appearnace, and he performed "The High and the Mighty" theme. I was blown away!!! (I wish I could remeber his name). I hope that this great film is released so that our younger generation has an opportunity to view a great classic of all times and for me to purchase a copy also. Butch Oneppo, Edgemoor, SC
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Summary: The High And The Mighty
Review: I originally viewed this film at it's debut in 1954. The memories are as seen from a 10 year old boy's eyes. I was overwhelemed by the color, the sound, and John Wayne. His character of Dan the co-pilot was excellent. Even than I could see he was the star. That was my first John Wayne movie. I was hooked. I lived in a large city, and I had never taken a flight anywhere. I became cosumed by airplanes. The different people, and how they were all connected to John's character. The most dramatic parts were, just as they past the point of no return, and the problems that ensuded. I was on the end of my seat for the rest of the movie. One part was very significant to me.When John smacks Robert Stack around to shake him up, " Fly the airplane" then he was ok. At the end after they have gone through the fire, engines falling off, and all their problems, they finally land. They are meet by the station manager. He looks at the aircraft, looks at John Wayne, and says, "You old pelican" John just walks away. The End. It took me many years to understand what the meaning was. The pelican is the best flying bird in the bird world. The theme music won an academy award. I was so moved I knew I wanted to be a pilot. I presued it throughout my life. The US Air Force, and Pan American Airways. I was very lucky to have acheived my dream. I am retired from flying now. It would give me gerat pleasure to see this movie with my childern. Joe Castiglione, Farmingdale, NY
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Summary: The Ancient Pelican
Review: I think this is John Wayne's best. With thousands of hours in his log book, he saves the day (night) by bringing Stack to his senses and pushes the plane and fuel to the limits. He is considered "The Ancient Pelican" by his boss, but he knows that he is the one who brings in this four engine piston/prop airliner. The film details the personal stories of all the passengers aboard in this commercial flight from Hawaii to California. It's amazing to see how far we have come in air travel today. The great music score by Dimitri Tiomkin is beautiful. Hearing John Wayne whistling this tune in the movie is unforgettable. Being an old pilot, the technical details in this film are superb!
John Wayne produced and starred in this one of the first airplane disaster films made.
Spencer Tracy was slated to take this role but never did. This film was never enhanced. Academy award winning music and a very well acted and enjoyable film that is a real find for John Wayne movie collectors! I finally found a copy after many years of searching, although poor video quality, it still is a great film to watch over and over.
Frostyuno@aol.com
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Summary: John Wayne In Proper Character (maybe)
Review: A most unusual role for "The Duke." Dan Roman is flawed; he once has failed, at least in the world's view. This may not be actually true. You don't know. Previous to his "failure," however, he participated in the fearsomely fabled "low-level" bombing raid on the Polesti oil refineries in 1943. Dan Roman "accepts" the world's view of him and "makes-do," perhaps because he has a personal rather than an institutional value system. Eventually, he, the "failure," is forced by circumstances to preserve an airliner and thereby the lives of a number of people. And thereafter, he simply walks away. Into the "fog of night." "The High and The Mighty" is a highly interesting character study. With age, one discovers that very few people indeed are "without flaw." This doesn't mean they're unworthy. In his cinematic creation of Co-Pilot Dan Roman, Mr. John Wayne projected this timeless theme to a remarkable degree. And it's a lesson "The Rambo Generation" could well learn!
Wilson Page,
Athens, Georgia,
30 April 2004
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Summary: They have to get this movie out again
Review: I have been thinking about this movie for years and have been trying to find it for as long. Aviation has been my life for the last 25 years. If you love Planes and you haven't seen this, you have too!!! I haven't seen it in at least 30 years. Come on get it out!! PLEASE!
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Summary: the high and the mighty
Review: i too saw this movie as a child (...), and i remember that i think because of this movie, sadly, i must say, that i have always had a trememdous fear of airplanes and flying!, even though my dad who worked on airplanes assured me that flying was safer than driving in my car! anyway, it is a great movie, (...)
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Summary: Best of John Wayne
Review: Took me years but I now have a copy of a copy(bad) of my favorite movie of all time. For those interested the whistling was done by Muzzy Marcellino for the score. You cannot find a better film to led all others in this type endeavor. Great suspense, pathos, and action. And, yes, the reference to the old pelican refered to the pelican's excellent flying ability! May the Wayne family honor the master to the world with this movie in a dvd release.
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Summary: my intro to great movies
Review: Like others who have written, I first saw "The High and the Mighty" at its initial release at one of Chicago's downtown movie palaces, either the Chicago or the State-Lake. (...) I also saw it 2-3 times more when it went to second-run neighborhood theaters. Many images from the film remain firmly stamped on my mind, not the least of which is the unforgettable title theme by Dmitri Tiomkin. Wayne's performance had great heroic stature, although by that time I had already seen other of his films on the big screen, including "Wake of the Red Witch," "Red River," and "Stagecoach." But "h & m" struck me in a special way. Maybe it was the closed society of a large airliner (I think it was a Pan Am Constellation, though I could be wrong). There were many little stories that I've never forgotten. The Phil Harris character and his wife and their abortive Hawaiian vacation. The near-murder of David Brian by Sidney Blackmer(?). Jan Sterling's Oscar-nominated performance as a girl with a past worried about meeting the man of her dreams. (Just saw her obit in today's paper.) Paul Kelly as another man with a problematical past. Director William Wellman's son as the little boy who sleeps through it all. Wayne's own story of wartime catastrophe and subsequent guilt.
I wonder how today's audiences would view it, seeing it for the first time. There have been many air-disaster films, of course, like "Airport", its sequels and clones. And then there's September11...
What I do know is I want to see it and own it... and soon!
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