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The High and the Mighty (1954)
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Synopsis
For The High and the Mighty, director
William Wellman
made a point of using Cinemascope to heighten the dramatic content of a confined screen space -- in this instance, the cockpit of a plane in flight. Copilot Dan Roman (
John Wayne
) seems a lot more in control of things than Captain John Sullivan (
Robert Stack
) when the plane loses an engine during a flight from Honolulu to San Francisco. Wellman crosscuts from the tension in the cockpit to the various subplots involving the plane's passengers, among them May Holst (
Claire Trevor
), Lydia Rice (
Laraine Day
), Howard Rice (
John Howard
), Sally McKee (
Jan Sterling
), Ed Joseph (
Phil Harris
), and Humphrey Agnew (
Sidney Blackmer
) (as a character named Humphrey Agnew -- a remarkable prescient cognomen given the future of the U.S. vice presidency!). Adapted by Ernest K. Gann from his best-selling novel, The High and the Mighty was one of the first (and most profitable) entries in the "terror in the sky" genre. Its theme music, written by
Dimitri Tiomkin
and whistled incessantly by
John Wayne
in the film, would later become a best-selling hit throughout the world. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
Cast
Carl "Alfalfa" Switzer
Ensign Kelm
Doe Avedon
Spalding
Julie Bishop
Lillian Pardee
Sidney Blackmer
Humphrey Agnew
David Brian
Ken Childs
Wally Brown
Lenny Wilby
George Chandler
Ben Sneed
Laraine Day
Lydia Rice
Ann Doran
Mrs. Joseph
Paul Fix
Frank Briscoe
Phil Harris
Ed Joseph
William Hopper
Roy
Robert Keys
Lt. Mowbray
Joy Kim
Dorothy Chen
Julie Mitchum
Susie
Robert Newton
Gustave Pardee
John Qualen
Jose Locota
William Schallert
Dispatcher
Karen Sharpe
Nell Buck
Robert Stack
Sullivan
Jan Sterling
Sally McKee
Claire Trevor
May Holst
Douglas Fowley
Alsop
Paul Kelly
Flaherty
John Smith
Milo Buck
John Wayne
Dan Roman
John Howard
Howard Rice
William Campbell
Hobie Wheeler
Production Crew
Alfred Ybarra
Art Director
Ernest K. Gann
Book Author
Archie J. Stout
Cinematographer
Louis Clyde Stoumen
Cinematographer
William H. Clothier
Cinematographer
Dimitri Tiomkin
Composer (Music Score)
Gwen Wakeling
Costume Designer
William Wellman
Director
Ralph Dawson
Editor
John Wayne
Producer
Robert M. Fellows
Producer
Ernest K. Gann
Screenwriter
Year: 1954
Runtime: 147
Country: USA
MPAA Rating:
Category: Feature
Genre
Action
Color type
Warner-Color
Produced by
Warner Brothers
Wayne-Fellows Productions
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