The High and the Mighty **** (1954, John Wayne, Claire Trevor, Laraine Day, Robert Stack, Robert Newton, Jan Sterling, Phil Harris) – Classic Movie Review 8995

Director William A Wellman’s 1954 CinemaScope and WarnerColor action adventure drama The High and the Mighty is written by Ernest K Gann and based on his bestselling novel. It won one Oscar for Best Scoring of a Dramatic or Comedy Picture and Jan Sterling won a Golden Globe as Best Supporting Actress, with Karen Sharpe as Most Promising Newcomer – Female.

It stars John Wayne, who is on top form in one of the original and best of the airborne disaster films with a plane-load of stars boarding a Honolulu flight to San Francisco that is destined for an unscheduled stop at fear – even though nervy old Dan Roman (Wayne) and over-confident young John Sullivan (Robert Stack) are in the cockpit.

Every jolt is expected, but it is all carried off with such aplomb by the top-rank cast and production team that it comes through with flying colours. Wayne’s Stagecoach (1939) co-star Claire Trevor is the top-billed actress, giving her world-weary turn one more useful outing, as May Holst. Dimitri Tiomkin’s rousing music score won a deserved Oscar.

In real life, the title song was used at Wayne’s funeral in June 1979.

Also in the cast are Robert Newton, Doe Avedon, Laraine Day, Jan Sterling, Phil Harris, Sidney Blackmer, John Howard, David Brian, Paul Kelly, Julie Bishop, Pedro Gonzales-Gonzales, Wally Brown, William Campbell, John Qualen, Ann Doran, Paul Fix, Joy Kim, George Chandler, Michael Wellman, Douglas Fowley, Regis Toomey, Carl Switzer, Robert Keys, William Hopper, William Schallert, Julie Mitchum, Karen Sharpe, John Smith, Robert Easton, Dorothy Ford, Douglas Kennedy, Walter Reed and Philip Van Zandt.

Wayne was initially solely a producer, but was cast in the film after Spencer Tracy dropped out. Wellman said Tracy found the script ‘lousy’ while assistant director Andrew McLaglen said Tracy’s friends told the actor he was ‘in for an ego-bruising ride’. Wellman convinced Wayne to star, but Wayne later said he did not like his performance. McLaglen recalled: ‘He said Well, it never had any love story.’

Wayne wanted his actor pilot friend Robert Cummings as the captain, but Robert Stack got the role after he convinced Wellman that a non-pilot could effectively portray the drama of a cockpit conflict.

It follows Wayne’s 1953 aviation disaster film Island in the Sky, which shares many of the same cast and production crew. Ernest K Gann wrote both screenplays.

Soldier of Fortune (1955) is also written by Ernest K Gann and based on his novel.

The High and the Mighty is directed by William A Wellman, runs 147 minutes, is made by Wayne-Fellows Productions, is released by Warner Bros, Ernest K Gann, based on his novel, is shot in CinemaScope and WarnerColor by Archie J Stout and William Clothier, is produced by John Wayne and Robert Fellows, is scored by Dimitri Tiomkin, and is designed by Alfred Ybarra.

Wayne pushed for the use of CinemaScope, although Wellman considered it ‘bulky and unwieldy’ during filming. The format also limited use in cinemas but it grossed $8.5 million and was the sixth most popular film of 1954 in North America.

For two decades, the film languished in the Wayne vault, where it suffered major water damage and portions of the film stock’s colour had faded. But in the early 2000s John Wayne’s estate, through Gretchen Wayne, the widow of his late son Michael, made a deal with Cinetech (film) and Chace Productions (sound) to restore it along with Island in the Sky. Restoration took more than a year, and three months to fix the sound. It was shown on TV in July 2005, and appeared on DVD in August 2005.

© Derek Winnert 2019 Classic Movie Review 8995

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