The High and the Mighty (Two-Disc Collector's Edition)
by William A. Wellman
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DVD Cover Information
Actor: Claire Trevor, Jan Sterling, John Wayne, Laraine Day, Robert StackDirector: William A. Wellman
Brand: WAYNE,JOHN
Producer: John Wayne
Cinematographer: Archie Stout
Editor: Ralph Dawson
Producer: Robert Fellows
Writer: Ernest K. Gann
DVD: Region Code 1
Audio: English (Unknown), Dolby Digital 2.0 Surround; English (Subtitled); English (Original Language), Dolby Digital 2.0 Surround
Format: Collector's Edition, Color, NTSC, Special Edition, Subtitled, Widescreen
Picture Format: 1.33:1
Running Time: 141 minutes
DVD Release Date: 2005-08-02
Audience Rating: NR (Not Rated)
Studio: Paramount
Movie Reviews of The High and the Mighty (Two-Disc Collector's Edition)
Movie Review: The Return of a Neglected Masterpiece
Summary: 5 Stars
For many years all that remained of "The High and the Mighty" was its famous theme tune, composed by Dmitri Timokin and supposedly whistled by John Wayne. The film itself was unavailable, supposedly literally fading into obscurity due its unstable color process. Indeed, when the film had last appeared on network television, it was quite obvious that the once-vibrant colors of this magnificent production were almost washed out. The film was succumbing to the fate of numerous color films and there appeared to be little that could be done to save it.
"The High and the Mighty" was filmed in Warner Color, Warner Brothers' attempt to produce a more economical process to compete with the expensive Technicolor film used in numerous American films. Unfortunately, this color process did not hold up very well after many years and it was appeared the film would never be seen again. It might very well have become a "lost" masterpiece.
When I first saw the film I was quite impressed with everything about it: the very fine, diverse cast; the dramatic story; the memorable musical score; and even the color. It is wonderful that the film has been fully restored and may even look better than it did when it was first released in 1954.
For those of us who are true fans of John Wayne, the release on DVD of "The High and the Mighty" has been a welcome addition to our collections of the Duke's films. When the film was made, Wayne was enjoying a very good, profitable relationship with Jack Warner and the result were a series of mostly memorable films during the 1950s.
In many ways this film is a virtual "time capsule" of a much different era in which flying, especially over the ocean, was still very much an adventure. Vintage photos also show that passengers took flying, especially for long distances, quite seriously and treated it as a very formal occasion. Thus, men wore suits and ties and women wore very fancy dresses. That can be clearly seen in this film. One has to marvel that some women could somehow wear the full skirts and petticoats of that time and fit into an airplane seat!
Before the advent of commercial jets, flying was much longer and slower. It took many hours to fly from Honolulu to San Francisco and this film successfully conveys that. This is NOT a routine flight, however, and the real drama comes when an altercation develops during the flight that affects the fate of everyone on board the plane. It reaches the point where the viewer wonders if the plane will actually make it to San Francisco.
Director William Wellman, sometimes called "Wild Bill," was, from all accounts, a very colorful, imaginative, and even gifted director who had a great love and appreciation for flying. He was a pilot in World War I and later depicted some of his experiences and impressions of early aerial warfare in the first film to win a Best Picture Oscar, the 1927 Paramount production "Wings" with Charles "Buddy Rogers, Richard Arlen, Clara Bow, Hedda Hopper (who later became a nationally-syndicated gossip columnists), and even a very young Gary Cooper! Flying was a feature in future Wellman films, including his very last film, the 1958 production "Lafayette Escadrille."
Wellman clearly had a good relationship with John Wayne; they again worked together a year later in another Warner Brothers film, "Blood Alley," which teamed Wayne with Lauren Bacall. This film was a Batjac production, the company Wayne cofounded to produce many of his films; it took its name from a fictional company in one of John Wayne's Republic films.
The film features a very fine cast, including Claire Trevor, Laraine Day, Robert Stack, Jan Sterling, Robert Newton, Phil Harris, Paul Kelly, John Qualen, Regis Toomey, Paul Fix, and Douglas Fowley. They all contribute their unique qualities to the unfolding drama that makes this such a memorable film.
The DVD set also includes a number of special features that clearly show how the film was made, how it was restored, what it was like to work with both John Wayne and William Wellman, how Batjac was created, and so on. There are excellent commentaries by Leonard Maltin, who is regularly seen on "Entertainment Tonight" and who must be one of the greatest film authorities of all.
Amazingly, John Wayne continues to attract new fans through the release on home video of most of his major films, as well as some of his early productions when he struggled to make a name for himself in Hollywood after being virtually neglected by his mentor John Ford. Fortunately, Ford finally rescued Wayne from grade "B' Westerns and gave him a featured role in the 1939 film "Stagecoach," establishing Wayne as a major star. (One of Wayne's costars from that historic film, Claire Trevor, has a prominent role in this film.) There is so much to see among the John Wayne films and this is one of the best of them all.
Summary of The High and the Mighty (Two-Disc Collector's Edition)
Passengers on a flight over the Pacific must rely on a washed-up co-pilot to land the plane after an engine fails and the pilot loses his nerve.Genre: Feature Film-Action/Adventure
Rating: NR
Release Date: 2-AUG-2005
Media Type: DVD
John Wayne personally produced many of his '50s films, which is why some of them have languished in corporate limbo following his death. The High and the Mighty was one of his most popular vehicles (no pun intended). This long, necessarily sedentary drama aboard an endangered airliner is a CinemaScope bridge between 1932's Grand Hotel and 1970s disaster movies. Despite Wayne's iconic presence as a pilot--now copilot--who survived the plane crash that wiped out his family, it's an ensemble movie with an impressive cast: Robert Stack sharing the cockpit, Oscar® nominees Claire Trevor and Jan Sterling, Laraine Day, Robert Newton, Paul Kelly, John Qualen, Regis Toomey, the ubiquitous Paul Fix, and director William A. Wellman's good-luck character actor Douglas Fowley. Dimitri Tiomkin's score won the Oscar, though the fondly remembered theme song isn't as prominent as you'd expect. Wings veteran William H. Clothier shot the aerial footage. --Richard T. Jameson
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