The last 20 minutes of this film is so gut-wrenching to watch. Will they make it??!! This is a timeless classic. Fantastic music score. True story, a 747 I was on in 1991 from HNL to LAX hit some wind shear and we lost about 10,000 feet. That was no fun at all!!!
Actually, the coolest scene occurs right before this one when John Wayne has to slap some sense into a hysterical Robert Stack. Stack's reply while not word for word is the basis for the expression: "Thanks, I needed that!"
I saw this movie as a kid when it first came out. I think I whistled the theme song for weeks. Then, three years later I saw The Bridge on the River Kwai -- and I whistled that for several weeks.
Totally surprised when the stewardess told passengers to inflate their life-vests inside the plane; would never happen in real life. If the plane filled with water before you got out, you wouldn't be able to swim underwater to the exits; you'd float to the ceiling and drown!
Ironically, a Transocean sister ship to the aircraft used in this film, The Argentine Queen (N4726V), was lost with no survivors while ditching on March 28, 1964, on a flight for another carrier from Honolulu to Los Angeles under circumstances similar to those in The High and the Mighty. This coincidence and the similarity of nicknames has resulted in some sources erroneously reporting this as the aircraft used during filming, but Keating's log book verifies N4665V's role
Inflating lifevests IN the airplane?? Please people, don't do that. Just OUTSIDE the plane!! Unless you want to get stuck inside after ditching (always a bad proposition to start with, BUT survivable. Witness Sully's Hudson River miracle)
While overall a great film it is made perfect by the Dimitri Tiomkin soundtrack which is almost constant throughout the movie setting the mood with every turn. It would not have been as successful without him.
An aft CG has less drag compared to a forward cg... so in real life you would want to move people from the front of the A/C to the rear of the air craft.within W&B limitations..
IF you can control the longitudinal instability which results! (F-16 pilots who had a complete fly-by-wire failure know exactly what I'm talking about!)
I grew up watching this……Dad, an amateur flyer, loved the movie, & especially John Wayne. Never a better leadership figure in life or the movies. They simply don’t make them like this anymore. Guts, and grit based faith & determination. I sure miss the uplifting example actors. Get rid of back stabbing & gratuitous sex - they aren’t needed.
Wayne, Robert Stack, Claire Trevor, Loraine Day Jan Sterling, Robert Newton, Phil Harris and David Brian all seemed like amateur actors in this film. Dimitri Tiomkin's theme song "The High and the Mighty" was pretty compelling tho. The movie is a riot to watch nowadays. Thanks, Porfle.
The biggest problem for me is that Ernest K. Gann's dialogue is so incredibly awful. He was a novelist who had no ear for how people talk in real life. The poor actors couldn't help but come off sounding stupid the whole time.
@@porflepopnecker4376 , That explains everything. I knew that they were capable of better acting so now it all comes together. It was a big chance for work and exposure for them so after reading the script they held their noses and took the flight. : )
@@libertyforever4270 Gann did better with his other John Wayne screenplay ISLAND IN THE SKY. The characters were mostly military types so he didn't have as much trouble with the dialogue.
@@porflepopnecker4376 , Also, that engine popping and flashing thing is so comical because everyone familiar with even the most basic of aviation engineering knows that 4 engine aircraft are designed to fly with only three engines so they could have shut the malfunctioning engine down immediately and flown home with no problems. But that's Hollywood, eh?
Question for the commercial airplane pilots out there: They had 30 gallons left in all the tanks. In reality, how much flying time is that. They make it sound like no zero, bvut did they have a minute? 5 minutes? I was always curious to know. Can anyone answer?
John Wayne himself gave the answer to this question: 30 seconds! (This, of course, accounting for the fact that not all of this fuel can actually reach the engines!)
The DC-4 was powered by four 1,450 horsepower Pratt and Whitney R-2000 engines and it has eight fuel tanks with a maximum fuel capacity of 3,600 U.S. gallons. The fuel flow was 208 gallons/hr. in cargo configuration and 211 gallons/hr. in pax configuration. (The additional three gallons/hr. was for the heaters when carrying passengers.) So, they had 7-8 minutes of useable fuel onboard, for all 4 engines turning: figuring 30 gallons remaining. With 2 engines shut down however, theoretically more time.
What a mistake to leave a comment here with Mr. KnowItAll harassing people about trivia. I think that he thinks that this is the comment section of "Science" (That's a scientific journal, Mr. KnowItAll)
He looks ridiculous. And a man in his position can't afford to be made to look ridiculous. My favorite is the ending scene when he walks out the door facing "Monument Valley " in "The Searchers" movie.
Good movie, except for the animated movements & obvious 'reading of the script' technique of so-called "John Wayne, which wasn't even his real name. He sold-out his birth name of Marion Robert Morrison to Hollywood deceit, greed, & personal anticipation of greater recognition. Also another example of blatant disrespect for family heritage. So-called "Laraine Day" also sold-out her birth name of La Raine Johnson. So-called "Claire Trevor" sold-out her birth name of Claire Wemlinger. So-called "Jan Sterling" sold-out her birth name of Jane Sterling Adriance. So-called "David Brian" sold-out his birth name of Brian James Davis. So-called "John Smith" sold-out his birth name of Robert Errol Van Orden. So-called "Julie Bishop" sold-out her birth name of Jacqueline Brown. So-called 'John Howard" sold-out his birth name of John Richard Cox, Jr. So-called "John "Qualen" sold-out his birth name of Johan Mandt Kvalen. So-called "Doe Avedon" sold-out her birth name of Dorcas Marie Nowell. So-called "Patrick Wayne" followed in his father's footsteps and sold-out his birth name of Patrick John Morrison. Phil Harris, on the other hand, wasn't ashamed of his Father. He DIDN'T sell-out his birthname to the shallowness of Hollywood. He also was a good actor & had a great reassuring voice.
This looks like a well funded high school play. Robert Stack might as well be steering a bumper car at the State Fair. Pathetic, two thumbs down. You're welcome.
The last 20 minutes of this film is so gut-wrenching to watch. Will they make it??!! This is a timeless classic. Fantastic music score. True story, a 747 I was on in 1991 from HNL to LAX hit some wind shear and we lost about 10,000 feet. That was no fun at all!!!
Actually, the coolest scene occurs right before this one when John Wayne has to slap some sense into a hysterical Robert Stack. Stack's reply while not word for word is the basis for the expression: "Thanks, I needed that!"
that was called Crew Resources Management in 1950.
Good movie always enjoy watching it.
I love the ending where John Wayne walks away and Regis Toomey says "So Long.So Long You Ancient Pelican. ".
Thanks for sharing
I saw this movie as a kid when it first came out. I think I whistled the theme song for weeks. Then, three years later I saw The Bridge on the River Kwai -- and I whistled that for several weeks.
Love how the music cuts out just before touch down! WILLIAM WELLMAN! Unsung Hollywood,”GREAT DIRECTOR,!”
Everyone knows you don;t inflate your vest until you are out of the aircraft...
...except for good luck!🤣 "cigarette out, please..."
Everyone except the screenwriter, apparently (and the most hilarious part is, the screenwriter was himself a former airline pilot!)
And after the passengers deplaned, they all went straight to the desk to file claims on the lost luggage.
Totally surprised when the stewardess told passengers to inflate their life-vests inside the plane; would never happen in real life. If the plane filled with water before you got out, you wouldn't be able to swim underwater to the exits; you'd float to the ceiling and drown!
Ironically, a Transocean sister ship to the aircraft used in this film, The Argentine Queen (N4726V), was lost with no survivors while ditching on March 28, 1964, on a flight for another carrier from Honolulu to Los Angeles under circumstances similar to those in The High and the Mighty. This coincidence and the similarity of nicknames has resulted in some sources erroneously reporting this as the aircraft used during filming, but Keating's log book verifies N4665V's role
I love how they pardoned it with "Airplane:!!!
Inflating lifevests IN the airplane?? Please people, don't do that. Just OUTSIDE the plane!! Unless you want to get stuck inside after ditching (always a bad proposition to start with, BUT survivable. Witness Sully's Hudson River miracle)
Looks like this is the serious version of “Airplane”.
actually Airplane was based on the movie "Zero HOur".
"Stewardess I speak jive."
'Barbara Billingsley "Airplane"
While overall a great film it is made perfect by the Dimitri Tiomkin soundtrack which is almost constant throughout the movie setting the mood with every turn. It would not have been as successful without him.
full flaps would have put him in those lights that far out, another slapping would he have needed
"By the way is there anyone here who can fly an airplane?"
An aft CG has less drag compared to a forward cg... so in real life you would want to move people from the front of the A/C to the rear of the air craft.within W&B limitations..
IF you can control the longitudinal instability which results! (F-16 pilots who had a complete fly-by-wire failure know exactly what I'm talking about!)
I grew up watching this……Dad, an amateur flyer, loved the movie, & especially John Wayne. Never a better leadership figure in life or the movies. They simply don’t make them like this anymore. Guts, and grit based faith & determination. I sure miss the uplifting example actors. Get rid of back stabbing & gratuitous sex - they aren’t needed.
Wayne, Robert Stack, Claire Trevor, Loraine Day Jan Sterling, Robert Newton, Phil Harris and David Brian all seemed like amateur actors in this film.
Dimitri Tiomkin's theme song "The High and the Mighty" was pretty compelling tho.
The movie is a riot to watch nowadays.
Thanks, Porfle.
The biggest problem for me is that Ernest K. Gann's dialogue is so incredibly awful. He was a novelist who had no ear for how people talk in real life. The poor actors couldn't help but come off sounding stupid the whole time.
@@porflepopnecker4376 ,
That explains everything. I knew that they were capable of better acting so now it all comes together.
It was a big chance for work and exposure for them so after reading the script they held their noses and took the flight. : )
@@libertyforever4270 Gann did better with his other John Wayne screenplay ISLAND IN THE SKY. The characters were mostly military types so he didn't have as much trouble with the dialogue.
@@porflepopnecker4376 ,
I agree because military communication is by regulations more formal thereby making it easier to write dialogue. ☺
@@porflepopnecker4376 ,
Also, that engine popping and flashing thing is so comical because everyone familiar with even the most basic of aviation engineering knows that 4 engine aircraft are designed to fly with only three engines so they could have shut the malfunctioning engine down immediately and flown home with no problems.
But that's Hollywood, eh?
Question for the commercial airplane pilots out there: They had 30 gallons left in all the tanks. In reality, how much flying time is that. They make it sound like no zero, bvut did they have a minute? 5 minutes? I was always curious to know. Can anyone answer?
look at the aircraft type, then convert gallons to pounds, and figure how many pounds the remaining engines will use per hour
@@watchgoose I have no idea how to do that math.
Yes, but it's too hard to explain to a non flier. Sorry.
John Wayne himself gave the answer to this question: 30 seconds! (This, of course, accounting for the fact that not all of this fuel can actually reach the engines!)
The DC-4 was powered by four 1,450 horsepower Pratt and Whitney R-2000 engines and it has eight fuel tanks with a maximum fuel capacity of 3,600 U.S. gallons. The fuel flow was 208 gallons/hr. in cargo configuration and 211 gallons/hr. in pax configuration. (The additional three gallons/hr. was for the heaters when carrying passengers.) So, they had 7-8 minutes of useable fuel onboard, for all 4 engines turning: figuring 30 gallons remaining. With 2 engines shut down however, theoretically more time.
What a mistake to leave a comment here with Mr. KnowItAll harassing people about trivia. I think that he thinks that this is the comment section of "Science" (That's a scientific journal, Mr. KnowItAll)
Lonebeagle,
You are the one harassing people about trivia proving that you are a liar.
@@libertyforever4270 - Liar? No, “hypocrite” is a better word (although these days & on this forum the common parlance might be “troll”).
He looks ridiculous. And a man in his position can't afford to be made to look ridiculous. My favorite is the ending scene when he walks out the door facing "Monument Valley " in "The Searchers" movie.
*******
Good movie, except for the animated movements & obvious 'reading of the script' technique of so-called "John Wayne, which wasn't even his real name. He sold-out his birth name of Marion Robert Morrison to Hollywood deceit, greed, & personal anticipation of greater recognition. Also another example of blatant disrespect for family heritage. So-called "Laraine Day" also sold-out her birth name of La Raine Johnson. So-called "Claire Trevor" sold-out her birth name of Claire Wemlinger. So-called "Jan Sterling" sold-out her birth name of Jane Sterling Adriance. So-called "David Brian" sold-out his birth name of Brian
James Davis. So-called "John Smith" sold-out his birth name of Robert Errol Van Orden. So-called "Julie Bishop" sold-out her birth name of Jacqueline Brown. So-called 'John Howard" sold-out his birth name of John Richard Cox, Jr. So-called "John "Qualen" sold-out his birth name of
Johan Mandt Kvalen. So-called "Doe Avedon" sold-out her birth name of Dorcas Marie Nowell. So-called "Patrick Wayne" followed in his father's footsteps and sold-out his birth name of Patrick John Morrison. Phil Harris, on the other hand, wasn't ashamed of his Father. He DIDN'T sell-out his birthname to the shallowness of Hollywood. He also was a good actor & had a great reassuring voice.
You sound like a real bore.
This looks like a well funded high school play. Robert Stack might as well be steering a bumper car at the State Fair. Pathetic, two thumbs down. You're welcome.