NR | 2h 27m | Action, Adventure, Drama | 1954
My first impression of “The High and the Mighty,” directed by the legendary William A. Wellman (of “A Star is Born” (1937), “The Ox-Bow Incident” (1942) fame) was that it was an air disaster flick.
I then wondered what could justify the hefty 147-minute runtime. Would the passengers crash-land in some untamed jungle, stalked by ferocious beasts? Would they battle starvation, clinging to life like the desperate crew in “Island in the Sky” (1953)?
As it turns out, what fills most of that generous runtime is pure, unfiltered melodrama—and lots of it. Like “Island in the Sky,” this film is adapted from an Ernest K. Gann novel, with Gann himself penning the screenplay. But where the former is taut and serious, this one soars into a swirling storm of sentimentality, laced with a generous helping of schmaltz.
Yet, for all its indulgences, “The High and the Mighty” struck a chord with audiences and critics alike. Nominated for six Academy Awards and clinching one, it tells the gripping tale of a veteran pilot grappling with his haunted past.
What begins as a routine passenger flight from Honolulu to San Francisco quickly spirals into a harrowing journey where every soul on board teeters on the edge of disaster.
John Wayne takes on the role of Dan Roman, a washed-up copilot with a name that sounds like it was pulled straight from a daytime soap opera. A textbook tragic figure, he walks with a limp and masks his inner turmoil with a near-constant, cheerfully melancholic whistle.
As Dan inspects the DC-4 airliner, airport workers obligingly recount his grim backstory in excruciating detail. Years ago, he survived a catastrophic crash that claimed the lives of his wife and young son. Thrown through the cockpit window, he suffered a severe leg injury, leaving him physically and emotionally scarred.
The film parades a colorful ensemble of passengers as they check in for the ill-fated flight, each burdened with their own quirks and psychological baggage. The strong cast includes Claire Trevor, Laraine Day, Jan Sterling, Phil Harris, Robert Newton, Julie Bishop, David Brian, Paul Kelly, and John Qualen.
While these characters could have easily faded into the background as stock stereotypes, the film devotes substantial time to fleshing them out. Despite the effort, their personal dramas fail to be as engaging as the dire situation unfolding mid-flight.
Rather than weaving these character revelations organically, the film spoon-feeds us exposition, making the pacing feel sluggish. Director Wellman seems more preoccupied with telling us who these people were before boarding the plane than focusing on the grave peril they all face together.
Though this picture set the stage for the disaster film craze of the 1970s, it leans more toward melodrama than thrills. Much of its dialogue is unintentionally amusing, such as an airport worker’s cryptic description of an Asian passenger: “That face.” His colleague’s poetic response? “A moon and a willow tree.” Moments like these, coupled with stilted acting and awkward delivery, often undercut the film’s intended gravitas.
However, when the tension finally arrives in the form of engine trouble, the film finds its stride. The pilots face a harrowing choice: risk an emergency water landing or push ahead and hope for the best.
John Wayne delivers a steady, restrained performance, lending a sense of quiet strength, while Dimitri Tiomkin’s Oscar-winning score heightens the turmoil at key moments.
While the film’s lengthy runtime, filled with backstories and sentimental dialogue, slows its momentum, it still offers an engaging mix of character-driven storytelling and early disaster-film suspense.
“The High and the Mighty” is a relatively entertaining, if overlong, piece of Hollywood melodrama with moments of both genuine tension and unintentional camp.
