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Very good movie about the courage and strength of character of the pilot and crew of a cargo plane forced down in bad weather in then uncharted and unexplored regions of Canada's frozen tundra. This thrilling survival epic directed by William Wellman, from an Ernest K. Gann script, depicts former Army WWII pilot, Captain Dooley (John Wayne), and his crew who ran out of fuel in a blinding snowstorm. They were, luckily, able to land on a frozen lake without casualties, but their position was in a totally unknown and unexplored region of the Canadian Arctic. With only very small amounts of food, and temperatures at times -70F, and only a hand-cranked emergency radio, the odds are stacked against them. Fellow pilots Andy Devine, Harry Carey Jr., Lloyd Nolan, James Arness, and Walter Abdel all relentlessly search for them. The vast expanses of the snow-covered bleakness is splendid in this black & white epic. This is a great movie.Read full review
In a John Wayne movie, you expect Wayne to be the hero, and in that regard, ISLAND IN THE SKY doesn't disappoint. As the plane is going down, Wayne is calm and in control, and the other men on board seem to sense that. As long as they do what he says, they'll be okay. This point is underscored later when one man disobeys Wayne and dies. So far, so good...but then Wayne TELLS the other guys that the only way to survive is to do what he says, and if they don't, he will SHOOT them! This scene almost ruined the movie for me, because it throws it up in your face that this is a MOVIE and this guy is JOHN WAYNE, when the viewer SHOULD be thinking it's a realistic tale of life or death where one no, not even the hero, is infallible. Still a good film and, if you love Wayne, this won't bother you.Read full review
Not horrible, but not very exciting. The aerial shots of the C-47's are good, and the cast is OK, but not as good as I expected. However, it is The Duke...
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Excellent entertainment. Story of a crippled aircraft forced down in a remote arctic region and mans instinct for survival against almost impossible odds as they try to direct a group of there peers who form a rescue mission to try to find them on a snow and ice covered lake bed, while risking their own aircraft and lives. The story line moves quickly, and builds to an exciting climax that shows what lengths friends will go to help their own in time of need.
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I flew with the co-pilot of this ill-fated trip, (didn't die as depicted in the movie), when I was employed with American Airlines as a pilot. They went down on Feb. 3, 1943 and were rescued on April 3, 1943. The other difference is, that it was a C-87 (B-24 cargo version), not a DC-3. Read all about it in the book by James Mangan, "To the Four Winds". Excellent reading about American Airlines role during the Second World War. I highly recommend this movie. The aviation technicals are very good.
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