Having recently read "No Highway In the Sky" by Neville Shute, I watched the 1951 film "No Highway |with James Stewart playing Theodore Honey, Marlene Dietrich as the aging film star, Monica Teasdale, and Glynis Johns as the stewardess Marjorie Corder who takes a shine to Mr Honey {as does Monica Teasdale},
Of course, compression is inevitable when transferring a novel of several hundred pages to a film running only 98 minutes, but it is remarkable how true to the source the director Henry Koster remains despite the fact that some plot elements seem rushed through. Stewart manages to get across the eccentric scientist fairly well, though the character in the novel is considerably more complex. The same could be said of the two female leads, though Glynis Johns does have more opportunity than Dietrich to establish her character. This is primarily owing to the fact that the Corder part is far more developed after the Gander incident than that of the actress.
Dennis Scott, the primary narrator in the novel is here played by Jack Hawkins who certainly makes his subordinate film role quite effective. In fact, the simplifying of Scott's place in the plot is actually an improvement on the novel, as Shute has difficulties in transferring points of view between characters who are miles apart and are still being filtered through the perceptions of Dennis Scott. The film abandons the first person perspective and thus completely solves that difficulty.
A major change is made to the character of Honey's daughter Elspeth. She never has the accident, is taken care of by the Scotts, and is more mature and less child-like than in the novel. But Janette Scott makes the most of these changes and creates a very convincing and sympathetic character indeed.
The characters in the novel who are most diminished are Shirley Scott and Captain Samuelson. Shirley Scott {Elizabeth Allan} is quite an important figure in the book but here her important relationship with Elspeth and her rapport with her husband seem nearly completely ignored. The Captain {played well by an uncredited Niall MacGinnis} has for some reason two of his most important functions--his distrust of the Reindeer aircraft and his knowledge of and respect for the the pilot of the crashed plane-- assigned to another character who is dropped from the plot quite early.
It is quite surprising that the expert and effective ensemble acting of so many of the performers is uncredited. This includes the work of Douglas Bradley-Smith, Felix Aylmer, Kenneth More and even an appearance of the silent star, Bessie Love. It's rather a pity because their work helps create the vivid atmosphere and verisimilitude of this excellent film.
Of course, compression is inevitable when transferring a novel of several hundred pages to a film running only 98 minutes, but it is remarkable how true to the source the director Henry Koster remains despite the fact that some plot elements seem rushed through. Stewart manages to get across the eccentric scientist fairly well, though the character in the novel is considerably more complex. The same could be said of the two female leads, though Glynis Johns does have more opportunity than Dietrich to establish her character. This is primarily owing to the fact that the Corder part is far more developed after the Gander incident than that of the actress.
Dennis Scott, the primary narrator in the novel is here played by Jack Hawkins who certainly makes his subordinate film role quite effective. In fact, the simplifying of Scott's place in the plot is actually an improvement on the novel, as Shute has difficulties in transferring points of view between characters who are miles apart and are still being filtered through the perceptions of Dennis Scott. The film abandons the first person perspective and thus completely solves that difficulty.
A major change is made to the character of Honey's daughter Elspeth. She never has the accident, is taken care of by the Scotts, and is more mature and less child-like than in the novel. But Janette Scott makes the most of these changes and creates a very convincing and sympathetic character indeed.
The characters in the novel who are most diminished are Shirley Scott and Captain Samuelson. Shirley Scott {Elizabeth Allan} is quite an important figure in the book but here her important relationship with Elspeth and her rapport with her husband seem nearly completely ignored. The Captain {played well by an uncredited Niall MacGinnis} has for some reason two of his most important functions--his distrust of the Reindeer aircraft and his knowledge of and respect for the the pilot of the crashed plane-- assigned to another character who is dropped from the plot quite early.
It is quite surprising that the expert and effective ensemble acting of so many of the performers is uncredited. This includes the work of Douglas Bradley-Smith, Felix Aylmer, Kenneth More and even an appearance of the silent star, Bessie Love. It's rather a pity because their work helps create the vivid atmosphere and verisimilitude of this excellent film.