Island in the Sky (1953)

Director:

William A. Wellman

Writers:

Ernest K. Gann (novel)
Ernest K. Gann (screenplay)

Release Date:

5 September 1953 (USA)

Genre:

Adventure | Drama

Plot:

A transport plane crash-lands in the frozen wastes of Labrador, and the plane's pilot, Dooley, must...

Plot Keywords:

Irish American | Lord's Prayer | Search And Rescue | Airplane | Based On Novel

US TV Schedule:

Mon. May 19

8:00 AM

AMC

Cast

John Wayne	...	Capt. Dooley
Lloyd Nolan	...	Captain Stutz
Walter Abel	...	Col. Fuller
James Arness	...	Mac McMullen, pilot
Andy Devine	...	Willie Moon, pilot
Allyn Joslyn	...	J.H. Handy, pilot
Jimmy Lydon	...	Murray, Dooley's navigator (as James Lydon)
Harry Carey Jr.	...	Ralph Hunt, Moon's co-pilot
Hal Baylor	...	Stankowski, Dooley's engineer
Sean McClory	...	Frank Lovatt, Dooley's co-pilot
Wally Cassell	...	D'Annunzia, Dooley's radioman
Gordon Jones	...	Walrus
Frank Fenton	...	Capt. Turner
Robert Keys	...	Maj. Ditson
Sumner Getchell	...	Lt. Cord

Runtime:

109 min

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Color:

Black and White

Aspect Ratio:

1.37 : 1

Sound Mix:

Mono (WarnerPhonic/RCA)

Certification:

West Germany:12 (f) | Australia:PG | Finland:S | USA:Approved (PCA #16547) | Sweden:Btl

Filming Locations:

Donner Lake, Truckee, California, USA

Company:

Wayne-Fellows Productions

Trivia:

The little yellow radio shown in the movie was a actual radio. Its design is based on a WWII German emergency transmitter. It is a BC-778/SCR-578/AN-CRT3 emergency transmitter (it could not receive) affectionately called 'Gibson Girl', a name taken from the narrow-waisted female drawings of 1890s fashion artist Charles Gibson. Its shape allowed the operator to hold it between the legs while cranking it the necessary 80 RPM to produce enough electricity to operate. It could be set to automatically send an SOS signal or switched to send Morse Code signals. Early models transmitted only on 500kHz, later models also could transmit on 8280kHz (later modified to 8364kHz). It was notorious for being tough to crank.

Goofs:

Factual errors: As the plane begins its crash landing on the lake three crew members - not the pilots - are standing up behind the pilots looking out the windows. Under no circumstances would the non pilots be there. They would be in crash position in the rear area, not standing in the cockpit.

Quotes:

Capt. Dooley: I'll shoot the first one of ya to leave camp. I'll aim for your legs. I may miss and hit ya in the back of the head. Either way serves ya right.

Movie Connections:

Version of Fate Is the Hunter (1964)

Can't Forget It

I saw Island in the Sky in 1953 as a 6-year-old. I've never seen it again, but I still remember scenes from the movie. Like The Searchers, which I saw when it first came out in 1956, some of John Wayne's work stays with us. His movies had an impact that carries over generations.

I think The High and the Mighty, which came out a year later, overshadowed Island in the Sky. It was a bigger production and it has been shown on TV.

When AMC and other cable networks do their John Wayne retrospectives, they ought to include some of his earlier, lesser-known films such as Island in the Sky. All they ever show are his 1960s westerns and an occasional war film (I saw In Harm's Way last night).