This lesser known effort from Star and Producer John Wayne is still an effective film today, its the story of a WWII transport plane forced to land in an incredibly harsh environment (Canada of course or more accurately Labrador). The film details the struggles of both the crew of the downed plane to survive and that of their fellow crews to find them in a vast uncharted wilderness before they either starve or freeze to death.
The film looks great, with some impressive cinematography especially for its era, and also has a very good story inspired by actual events and written by Ernest K. Gann. The film is effectively directed by the prolific and Academy Award winning William Wellman, and features a good cast which would be even more impressive in retrospect seeing the future careers of some of its supporting players.
Featured in relatively prominent roles are; Lloyd Nolan, Andy Devine, James Arness and Paul Fix. The extensive supporting cast also included; Fess Parker (Davey Crockett), Mike Connors (Mannix), Carl Switzer (Alfalfa), Harey Carey Jr, Herbert Anderson ("Dennis the Menace") and a number of other recognizable faces.
Overall the cast is quite effective for the most part underplaying their roles with a few exceptions. Both Arness and Devine give very effective and somewhat broader performances that reflect the characters they are playing.
The film looks great, with some impressive cinematography especially for its era, and also has a very good story inspired by actual events and written by Ernest K. Gann. The film is effectively directed by the prolific and Academy Award winning William Wellman, and features a good cast which would be even more impressive in retrospect seeing the future careers of some of its supporting players.
Featured in relatively prominent roles are; Lloyd Nolan, Andy Devine, James Arness and Paul Fix. The extensive supporting cast also included; Fess Parker (Davey Crockett), Mike Connors (Mannix), Carl Switzer (Alfalfa), Harey Carey Jr, Herbert Anderson ("Dennis the Menace") and a number of other recognizable faces.
Overall the cast is quite effective for the most part underplaying their roles with a few exceptions. Both Arness and Devine give very effective and somewhat broader performances that reflect the characters they are playing.