The High and the Mighty (1954)
Goofs
Character error
At the missile testing site, the word "missile" is misspelled "missle" on the sign.
The navigator says he confused knots and miles. Knots are a measure of speed (one nautical mile per hour). He means he confused statute miles and nautical miles--a. nautical mile is about 1.15 statute miles.
Continuity
On departure from Honolulu the DC-4 has unpainted propeller blades, but on arrival at San Franciso, the propeller tips are painted red and yellow (an apparent safety measure to let ground crew see rotating propellers before walking into them).
When Dan Roman stumbles from the burning wreckage of an airliner in a flashback sequence, he sees and reaches for a burning teddy bear. When he picks it up, it's no longer burning.
Factual errors
During the flight,when the problems appear,the pilot opens the airplane door so to let the heavy luggage fly away.This is impossible because as soon as the door was opened the pressure would have made people and all the whole interior of the plane to be expelled out of the aircraft.
The above is incorrect. The C-54 military version and the DC-4 civil version had an option for pressurization but the vast majority of delivered versions were unpressurized. Since the aircraft was unpressurized there would have been no expelling of the passengers and contents of the aircraft.
The above is incorrect. The C-54 military version and the DC-4 civil version had an option for pressurization but the vast majority of delivered versions were unpressurized. Since the aircraft was unpressurized there would have been no expelling of the passengers and contents of the aircraft.
Near the end of the film, Air Traffic Control clears the aircraft to land on "runway 39" This is impossible. Runways are numbered are within 10 degrees of their actual magnetic heading, and since there are only 360 degrees on the compass, the highest runway number possible is "runway 36".
As the plane is about to ditch in the ocean, the stewardess instructs the passengers inflate their life vests. This would be against procedure. Passengers are only supposed to inflate their vests after ditching, when they have left the plane cabin and are in the water. (Inflating life vests inside the plane can risk drowning if water were to flood the cabin.)
The sound of the yellow flying bomb is wrong. It is audibly a jet engine, but the flying bomb is actually a German V1 which is powered by a ram jet: slats on the nacelle let in air that was mixed with fuel and ignited by a spark plug. The machine in flight sounded like a backfiring automobile.
Ed and Clara Joseph give their ages as 38 and 33, but players Phil Harris and Ann Doran were actually 50 and 43 at the time.
On the departure runway, Johm Wayne transmits "420 ready for take-off" and the plane immediately starts to roll, without waiting for the mandatory takeoff clearance from the tower.
Stewardess inflated the little boy's life-jacket by blowing into it, in order not to disturb him. But if he had then pulled the red handles the life-jacket would have burst. You should only use the mouthpiece if the auto-inflate fails, or for a top-up.
Flight engineer and stewardess never put on life-jackets even though everyone else on the plane had done so (and inflated them, which shouldn't have been done until outside the plane)
Hawaii was a U.S. territory at the time, so no one would have to go through immigration for a flight from Honolulu to San Francisco, even those who were not U.S. citizens.
Revealing mistakes
When stewardess Spalding was preparing the liquor drinks, a problem with the plane caused a severe vibration. The table and the drinks shook, jumped and nearly fell, yet she did not shake, nor did the walls, or the curtain right behind her.
When co-pilot Dan Roman was walking down the aisle to explain to the passengers what was wrong with the engines, you could see the whole right wall of the plane was missing as the camera tracked him.
In the flashback story her husband tells, Clara Joseph falls down some stairs and kicks a waiter's tray in the process. However, when they cut from the closeup of her feet, she is obviously sitting on the bottom step. She then leans back, takes aim, and kicks the tray. She then lies back like it was all one continuous motion.
