Tonight's Movie: The High and the Mighty (1954)

Tonight I caught up with John Wayne's THE HIGH AND THE MIGHTY. This film, which has been little seen in recent decades, has recently been released in a beautiful 2-disc DVD set, which includes numerous documentaries and a commentary track. Several surviving cast members participated in the extras.

The movie does a great job conjuring up a more glamorous flying era, when your stewardess met you at the check-in desk and you "dressed" for travel. The plane's navigator looking at the stars through a window in the cockpit roof was sure an eye-opener for someone used to travel in the era of computerized navigation! Many such small moments combine to provide a fascinating peek into the past.

The film is overlong and could easily have been shortened by cutting out the dull flashbacks about individual passengers, but the airplane and rescue coordination scenes are all very entertaining. And it's wonderful to be able to see a "new" John Wayne movie!