Oscar-winning disaster movie starring John Wayne and Claire Trevor. When an airliner bound for San Francisco from Honolulu starts to experience difficulties, the pilot and his crew must decide whether to press on for their destination or try to land on the ocean. Meanwhile the passengers on board reflect on their lives.
As a crippled airplane flies through the sky, having passed the point of no return, it is up to washed-up pilot John Wayne (in a role originally intended for Spencer Tracy) to save the day. Director William A Wellman seems restrained by the then-new CinemaScope format, and Ernest K Gann, adapting his novel to the screen, writes mundane flashbacks which increase the length and dissipate the tension. Shallow characterisation doesn't help, either. A big hit in its day, this forerunner of the Airport series gained Oscar nominations for Wellman and supporting actresses Claire Trevor and Jan Sterling while Dimitri Tiomkin won for his dramatic score.
| role | name |
|---|---|
| Dan Roman | John Wayne |
| May Holst | Claire Trevor |
| Lydia Rice | Laraine Day |
| John Sullivan | Robert Stack |
| Sally McKee | Jan Sterling |
| Ed Joseph | Phil Harris |
| Gustave Pardee | Robert Newton |
| Ken Childs | David Brian |
| Flaherty | Paul Kelly (1) |
| Humphrey Agnew | Sidney Blackmer |
| Nell Buck | Karen Sharpe |
| Milo Buck | John Smith |
| Lillian Pardee | Julie Bishop |
| Gonzalez | Pedro Gonzalez-Gonzales |
| Hobie Wheeler | William Campbell |
| Jose Locota | John Qualen |
| Frank Briscoe | Paul Fix |
| role | name |
|---|---|
| Director | William A Wellman |
