Underplayed Gems

The High and the Mighty (1954)

The High and the Mighty poster
Directed by
William A. Wellman
Genre
drama film, action film, war film, disaster film
Country
United States
Runtime
2h 21m
Rated
NR
Rating
5.9 of 10 from 84 voters
Elsewhere
IMDb
The 3D catalogue: film cases on wooden shelves, with the cat sitting at the counter next to its greeting.

The catalogue in 3D

The film shelves have a room of their own that you can walk around in. The cat behind the counter is the AI Catbot, and they pick real films from the same catalogue when you tell them what you feel like watching. Nothing is for sale, here or in there. Go in from here and this film is already out on the counter, with more like it waiting on the shelf next to it.

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How it feels

A veteran first officer and his crew struggle to keep their damaged airliner aloft over the Pacific Ocean. The passengers and crew confront their own fears as they face possible disaster.

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What happens

The High and the Mighty is a 1954 American aviation disaster film, directed by William A. Wellman, and written by Ernest K. Gann, who also wrote the 1953 novel on which his screenplay was based. Filmed in WarnerColor and CinemaScope, the film's cast was headlined by John Wayne, who was also the project's co-producer. Wayne stars as a veteran airline first officer, Dan Roman, whose airliner has a catastrophic engine failure while crossing the Pacific Ocean. The film's supporting cast includes Claire Trevor, Laraine Day, Robert Stack, Jan Sterling, Phil Harris, and Robert Newton. Composer Dimitri Tiomkin won an Oscar for his original score; while his title song was also nominated for an Oscar, it did not actually appear in the theatrical release prints, nor in its much later restoration. The film received mostly positive reviews and grossed $8.5 million on its theatrical release. (from Wikipedia, CC BY-SA)

More like this

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