Isla en el cielo

This is one of my husband's favorite films, but he won't write reviews so it's up to me. Wayne and his crew crash in a bitterly cold mountainous region, and spend the rest of the film trying to contact someone to rescue them. Their radio is out, and all they have is a hand-cranked signal device that must be continuously operated if they have a chance of being found. They slowly lose crewmen as the hours go by to injuries and the cold. Will they be rescued?

We've got an old copy of "Island in the Sky" on tape or I would never have been able to write this review since it was made before I was born. This film is one of the Wayne estate's hostage's; it's mired in legal battles and who knows when it will ever be out. The same used to be true of "McClintock", but that eventually came out, so there is hope.

This proved to be an unjustly neglected gem, especially in view of the overrated THE HIGH AND THE MIGHTY (1954) – which I watched in conjunction with it – from the same team. As with John Wayne's other Batjac productions, the film hasn't been seen in decades but, hopefully, it will be rediscovered now via Paramount's SE DVD.

It features one of Wayne's more interesting roles, and his performance is accordingly impressive. Director Wellman and Wayne (in his capacity as executive producer) managed to make a low-key and unusually realistic film, which celebrates camaraderie, amid the studio system – with very little concession to typical Hollywood trappings (unlike its glamorized and inflated follow-up!). Ernest K. Gann, who spent his life in aviation and who followed this with THE HIGH AND THE MIGHTY, for the first time adapted his own novel to the screen and this gave the script a definite ring of authenticity: consequently, we find here any number of wonderful human (and often humorous) vignettes – but especially poignant are Sean McClory's death scene and the finale where the downed airmen are, at long last, spotted by their comrades who form the search party. Besides, the black-and-white cinematography (by Archie Stout and William H. Clothier, both of whom shot many a John Wayne picture) is remarkable and, done with little or no special effects, was – by all accounts – seminal in its field. The cast, too, is peppered with familiar faces (either established – and reliable – character actors or upcoming stars) but, more importantly, solid performers all around.

Wellman, a flying aficionado as well, made 11 films on the subject and numbers this one among his favorites (I tend to agree with him, given that I was slightly let down by some of his more renowned work like BEAU GESTE [1939], BATTLEGROUND [1949] and THE HIGH AND THE MIGHTY itself!). The director's long career in films, tackling all kinds of subjects, was undoubtedly an interesting one: though he never quite achieved the reputation of, say, John Ford or Howard Hawks, he was of the same breed (and, indeed, this particular film has the feel of these two giants' work – both of whom, obviously, also proved crucial to John Wayne's career – and especially Hawks' CEILING ZERO [1935] and ONLY ANGELS HAVE WINGS [1939], with which ISLAND IN THE SKY shares some of its plot line).

All I can say is the Wayne family estate is really making the Duke's fans salivate over seeing this film and The High and the Mighty. Island in the Sky came first and a lot of the same people have credits on this and The High and the Mighty. William Wellman directed both, both from novels by Ernest K. Gann, and William Clothier photographed the aerial sequences in both.

The only criticism I have of Island in the Sky is that I wish it had been done in color. Those bleak vistas of the tundra where Wayne and his crew are stranded would have really been outstanding in color.

John Wayne and his crew have to make a forced landing in the bleak tundra of very northern Quebec and they have to hope to be rescued before to long. It's either freezing or starvation, not a pleasant choice. The Duke is a civilian pilot contracted to the army to fly supplies.

When word of the fact he's down gets out his fellow civilian pilot contractors drop whatever they're doing to search for Wayne. The rest of the film is the story of that search and as the action shifts back and forth from the search to the men on the ground, the suspense never lets up. Wayne gives one of his outstanding performances as the pilot in charge who has to hold his crew together until rescue comes. Some closeup shots reveal his torment, but the men must never see it. This is a different John Wayne, battling the elements instead of bad guys.

He gets great support from a great cast of players. I'd like to single out Lloyd Nolan and Sean McClory in particular. Lloyd Nolan is one of the other pilots searching and he has a terrific scene on the telephone with the wife of one of Wayne's crew, trying to comfort her and give her hope and hopefully psyche himself up. It's beautifully played.

Sean McClory is one of Wayne's crew on the ground and I won't tell you his scene, but it is unforgettable and haunting.

Of course the credit here also goes to director William Wellman. Wellman before he became a director was a real adventuring character in his youth which included a stint in the Lafayette Escadrille. He developed a life long love of aviation and a lot of his films have an aviation background and theme.

One other thing that's probably reason enough to get this film if it comes out. Andy Devine is another of the pilots searching for Wayne. A call is placed to his home and his wife in turn relays it to Andy who is at a public pool with his two kids. He takes the call and then says we have to leave, but one more race to the other side of the pool. He tosses the kids in and then does a great belly flop dive in the pool himself.

Andy was a big fat man. God only knows where they got a bathing suit to fit him. But he's quite a sight doing that dive and in a bathing suit.

If it is ever shown on TV catch it if at all possible.

This is based on a true story and I had the priviledge to fly with the co-pilot of that trip of Feb 3, 1943. His comment was that he didn't like the movie because they showed the co-pilot dieing in the movie. On Feb. 3, 1993,50th annaversary of the downing of the B-24 liberator/cargo version, I flew directly over Lac O'connor flying a trip from Frankfurt, Germany to Chicago, Ill. The Lat. and Long. is roughly N54:20 and W74:30. The movie didn't tell the whole story;although, very well done. There was a Northeast Airlines DC-3 down also. When they first found O'Connor and his crew, the NE Airline pilot thought he could just land and pick them up. When he touched down, he was buried in snow. They spent exactly 2 mos on the lake. They were flown out on April 3, 1943. If you can find a book by James Mangan called westward....... something or other, has a very factual run down. Try the C.R. Smith museum in Ft. Worth, TX.

Free at last. AMC Channel is showing Island in the Sky & The High and the Mighty the weekend of July 16 & 17. Get your recording equipment ready. I have been waiting almost fifty years to see this movie again. I think it was the first time I ever saw John Wayne in a movie. I was about 13. As the hero he was bigger than life to me at the time. He never gave up even if the situation looked hopeless. As I grew older and thought of the movie at times I was even more impressed with his actions. I hope now that the Wayne family has released it to TV they will also release it with a new set of DVDs. I have checked this web site often to see if there were any new info on the release or showing of this movie.