Les prisonniers du ciel

One of the first modern day airline disaster movies, this 1961 film contains all the elements of suspense, humor and drama that one would expect of its genre. With the only drawback of a weak supporting cast, the story line is a solid one.

In this film, Efrem Zimbalist, Jr. plays a navy pilot on a collision course with a commercial jet piloted by Dana Andrews. Years later, in one of the later Airport series, the roles are reversed and Andrews plays the pilot of a small plane on a collision course with a commercial aircraft piloted by Efrem Zimbalist.

Troy Donahue does a creditable job as a young sailor hitching a ride with Zimbalist to get home. An interesting device in this film is the close-up thought technique, particularly when used with the character played by Keenan Wynn.

If you consider this film only among the other members of its generation, it comes out well.

A decent cast, most likely under contract who couldn't say no, slogs through some wonderfully awful dialogue. Only a few of them even try to breathe life into their paper thin characters. The rest of them, like the audience, seem to be waiting for the crash so they can go home.

Pretty nice movie, interesting for the plot and effects of the time. (And the appearance of a prop airliner, this movie coming right at the transition from the age of propeller planes into the jet age.) People have commented on connections between this movie and "Airport 1975" in that Dana Andrews and Efrem Zimbalist, Jr. appear in both, with their roles reversed in each. (Andrews is the pilot of the airliner in this one, Zimbalist is the airline pilot in "Airport 1975.") There is another similarity between the movies, as well, which I won't spoil.

I was sort of surprised to see that this one isn't out on DVD. So many movies are coming out in that format, and there have to be people who would want to own this one. When I was a kid (1980s, maybe the late 1970s) this was on the local TV stations as an afternoon movie several times. So there are plenty of people besides those who caught the original release who might want to own this one.

Also there is something that interests the modern airline passenger in all these airline movies from 20+ years ago.... those larger seats, how polite people were on a plane, and how people used to actually dress up to fly. Ah, as Ray Walston said in "Damn Yankees," those were the good old days!

"The Crowded Sky" is an odd airplane disaster film. On one hand, I know darn well that the film has many flaws. But on the other, I still very much enjoyed the movie and do recommend you see it.

During the late 1950s-60s and then again in the 1970s, airplane disaster films were amazingly common and popular. Just off the top of my head, I can recall "No Skyway in the Sky", "Zero Hour!" (which was parodied in "Airplane!"), "The High and the Mighty", "Airport", "Airport 1975" and "Airport '77" all fall in this genre. However, "The Crowded Sky" is unusual because it stars Dana Andrews...who also starred in "Zerio Hour!".

Unlike the other films I mentioned above, "The Crowded Sky" relies much more heavily on lengthy flashback scenes....nearly all of which are pretty soapy. A few are really interesting (such as the love life of the Navy pilot and the painter and his father) and some are simply too many....which got in the way of the main story. As for the main story, it's telegraphed early and often. It's really not giving anything away to say that the T-33 Navy trainer and the DC-6 airliner WILL crash into each other sooner or later...the only questions are when and how serious this crash will be. And, until then, you see these flashback stories of the pilots of each craft as well as a few others.

Now again...I admit the film has faults. Apart from too many flashbacks, the film also is at its best AND worst after the crash occurs. On one hand, the planes are pretty obviously models...too obviously. But on the other, everything else about this is exceptionally tense and well handled. And, overall the good easily outweighs the bad....and the two leads, Dana Andrews and Efram Zimbalest Jr. both are excellent.

It has been a long time since I saw this movie but it is pretty good. I keep wondering why it and other airplane disaster movies have not been released on DVD. Another one I have looked for is Fate is the Hunter. Maybe it is because of 9/11. The airplanes are obsolete compared to the kind we fly in today but they are still good movies. The original airplane disaster movie (not just my opinion) is The High and the Mighty from 1954 I believe. Maybe it has been released due to the star being John Wayne. Talk about obsolete planes and the passengers in Hawaii having to go thru customs as Hawaii was not yet a state. It is still a great movie with a lot of suspense. The Crowded Sky is the same type of movie and should be released on DVD. What can I say, I like this type of movie.