THE HIGH AND THE MIGHTY (1954) Lower flying than I recall

In his DVD introduction to the newly restored THE HIGH AND THE MIGHTY, critic Leonard Maltin tells us the movie is “a product of its time,” herps his subtle way of warning that the film hasn’t aged well. If so, I agree. In my memory – I was 11 when I first saw it – this was like the best movie ever. But in fact, this granddaddy of all airplane disaster movies never gets very high off the ground. It features a passenger list of stereotypes (newlyweds, a kid, a plucky stewardess, and of course, a brave pilot and a twitchy guy with a grudge and a gun - plus an array of grimace-inducers, including blatant exposition, a hodge-podge of acting styles, corny dialogue, and predictable flashbacks. But to be fair, this was an early entry in the disaster genre, and many of what became clichés were brand new. Wayne is excellent as the whistling veteran pilot with a tragic past. The suspense is palpable throughout, the widescreen photography magnificent, and Oscar-winning score unforgettable. Anyone with an 11-year old kid inside, at least one from the '50s, would have to be pretty high and mighty not to enjoy it.