Tad Pole . . . THE HIGH AND THE MIGHTY is that O.J. Simpson was not cast to play the part of "Toby." Being born in 1947, Master Simpson would have been 6 or 7 years old during filming, and could have been mentored by that famously mellow developer of Hollywood Talent, John Wayne. Since the older Simpson had such an affinity for Tinseltown Disasters, the casting would have been perfect, and deflected many of the national protests against THE HIGH AND THE MIGHTY by the Black Movie Stars Matter Movement. There's an eight-minute extra on the initial DVD release for this film which is titled THE HIGH AND THE MIGHTY: A PLACE IN FILM HISTORY. I think the MIGHTY producers missed their mighty chance to ACTUALLY make "film history" by NOT casting O.J. as "Toby," the boy traveling by himself on this star-crossed flight. He probably would have been so cute that he'd have earned a Shirley Temple-like Oscar nomination (the youngest Black Male ever to do so), and would not have been forced to contract CTE by playing tackle football for so many decades. Under such a scenario, O.J. would have been less likely to get caught up in jealous entanglements, while enjoying a more knife-free environment. So if O.J. ever wants to blame someone for his troubles, maybe he should start with John Wayne.

ozmaozoz This movie had shades of Stagecoach, and JW didn't do much acting, no one really did, but who cares...again its the mold for most airline, airplane movies. Its a trip back to the 50s-60s. Its fun to watch. Airplane CEOs should be made to watch this movie; imagine all the seats are first class...booze is poured from a quart bottle, the stewardess asks, asks, you if your ready to eat...and how you want your stake cooked...men are dressed in suits and women in dresses...everybody used suit cases for luggage...and people were polite; the rich sat with the working class. I remember flying in the late 50s...no jets, prop planes, but a lovely flight...the companies made us feel like we were guests, and we were treated like important guests; not so today...we are treated like prisoners/scum by the airlines and airports. I miss flying, but its not worth it today...I'll drive.

Jonathan C The High and the Mighty is the rare film that has been rendered almost impossible to watch because of the later films that it has inspired. It tells the story, way back in 1954, of a propeller airliner that loses an engine and is in danger of ditching midway through a flight from Honolulu to San Francisco (sound familiar?). The characters on the plane are revealed through dialogue and have self-revelations as a result of their terrifying experience. The pilots grimly try to nurse the plane to safety.How can anyone really watch this movie? When the 2nd officer says to John Wayne, "remember that day over South America (when you crashed)," I could only think of Robert Hays and "Macho Grande" from our favorite comedy. Then, of course, Robert Stack gives us his best earnest looks and determined dialogue, and I was expecting someone to say "Don't call me Shirley." Of course, the other "serious" Airport movies that this creature inspired were some of the most insipid cinematic trash in movie history (albeit entertaining trash), so you really wonder if director William Wellmann was thrilled at giving rise to a whole genre that could be considered a blight on the face of film making.Still, we have to make some sort of effort to like this movie on its own merits. I will say one thing--it is the only "Airport" movie that actually makes a serious attempt at characterization--this was, after all, made before directors realized that you did not need real characters in order to sell tickets to a disaster flick (Rosie Grier, anyone?). And yet, some of the script is so dated that you wonder if people really talked like that back in 1954. I doubt it. And then, there is Dmitri Tiomkin's musical score. Unlike the later Airport movies, which featured lousy music by Hollywood hacks, Tiomkin's score is an amazing symphony in the style of Wagner or Rachmaninoff that, even to a trained ear, is an absolute delight to listen to. Problem is that the score is sitting behind a plane crash drama and bunch of panicky people, and simply seems way out of place. I found myself listening to the music blissfully and wishing everyone would just shut up.Oddly enough, as weird as this experience was to watch this movie in 2015, I cannot fully conclude it was a bad movie. The story lines were vaguely interesting, John Wayne gives his usual sympathetic performance, and some scenes were genuinely heartfelt and/or evocative. I enjoyed it. But never has a movie been more completely obliterated by its spin-offs and rip-offs, especially given the fact that it was only decent at best to start with.

AaronCapenBanner William Wellman again directs John Wayne in another airplane-in-crisis thriller. Wayne plays Dan Roman, a copilot on a trans-pacific commercial airline flight from Honolulu to San Francisco. Robert Stack plays the pilot John Sullivan, who loses his nerve after the plane develops engine problems, and he is unable to handle the pressure, forcing Roman to take over. Can he successfully land the plane to safety, saving the lives of the passengers and crew? Reasonably exciting and engrossing film came before the disaster craze of the 1970's, so clichés are noticeable only on reflection. Story does have too many elements, and goes on too long, but can still be enjoyed for the escapist fare that it is. Was unavailable for many years, but can now be seen on DVD.