Island In The Sky (Special Collector's Edition) DVD

Cheap Island In The Sky (Special Collector's Edition) (DVD) (John Wayne, Lloyd Nolan) (William A. Wellman) Price

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Out of circulation for a quarter-century following the death of producer-star John Wayne, Island in the Sky is a tale of survival focused on the pilot (Wayne) and crew of a DC-3 forced to crashland somewhere in the uncharted Canadian wilderness, and the fellow airmen (Lloyd Nolan, James Arness, Andy Devine, Paul Fix) determined to find them before hunger and the 70-below winter do them in. The movie, set in the post-WWII era when military and commercial aviation were still intertwined, was written by bestselling novelist Ernest K. Gann and directed by William A. Wellman, an aviation-movie veteran whose Wings won the first-ever Academy Award (1927–28).

Wellman resolutely downplays the histrionics and conventional heroics; Wayne indulges in none of the macho posturing that his detractors carelessly identify him with, and the crewman who breaks rank in a bid for salvation meets a grim, almost mythically absurd demise. But Wellman also condoned (and himself speaks) the ill-advised narration that aims to tell us what's going on inside the stoic characters. The director does better with throwaway details like the ice pick kept handily embedded in a barracks wall so that pilots can break the frozen skin on their morning wash water. And there's a distinctive war council among the search pilots when no one's quite sure what to do next--the wrong decision could doom the missing crew--and so no one looks anybody else in the face. The black-and-white cinematography by Archie Stout (dramatic scenes) and William H. Clothier (flying scenes) leaves nothing to be desired, and in this crisp restoration it sometimes literally glows.

DVD features
The extras include production reminiscences by William Wellman Jr., assistant director Andrew V. McLaglen, and supporting players Darryl Hickman and Harry Carey Jr.; a short essay on the art of aerial cinematography; and an intriguing profile of Ernest K. Gann, who in his teens directed and starred in a motion picture of sorts. Wayne, Wellman, and Gann reteamed to create The High and the Mighty, much nominated for 1954 Oscars. --Richard T. Jameson

ACTORS: John Wayne, Lloyd Nolan

CATEGORY: DVD

DIRECTOR: William A. Wellman

THEATRICAL RELEASE DATE: 05 September, 1953

MANUFACTURER: Paramount Home Video

MPAA RATING: NR (Not Rated)

FEATURES: Color

TYPE: Feature Film-action/Adventure

MEDIA: DVD

# OF MEDIA: 1

UPC: 097360289343

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Customer Review of Island In The Sky (Special Collector's Edition)
Unexpected Gem
To be honest, I really had never heard of this film until recently. I know John Wayne's work and enjoy some of it but have never been a huge fan (except for the Searchers, which I think is his best role). This movie, based on an Ernest Ganns novel, is terrific. It moves along well and really works to show the struggles that Wayne and his crew, along with the rescue teams, are up against in the cold bitter unexplored territory of Canada. The black and white film is crisp and the images are powerful. The supporting cast are all terrific and there are some very moving powerful scenes. I won't give away the movie, but things happen that one would expect in a cold, unforgiving place with little food and no contact with any other people. I found one of the scenes on that frozen tundra to be particularly powerful. I suspect anyone who sees the movie will recall it. The extras are wonderful and this disc is a great bargain. Perfect for fans of Wayne, airplane films, the Director William Wellman, or anyone who enjoys films where the characters are put in difficult situations. Less than two hours long, it is a good film to enjoy while sitting in a nice warm house on a winter night.

Duke was at his best! What Happened? ~~~~~~
This movie had great Character Actors. However, when the plane just landed smooth and hardly any damage; this was pretty disappointing. This did not look like the Antarctic <
>. The best part of the film were all the actors. I really expected to see igloos and no trees. <
>Any, still a pretty good movie.

"Maybe I'm drinking the wrong kind of liquor but them mountains ain't on my charts!"
Of all the things the DVD format has brought with it, possibly the element I appreciate most is the release of relatively rarely seen films such as this one titled Island in the Sky (1953). According to the AMC channel, which played the film prior to the DVD release, it was the first time in 30 years it's been shown anywhere...respected film critic (pbffft) Leonard Maltin states in the introduction that the film has `languished in the vaults'...you really have to admire Leonard Maltin's ability to turn a dramatic phrase...I guess that's why he appears in DVD special featurettes, provides commentary tracks, and gets paid the big DVD bucks (how much do you think he got for his work here?)...I suppose it could have been worse...they could have gone with Gene Shalit...written by Ernest K. Gann (The High and the Mighty), the film features the direction of William A. Wellman (The Public Enemy, The Ox-Bow Incident, The High and the Mighty) and stars The Duke himself, John Wayne (he also listed as a co-producer). Appearing with Wayne is Lloyd Nolan (Airport), Walter Abel (Silent Night, Bloody Night), James Arness (The Thing From Another World), and Andy Devine (The Man Who Shot Liberty Valance). Also appearing is Allyn Joslyn (The Fastest Gun Alive), Jimmy Lydon ("Rocky Jones, Space Ranger"), Harry Carey Jr. (The Exorcist III), Hal Baylor (Evel Knievel), Sean McClory (The Gnome-Mobile), Wally Cassell (Thunderbirds), Regis Toomey (Voyage to the Bottom of the Sea), and a whole bunch of other people most likely dead by now...including Carl 'Alfalfa' Switzer of `The Little Rascals' fame, who died at the ripe old age of about 31 after sustaining a fatal gunshot wound in an argument over fifty bucks...but that is neither here nor there... <
> <
>The story begins as we see a crew in a plane, the captain being a man named Dooley (Wayne), trying to navigate some especially difficult weather. The aircraft and crew are a part of the Air Transport Command (ATC), a division of the U.S. military whose responsibility it is to deliver materials and men by air to where they're needed most...anyway, the aircraft, flying somewhere near the artic circle, is off course, and running low on fuel. To make matters worse, the wings are icing up and they're losing altitude quickly. The only thing left to do is attempt a landing, which they do, but guess what? They're in uncharted territory, or, as one man states, `A place not even the Eskimos would go'. Supplies are limited, and temperatures, at best, reach a high of about 40 below zero, but word has gotten back to command that `Dooley's down!', which mobilizes the group of highly dedicated pilots and their crews to quickly organize a search mission, knowing that Dooley and his men have precious little time. The task seems insurmountable (the search area is something like 10 thousand square miles), but with some prayers and a little luck, they'll be able to locate Dooley and crew before they turn into human Popsicles (I bet The Duke would make for an especially salty tasting frozen treat). <
> <
>All right, one thing to keep in mind is this movie was before the days satellite navigation and global positioning systems so if your plane went down, the radio was the best means to get found...that is until the battery goes dead...I really enjoyed this film, and I think it's probably something most any true John Wayne fan would get a kick out of it, specifically because it gives the rare opportunity to see him in a rather uncharacteristic role of not an action hero, but a fairly regular man stuck in an extreme situation, one which he seemed to handle really well. If you're just a fan of his western roles and have no interest in seeing him have to deal with issues that can't be solve with a rifle or six-shooter, then best skip this film, as you'll probably be bored and/or disappointed. I've seen where some have said this movie was corny, dated, and overly sentimental, but I don't think there's anything wrong with that...so it lacked the cynical and pessimistic attitudes so often seen in films nowadays...is it so hard to believe a group of airmen would go to the lengths they did to find one of their own? That's part of it...how many of us have ever belonged to a tightly knit group, one where the welfare of one is tied to the welfare of all? I don't know that I have, other than beside my own family...I'm sure this is something those who risk their lives on a regular basis for people they've never even met (firemen, policemen, servicemen) understand better than anyone, including myself. But I digress...what did I like about the movie? Well, after reading the description, I was expecting something like the film The Flight of the Phoenix (1965), but Island in the Sky was a lot different. The story not only focused on the stranded men, but also on those set out to find them. We get to witness a large and concerted effort put forth, and the sometimes difficult decisions that have to be made during an operation like this...I thought the voice over narrative was an interesting way to communicate Wayne's characters dilemmas in terms of keeping not only his stuff together, but also that of his crew, given the difficulties they faced, especially that of the incessant cold. Have you ever really been cold? Like so cold no matter what you did you could never get warm? The fierce, miserable cold does a lot of things, but one of the most dangerous is its ability to sap ones strength, along with their will to survive, something that came through clearly in this story. One last thing to those who've seen the film...am I the only one who cheered when Dooley smacked the increasingly unstable navigator Murray? Oooh, I wanted to beat on that guy but good with all his annoying babbling on... <
> <
>The Amazon website displays very well the extent of the copious extras available on this Paramount/Batjac release, so I won't rehash them, but I did really enjoy the featurette titled `Flying for Uncle Sam', which provided a brief history of the ATC and the importance of their contributions to modern, commercial aviation. The picture quality on this DVD is sharp, and the audio comes through very clean. As to why this film has gone unseen so many years, it's because it was more or less an independent film, owned by Batjac, which grew out of John Wayne's production company Wayne-Fellows, and was run by Michael Wayne until his death in 2003...and his wife Gretchen (The Duke's daughter-in-law) assumed control, made a deal with Paramount Home Entertainment, and Viola! Here we are...some other Paramount/Batjac releases to look for... The High and the Mighty (1954), Hondo (1953), McLintock! (1963), Man in the Vault (1956), Plunder of the Sun (1953), Ring of Fear (1954), Seven Men from Now (1956), and Track of the Cat (1954). <
> <
>Cookieman108 <
> <
>By the way, I noticed one person had an issue with the planes at the end not landing...now I'm no pilot, but I think this was due to the fact they weren't equipped with skis on the landing gear, to allow for landing, and taking off again, in the snow, something that would have been impossible with the standard landing gear (taking off again, that is...) <
>

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