Region: 1
Video: Black & White
DVD Aspect Ratio: Pre-1954 Standard (1.33:1)
Audio: Dolby Digital Mono
Language: English
Subtitles: English
Weight factor: 1 item(s)

Plot Synopsis

During World War II, a Military Air Transport Command DC-3 piloted by a civilian crew is forced down in northern Labrador. The five men, led by Dooley (John Wayne), have barely any food and almost no way to keep warm, and their power supply is fading fast, but they have to find a way of staying alive until search planes find them. At first, even Dooley is overwhelmed by the responsibility for his crew's safety, and he is too lax in handling them -- but after one man dies, frozen to death just steps from help, he takes over and pushes his men and himself to the limits of their endurance; he even seems ready to crack himself at one moment. Meanwhile, the men who fly with Dooley push themselves and their machines past their endurance limits searching the arctic wastes for the downed plane. Island in the Sky -- based on the book by Ernest K. Gann (perhaps the best aviation novel ever written), which was, in turn, based on a true incident that happened during the war -- is one of the most startling movies in Wayne's output. He doesn't even look like the "star" John Wayne, but like a real pilot, and the cast, made up of familiar faces, all look like the real article; indeed, this movie should have been in the running for Academy Awards for costuming and makeup, just for making these familiar performers, such as Lloyd Nolan (in maybe his best performance) and Andy Devine (ditto), look like real pilots and ordinary men, rather than familiar actors. You end up feeling like you're watching a documentary, and the effect is bracing and unsettling, and dramatically unparalleled in Wayne's entire output. ~ Bruce Eder, All Movie Guide

Editorial Reviews:

Island in the Sky is a minor but quite effective adventure drama that is rarely seen (due apparently to the wishes of the John Wayne estate). Island falls short of classic status, primarily because it succumbs to cliché in a number of situations and because it tends toward preachiness. In addition, the narration becomes rather annoying and intrusive at times, although it does add to the pseudo-documentary flavor of the movie. If the viewer can put these flaws aside, however, he will likely find himself caught up in the action, due in no small part to William Wellman's taut direction which does a fine job of combining bleakness and despair with an indomitability of spirit. Wellman is helped by his first rate cast, with Wayne turning in the kind of powerful "anchor" performance that this kind of film needs. He gets more than capable support from Lloyd Nolan and Andy Devine, as well as a young James Arness. Island exerts a real pull, and is the kind of film that stays with the viewer longer than might be expected. ~ Craig Butler, All Movie Guide