Longshot: The High and the Mighty (old John Wayne flick) (1 Viewer)

[Joe Ferreira]

If anyone has this on any format, please let me know. It doesn't look like they have it on DVD or VHS, but if you have a copy of this movie, or anything at all, I would appreciate it. My dad is a John Wayne fan, and this was his favorite movie when he was growing up. IIRC, he said it was about John Wayne as a commerical jet pilot. He has the soundtrack on an old LP, but he hasn't been able to watch the movie. They don't play it on AMC or the History Channel. Thanks!

 

[Steve Schaffer]

We're all hoping and waiting for this great film.

It was made in the early 50s, or maybe 1950, before jet airliners. The plane appears to be a DC-4 or DC-6 (large 4 piston engine airliners). It's mainly about the various folks on a flight from Hawaii to SF that encounters several mechanical problems that require lots of guts and ingenuity on the part of the pilots to overcome.

Wayne's character is a co-pilot, if I remember correctly, who'd recently been busted from captain because of an accident blamed on pilot error.

It was a very well made and acted film.

 

[Jo_C]

This has been promised many times, but nothing has come yet.

The film is owned by Batjac, John Wayne's production company, who controls how and when these films are re-released. I think it is Batjac's choice to delay "High & Mighty" for as short or long as they wish, so chances are it will be a long while before they decide to release this on video at all.

Batjac has done a good job with the video releases of "Hondo" and "McClintock!" (via MPI Home Video). So perhaps if they release "High And Mighty" they'll do a good job too.

And so, the wait goes on...

 

[Jeff_HR]

Perhaps with the death of Michael Wayne the management of Batjac will change their minds about this film.

 

[TedD]

Batjac has done a good job with the video releases of "Hondo" and "McClintock!" (via MPI Home Video).

Good job of McLintock???? I don't know which DVD you saw, but I sure don't consider a PAN and SCAN transfer with half of the DVD having good color, but looking like it was transfered off a 16mm print, and the other half badly faded, but at least it looked like it might have come from a 35mm print, to be any kind of a "good transfer".

McLintock was originally released 2.40:1 Scope, making the PAN and SCAN hack job all the worse.

A piece of s**t is a more apt description for any version of McLintock that I have ever see on DVD. Too bad, because I really like that movie.

If there is a letterbox release with a decent transfer of this title, I sure missed it.

The "High and the Mighty" was a WB CinemaScope release with 4 track magnetic sound. I believe it was released in 1954 or so. I saw it in it's original release.

Ted

 

[Randy A Salas]

According to MPI, it has released only the authorized VHS version of McLintock. I don't believe there is an authorized DVD.

 

[TedD]

Goodtimes and another independent have both released DVD's of this title.

Since I don't collect VHS, I couldn't comment on the VHS version. Because the original was 'Scope, if it's not letterboxed it can't be a good release and it's not worth having, in my opinion.

Adamantly OAR,

Ted

 

[Derek M Germano]

Perhaps with the death of Michael Wayne the management of Batjac will change their minds...

I sure hope so, I'm dying to own a 'scope 16:9 enhanced version of MCLINTOCK!, as well as the rest of the Batjac productions.

 

[Randy A Salas]

Ack! All of you John Wayne fans might want to start spelling the title correctly. It's McLintock!; there is no extra "C."

Goodtimes and another independent have both released DVD's of this title.

Right, and none of those was an authorized release by the Wayne estate, which is the distinction I made.

 

[oscar_merkx]

is there a website to the estate of John Wayne / Batjac ?

thanks

 

[SteveP]

THE HIGH AND THE MIGHTY was one of the most successful films of 1954.

 

[RolandL]

According to the book "The Warner Brothers Story", Dial M for Murder, Hondo and The High and The Mighty were the top money makers for Warner in 1954. If you are wondering about A Star is Born, it was released in October of 1954 and was a big moneymaker for Warner in 1955.

 

[SteveP]

A STAR IS BORN did not make back its approximately $6 million production cost on its first release.

Warners failure to respect its 3 hour and 2 minute running time and go for a slower payoff with a roadshow release pattern led to it being cut down to approximately 2 hours and 20 minutes within a month after its opening.

The shortened version was slammed by several critics and the film never recovered at the box office from the entire situation.

THE HIGH AND THE MIGHTY, although also unusually long, apparently did not suffer financially from its running time.

 

[Gordon McMurphy]

http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/ws/eBayISAPI.d...&category=1058

 

[Ken_McAlinden]

I had read quite some time ago that there was some legal dispute over "The High and the Mighty" between Batjac and the recently deceased Robert Stack. I can't remember if it was ever resolved or not, but to date, this film has never been released on any home video format, and it has been quite a number of years since it has been broadcast on US television.

Regards,

 

[Gordon McMurphy]

The dispute may indeed have invloved the late, great Robert Stack, although I myself have not heard of such.

No matter which you cut it, this film desperately needs a DVD release with restored picture and sound. This isn't a minor John Wayne film - this is one his very best films.

Contacting Michael Wayne in the past led to a dead-end. The folks are Warner Bros, Image, Anchor Bay, and even Criterion all said they would love to release a DVD of the film when I e-mailed them, but Mike Wayne was was the guy who never gave an inch. Well, the time is now, I say. Don't get me wrong; don't go pressuring Warner to pressure the Wayne Estate, but a few well-chosen words from all parties could not but help see the DVD release of this film speeded up.

I personally am going to wait another month before I pursue this film's DVD release.


Gordy

 

[Joe Caps]

I imagine the death of Michael Wayne will slow things up for a bit.
When I worked at Pioneer Special Editions, we tried to get a contract with Mike Wayne for High and the Mighty and Island in the Sky ( a film I have never wseen. The stereo tracks for this film are lost). Mike had a letterbox stereo transfer done of High and the Mighty. The transfer was goodk, but frankly, I thought the film was terrible. Alot of cliched characters running around and almost no suspense.
Good score by Tiomkin.

 

[Gordon McMurphy]

WOW! Thanks for the info, Joe!

So, what became of the Laserdisc transfer? That Laser never saw the light of day? What year was this done?

Oh, well, thanks again, Joe.


Gordy

 

[Ken_McAlinden]

Just for the sake of clarity, I said I remembered there being "some" dispute with Robert Stack. I have no idea if it was "the" dispute or if it even hindered the video release of the film. It's just one possible contributor.

When "The High and the Mighty" was released, the idea of a soapy multi-character "commercial airplane in trouble" film was relatively novel. It's become much more commonplace since then, and I wonder if it will dull people's reaction to it upon re-release. I'd sure like to end the drought and find out!

Regards,

 

[Gordon McMurphy]

When "The High and the Mighty" was released, the idea of a soapy multi-character "commercial airplane in trouble" film was relatively novel. It's become much more commonplace since then, and I wonder if it will dull people's reaction to it upon re-release. I'd sure like to end the drought and find out!

It may indeed have lost a lot of it's originality, plot-wise, today, but I'm sure a DVD edition would truly be treasured by fans of The Duke. The last time I saw it was in 1995 in 16mm at the house of friend who has since moved to Australia. It was a pretty good print he had. I'm not even sure how rare the 16mm print are! I wasn't hip to CinemaScope at the time, and I'm still not hip to 16mm, so I'm not sure if it was an anamorphic print or what.

Anyway, High & Mighty is an important John Wayne film an a very influential American film of the 50s that had a great effect on the infamous 'disater' cycle of the 70s - oh, and it has a great, great score by Tiomkin! A DVD release, please!


Gordy