Islands in the sky -is just starting on AMC

Tivo knows all. Tivo is recording.


-ash
Cthulhu in 2005!
Why wait for nature?

On 16 Jul 2005 20:48:6 -0500, "Ash Wyllie" wrote:

Tivo knows all. Tivo is recording.


Ash, when you look at it, tell me if the Greenland airport is Bluie
West One, and is there footage of it? See
www.warbirdforum.com/bluie.htm

I'm flying in there (as passenger on August 12.


-- all the best, Dan Ford

email (put Cubdriver in subject line)

Warbird's Forum: www.warbirdforum.com
Piper Cub Forum: www.pipercubforum.com
the blog: www.danford.net
In Search of Lost Time: www.readingproust.com

("Morgans" didn't write anything)

I watched "Islands in the Sky" (1953) last night ...liked it. Recommend it.

"The High and the Mighty" (1954) is on tonight (8pm Sunday evening) -
"Islands in the Sky" is running first at 5:45pm.

http://www.amctv.com/article?CID=2118-1--0-5-EST


Some thoughts:

What was written on the plane by the pilot window - Corsair?
Day Six - "go find the flare gun" ....Huh? g

Planes on the S&R missions might cover more ground if ....never mind.

Didn't he head north 400 to 600 miles to hit flat terrain? He landed on
Crater Lake!! :-)

Almost every scene was filled with ...silly "acting" stuff, but overall, I
enjoyed watching. Hey, our windows are iced up, no they're not, wait ...yes
they are :-)

Actually, mixed in with the silly stuff was more than a little hard hitting
dialog and some interesting moments ...along with much airplane talk and
much airplane flying. I would have enjoyed more ramp action.

I really liked the scenes with the commander, back at the base. He kept
trying to make decisions with limited input from the pilots in his meetings.
Eventually he'd just say, ok fine, let's do it this way then. Thought he was
the best written character and/or actor.

-25F or -30F below zero would have made for a good survival story. 70 below
zero - well, that's beyond even Shackleton's ability to survive.

This movie missed what it was aiming at more than it hit. That said, the
plane scenes were sure fun. "High and the Mighty" is supposed to be a better
picture.

http://www.amctv.com/person/detail?CID=2661-1-EST
William A. Wellman (Aviation Director) ...and a pilot.

He directed "Wings" (1927).

The cast of "Men With Wings" (1938) is very similar to "Islands in the Sky."
He used a lot of the same people in his movies.

(Links to these movies above)

Lafayette Escadrille (1958)
Darby's Rangers (1957)
Goodbye, My Lady (1956)
Blood Alley (1955)

The High and the Mighty (1954)
Island in the Sky (1953)

My Man and I (1952)
Across the Wide Missouri (1951)
Westward the Women (1951)
The Happy Years (1950)
The Next Voice You Hear (1950)

Battleground (1949)
The Iron Curtain (1948)
Yellow Sky (1948)
Magic Town (1947)
The Story of G.i. Joe (1945)
This Man's Navy (1945)
Buffalo Bill (1944)
Lady of Burlesque (1943)
The Ox-Bow Incident (1943)
The Great Man's Lady (1942)
Thunder Birds (1942)
Roxie Hart (1942)

Beau Geste (1939)
The Light that Failed (1939)
Men with Wings (1938)
Nothing Sacred (1937)
A Star Is Born (1937)
The Robin Hood of El Dorado (1936)
The Call of the Wild (1935)
Central Airport (1933)
College Coach (1933)
Midnight Mary (1933)
Frisco Jenny (1933)
Wild Boys of the Road (1933)
Heroes for Sale (1933)
The Conquerors (1932)
The Hatchet Man (1932)
The Purchase Price (1932)
Night Nurse (1931)
Other Men's Women (1931)
The Public Enemy (1931)

Wings (1927)


Montblack

Montblack wrote:
I watched "Islands in the Sky" (1953) last night ...liked it. Recommend it.

Being reshown at 5:45 ET on AMC.

The DVD for this movie just came out, I rented it from Netflix. I am not a
big John Wayne fan, but this is one of the best aviation movies I've seen
(the recent "The Aviator" is up there too). The author was a pilot and the
director an aviation enthusiast and it shows in the attention to detail; in
many ways the airplanes themselves are part of the cast. Of special interest
is the use of navigation equipment available in the 1950s, taking bearings
on a radio signal and using the ADF to guide them towards the stranded
pilots. I got a kick out of the character played by Andy Devine (usually the
pot-belleyed cow-poke sidekick with the half-shining drawl in Wayne's cowboy
movies). He demonstrates the minimalist technique for flying a DC-3 (I think
its a dc3); using a clothespin for a cigarette holder and pulling out a
little telescoping extension tool out of his pocket so he can tune the radio
without having to shift too much in his seat. The little touches were great.
One of the co-pilots is Carl Switzer -- "Alfalfa" from the Little Rascals,
in a rare adult movie appearance before getting himself killed in an
argument over money. He should have stayed a kid.

A week in the Canadian wilderness, and they ran out of almost everything --
but seemed to always have an ample supply of cigarettes. Maybe they found
some native plants to use as a substitute.

Another bit of trivia, John Wayne's best cowboy role was "Ethan", in "The
Searchers", IMHO one of the classic westerns. It was also in this movie
where Ethan says, "That'll be the day." And Buddy Holly wrote the song from
the movie line.

Patrick
student SPL
aircraft structural mech

"Richard Riley" wrote in message
...
On Mon, 15 Aug 2005 00:34:10 -0400, "Mr. Smith"
wrote:
:
:The DVD for this movie just came out, I rented it from Netflix. I am not
a
:big John Wayne fan, but this is one of the best aviation movies I've seen
the recent "The Aviator" is up there too).

Just a tiny piece of trivia. John's son, Ethan, is a private pilot
that flies out of SNA - John Wayne Airport.

John Wayne's old Cessna 180 was sitting at a tiedown at SMQ (Somerset, NJ)
for years, just slowly rotting away. The owner figured it was worth
something because of the celebrity tiein, and just kept it there, abandoned.
Really sad. Finally, about a year ago, someone bought it and hauled it (or
ferried it - I didn't see it leave) away. I hope someone's fixing it up.

--
Bob (Chief Pilot, White Knuckle Airways)


"Richard Riley" wrote in message
...
On Mon, 15 Aug 2005 00:34:10 -0400, "Mr. Smith"
wrote:
:
:The DVD for this movie just came out, I rented it from Netflix. I am not
a
:big John Wayne fan, but this is one of the best aviation movies I've seen
the recent "The Aviator" is up there too).

Just a tiny piece of trivia. John's son, Ethan, is a private pilot
that flies out of SNA - John Wayne Airport.