Island in the Sky (1953)

You won't be disappointed!

Just perfect...

I don't have all the words right now but this film is a work of art.

The plot isn't so bad, but the pace of storytelling is too slow which makes people bored. Certain moments are so obvious and unnecessary for the main plot. I would've fast-forwarded those moments if it was an online streaming. The ending looks like implying a sequel, not sure if this movie will get one

For professional pilots, their planes are their island in the sky. Capt. Dooley (John Wayne) pilots his military transport plane. He and his crew are traveling back across the Atlantic. Off the coast of Labrador, icing forces him to land. The survivors struggle in the frozen north as his friends scramble to search for him.The movie tries a few jokey scenes which are too broad and ill-fitting. Around half of the movie is spent on the search party. I would have preferred more John Wayne in a John Wayne movie. As for the crash site, I'm guessing it was filmed up in the Californian mountains. It doesn't look cold or threatening enough other than those scenes where they bring out the wind machine. It would help to see their breath in the air. There should be more tension although the search is fairly compelling. This works for the most part.

. . . but there's more than enough sobbing in aviation to make up for the Diamond's lack of tears. John Wayne and his four crewmen seem fairly clueless about this whole flying thing. While on some sort of Mid-Winter jaunt that seems more like a joy ride than a professional mission, Wayne and his sad-sack quartet get so hopelessly lost that the Big Man decides to fly toward the North Pole until he can use up all the gas left in his tanks. (This is about the nuttiest plan I've seen in a flick since Scarlett O'Hara's party guests decided that a Civil War would be a Great Idea in GONE WITH THE WIND.) After Wayne glides to a stop on a frozen lake, he more or less orders his crew to "cry me a river" as his best means of getting home from his ISLAND IN THE SKY. He prods them on with such encouraging statements as, "I'll shoot the first one of you that leaves the camp area." No doubt Wayne's commander has the Wreck of the Essex in mind, as he spoons with each crewman in turn so that he can make an informed shopping choice about bagging some rump roast when the time comes.

Island in the Sky had a promising premise, with a crew of aviators getting stranded in the Canadian wilderness. I'm a fan of survival thrillers and had hopes it would be interesting. However, flawed execution undermined the film as a whole.The main problem is that the film repeatedly undermines its sense of tension, robbing the plot of suspense. For example, in the opening moments before the plane crashes, the film uses a narrator to tell us what the Duke and the rest of his crew are thinking. A better approach would have been just to let the actors' facial expressions tell the story.Furthermore, the film breaks away from the stranded fliers in order to focus on their fellow aviators and their search for the crash. These scenes at times seem to come from a different movie, with some sequences played for laughs.That said, the film has some well done scenes, particularly one where a man is dying in snow. The Duke gives his usual commanding performance, which keeps things from getting too bad. Still, the film is ultimately a substandard survival thriller.

I'll start off by saying that I'm no John Wayne fan. I never liked his wooden western portrayals. They were all alike. I didn't know what to expect with this one but what a surprise...it's an absolute winner.I think this one succeeds because John Wayne isn't the "whole" star of this. This film has an incredible cast that outdo Wayne in most scenes. Most of the film the supporting cast is what you see and boy they really get it done...with conviction.The premise is Dooley and his crew are on their way home from a trip and they run into bad weather over northern Canada and have to crash land the plane in a baron area on the Tundra. The other crew's at their home base in Maine find out and they all proceed to try and find where's he's at in time...before they freeze to death. Here's where the meat of the film is.I can't say enough how great the supporting cast is. They are this film. From James Arness right down to ole Alfalfa from Our gang. They all pitch in make this film a worthy watch.Take a chance on this one and you'll walk away cheering at the end.