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This article is about the 1953 John Wayne film. For other uses, see Island in the Sky.

Island in the Sky
Film poster for Island in the Sky
Directed by	William A. Wellman
Produced by	Robert Fellows John Wayne
Written by	Ernest K. Gann
Starring	John Wayne Lloyd Nolan James Arness Andy Devine Harry Carey Jr.
Music by	Emil Newman
Cinematography	Archie Stout
Editing by	Ralph Dawson
Distributed by	Warner Brothers
Release date(s)	September 5, 1953
Running time	109 min.
Language	English
IMDb profile

Island in The Sky (1953) is a film released through Warner Brothers. The film starred and was co-produced by John Wayne, directed by William A. Wellman and written by Ernest K. Gann who also wrote the novel of the same name on which the film was based.

The film follows a pilot and crew of a World War II-era C-47 Skytrain (the military version of the DC-3) who try to survive after a forced emergency landing in the uncharted wildlands near the Quebec-Labrador border. The pilot, Dooley, is a former airline pilot who like many others was pressed into duty hauling war supplies across the northern route to England. Icy weather forces the plane to land, and with the difficulties of navigating far from settled country, they can provide only an approximate position to rescuers. After finding a frozen lake for a landing field Dooley must keep his men alive in deadly conditions of extreme winter cold while waiting for rescue. Fellow airmen (Lloyd Nolan, James Arness, Andy Devine, Paul Fix) are determined to find them before hunger and the winter do them in. Wellman provides internal narrative for the stoic characters. There is tension and a fear-filled meeting among the search pilots when no one is quite sure about what to do, since a wrong decision could doom the missing crew.

The script was based on a true story about a flight on February 3, 1943 (although the co-pilot did not die). John Wayne co-produced and starred in this film, doing likewise a year later in The High and the Mighty (1954). The two movies shared many of the same production staff and crew members. Wellman was an aviation-movie veteran and director whose Wings won the first-ever Academy Award (1927–28). The role is against type for Wayne since he does not display the machismo for which he was often criticized. His portrayal of the downed plane's captain had been noted as believable and realistic. The film carries many realistic details, such as an ice pick kept handily embedded in a barracks wall so pilots can break the ice sheet on their morning wash water. The black-and-white cinematography by Archie Stout (dramatic scenes) and William H. Clothier (flying scenes) have been praised by critics.

Both movies were out of circulation for about 20 years because of legal issues. They were restored, returned to television in July 2005 and released as special edition DVDs that August.

• John Wayne as Captain Dooley
• Lloyd Nolan as Captain Stutz
• James Arness as Mac McMullan, pilot
• Andy Devine as Willie Moon, pilot
• Harry Carey Jr. as Ralph Hunt, Moon's co-pilot
• Walter Able as Colonel Fuller
• Paul Fix as Wally Miller
• Louis Jean Heydt as Fitch, pilot
• Fess Parker as Fitch's co-pilot (uncredited)
• Carl Switzer as Stutz's co-pilot

• Island hopping

• [1] DVD version
• Island in the Sky (1953 film) at the Internet Movie Database