Phil Harris, Andy Devine, and John Wayne

[Maxwell]

Paramount/Viacom has apparently released a couple of movies produced by John Wayne's production company that I haven't seen in something like 40 years. Both were shown on AMC last night (unfortunately riddled with commercials) and both feature a couple of Jack's sidekicks. Had I known they were on before I started watching them, I would have put up a notice here.

"The High and the Mighty" features Phil Harris in a partially comic-partially dramatic role as a salesman whose wife goes to pieces when the passengers learn that their plane is in trouble and may have to ditch in the Pacific. His comic highlight is his tale of a vacation in which everything went wrong.

"Island in the Sky" features Andy Devine in a major supporting role as a pilot in a search party for Wayne's plane, down in the arctic.

As far as I know, these movies have been unavailable for viewing for years. I think the last time I saw either of them on TV was in the mid-1960s. "The High and the Mighty" could have been an inspiration for "Airport" with it's cast of familiar faces and an airplane in trouble, but imho it's a better movie. Heck, it's worth it just to watch Duke slap some sense into pilot Robert Stack when the latter loses it and wants to ditch the plane prematurely.

I probably saw "Island in the Sky" every night for a week when my family was visiting relatives in California in '63. Some local indedpendentTV station would show a movie every night for a week at the same time, and for some reason, my cousin decided that he just had to see it every night. It's a good movie, has Andy Devine in a good part, has John Wayne in an uncharacteristic performance (he actually breaks down in this one), and has James Arness (one of my favorites) in a very prominent supporting role, too.

I imagine that since they're being shown on TV again, they're also availalbe on DVD.

[epeterd]

I bought both of these on DVD when they came out. I'm only 35 so obviously I'd never seen either one. It was interesting to see what Phil looked like. I'd never seen him before. It's funny to watch The High and the Mighty because I think Airplane! is a hilarious movie and now I can see where they came up with a lot of their gags. Never saw Airport though.
Peter