The Crowded Sky

Last updated
The Crowded Sky
Crowded sky.jpg
Theatrical release poster
Directed by Joseph Pevney
Screenplay by Charles Schnee
Based onThe Crowded Sky
1960 novel
by Hank Searls [1]
Produced by Michael Garrison
Starring Dana Andrews
Rhonda Fleming
Efrem Zimbalist Jr.
Cinematography Harry Stradling Sr.
Edited byTom McAdoo
Music by Leonard Rosenman
Production
company
Warner Bros
Distributed by Warner Bros.
Release date
September 2, 1960 (1960-09-02)
Running time
105 minutes
CountryUnited States
Language English

The Crowded Sky is a 1960 Technicolor drama film distributed by Warner Bros., produced by Michael Garrison, directed by Joseph Pevney [2] and starring Dana Andrews, Rhonda Fleming and Efrem Zimbalist Jr. [3] [4] The film is based on the 1960 novel of the same name by Hank Searls.

Contents

The story follows the crew and passengers of a U.S. Navy jet and a commercial airliner carrying a full load of passengers during a bout of severe weather. [5] Other issues, such as a malfunctioning radio, render communication with air-traffic control nearly impossible and the two aircraft are on a collision course. [6]

Plot

A U.S. Navy Lockheed TV-2 jet piloted by Commander Dale Heath, with an enlisted man as a rear passenger, runs into trouble soon after takeoff. Heath's radio and navigation system become disabled, leaving him unable to correctly determine the jet's altitude. At the same time, a Douglas DC-7 airliner piloted by veteran Dick Barnett is carrying a full passenger complement, each with his or her own worries and problems.

Barnett and Heath have their own personal crises: Heath is stuck in an unhappy marriage to a tramp and Barnett had had a long-time conflict with Mike Rule, his copilot. Rule has his own personal demons, including his empty relationship with his catatonic father and an affair with head stewardess Kitty Foster.

Although both pilots make various errors, Barnett willfully ignores air-traffic control, placing the two aircraft on a direct collision course that air-traffic controllers are unable to prevent. When the crash inevitably occurs, Heath sacrifices himself and his passenger by diving his plane at the last minute to avoid fatally damaging the airliner, making amends for a past tragedy that he had caused by climbing at the last minute instead. The airliner is still badly damaged, and flight engineer Louis Capelli is blown out of a hole, falling to his death. The passengers and crew fight for their lives. Even with one engine destroyed and a wing on fire, Barnett brings the airliner down safely. He later accepts responsibility for the collision during the accident investigation. In the aftermath of the crash, Mike and Kitty are not only survivors but are now planning a future life together.

Cast

Production

Miniatures were used extensively to depict the aircraft in flight, including the climactic crash scene. Screen shot The-Crowded Sky.png
Miniatures were used extensively to depict the aircraft in flight, including the climactic crash scene.

Film rights to the novel The Crowded Sky, written by a former U.S. Navy flyer, were sold before the book was published. [7] [8] The screenplay employs the frequent device of characters thinking aloud, as screenwriter Charles Schnee felt that audiences required more subtlety in characterization, which could be achieved with the additional dialogue. [9]

The Crowded Sky was the first film role in more than a year for Dana Andrews, who had been appearing on Broadway in the play Two for the Seesaw. Andrews described the film "as a kind of Bridge of San Luis Rey of the air." [10]

In order to prepare for his role, Zimbalist trained for 20 hours in a jet flight simulator to familiarize himself with the controls that his character would use. [11] Troy Donahue's role was a departure from the usual teenage films that he had made for Warner Bros. [12] The main theme music from A Summer Place , Donahue's preceding film, appears in the soundtrack. Principal photography began in mid-October and concluded in mid-November of 1959. [13]

Even though the Dick Barnett character mentions that he knows how to fly DC-7s, the actual plane used in the film appears to be a Douglas DC-6. [14] The DC-7 has four-blade propellers but the DC-6's propellers have only three blades.

Reception

The Crowded Sky was received with mixed reviews by audiences and critics alike. The Los Angeles Times called it "interesting but uneven." [15] Variety published a mixed review, criticizing Pevney's directing but praising the aerial scenes. [16]

In a more critical review in The New York Times , Eugene Archer called The Crowded Sky "reprehensible" because it exploited human tragedy. His review noted: "Possibly a meaningful film could be developed from this theme, but as directed with an emphasis on sensationalism by Joseph Pevney, the effect is as meretricious as it is harrowing." [17]

Modern reviews have been more favorable. Glenn Erickson of DVD Talk wrote a mostly positive review but commented that The Crowded Sky feels more like an "unintentional comedy" than a serious dramatic film. [18] Reviewer Leonard Maltin called it a "slick film focusing on emotional problems aboard jet liner and Navy plane bound for fateful collision; superficial but diverting." [19]

See also

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Dana Andrews</span> American actor (1909–1992)

Carver Dana Andrews was an American film actor who became a major star in what is now known as film noir. A leading man during the 1940s, he continued acting in less prestigious roles and character parts into the 1980s. He is best known for his portrayal of obsessed police detective Mark McPherson in the noir Laura (1944) and his critically acclaimed performance as World War II veteran Fred Derry in The Best Years of Our Lives (1946).

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Leonard Maltin</span> American film critic and film historian (born 1950)

Leonard Michael Maltin is the go-to American film critic and film historian for the major film industry studios in Hollywood, as well as an author of several mainstream books on cinema, focusing on nostalgic, celebratory narratives. He is perhaps best known for his book of film capsule reviews, Leonard Maltin's Movie Guide, published annually from 1969 to 2014. Maltin was the film critic on Entertainment Tonight from 1982 to 2010. He currently teaches at the USC School of Cinematic Arts and has appeared regularly on Turner Classic Movies, and hosts the weekly podcast Maltin on Movies. He has written articles for The New York Times, The Los Angeles Times, Variety, Playboy and TV Guide. He served two terms as President of the Los Angeles Film Critics Association, and votes for films to be selected for the National Film Registry.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Efrem Zimbalist Jr.</span> American actor (1918–2014)

Efrem Zimbalist Jr. was an American actor best known for his starring roles in the television series 77 Sunset Strip and The F.B.I. He is also known as recurring character "Dandy Jim Buckley" in the series Maverick and as the voice of Alfred Pennyworth in the DC Animated Universe.

<i>Airport 1975</i> 1974 American disaster film

Airport 1975 is a 1974 American air disaster film and the first sequel to the successful 1970 film Airport. It was directed by Jack Smight, produced by William Frye, executive produced by Jennings Lang, and written by Don Ingalls. The film stars Charlton Heston, Karen Black, George Kennedy and Gloria Swanson – as a fictionalized version of herself – in her final film role.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Joseph Pevney</span> American actor

Joseph Pevney was an American film and television director.

<i>Loving</i> (1970 film) 1970 film by Irvin Kershner

Loving is a 1970 American comedy-drama film released by Columbia Pictures and directed by Irvin Kershner. It is based on the novel Brooks Wilson Ltd. written by pulp magazine illustrator John McDermott under his pen name J.M. Ryan. The movie starred George Segal in the lead role of a philandering illustrator and Eva Marie Saint as his wife. The cast included Sterling Hayden, David Doyle, Keenan Wynn, Roy Scheider, and Sherry Lansing. Broadway actress Betsy von Furstenberg has a small uncredited role, one of only two motion pictures she ever appeared in.

<i>Bombers B-52</i> 1957 film by Gordon Douglas

Bombers B-52 is a 1957 American drama film produced by Richard Whorf and directed by Gordon Douglas. The film stars Natalie Wood and Karl Malden, and co-stars Marsha Hunt and Efrem Zimbalist Jr. It was adapted from a Sam Rolfe story by screenwriter Irving Wallace. Leonard Rosenman composed the score.

<i>Leonard Maltins Movie Guide</i> Book by Leonard Maltin

Leonard Maltin's Movie Guide was a book-format collection of movie capsule reviews that began in 1969, was updated biannually after 1978, and then annually after 1986. The final edition was published in September 2014. It was originally called TV Movies, which became Leonard Maltin's TV Movies and Video Guide, and then Leonard Maltin's Movie and Video Guide, before arriving at its final title. Film critic Leonard Maltin edited it and contributed a large portion of its reviews.

Henry Hunt Searls was an American author and screenwriter. His novels included The Crowded Sky (1960), which was adapted as the 1960 movie of the same name; The Pilgrim Project (1964), which was adapted as the 1968 movie Countdown; and The Penetrators. Searls also wrote the novelizations for the movies Jaws 2 (1978) featuring Roy Scheider and Murray Hamilton, and Jaws: The Revenge (1987) featuring Michael Caine and Lorraine Gary.

<i>Steal the Sky</i> 1988 American TV series or program

Steal the Sky is a 1988 HBO movie directed by John D. Hancock and starring Mariel Hemingway and Ben Cross. The film is based on the true story of an Iraqi Assyrian fighter pilot Munir Redfa, who defected by flying a MiG-21 fighter jet to Israel in 1966. Steal the Sky was the first production under the HBO-Paramount co-financing agreement launched in 1987.

The Rookie is a 1959 American comedy film directed by George O'Hanlon in CinemaScope. It was the first film starring the comedy team of Tommy Noonan and Peter Marshall, they also appeared together in the 1962 film Swingin' Along.

<i>Istanbul</i> (film) 1957 film by Joseph Pevney

Istanbul is a 1957 American CinemaScope film noir crime film directed by Joseph Pevney, and starring Errol Flynn and Cornell Borchers. It is a remake of the film Singapore, with the location of the action moved to Turkey. The plot involves an American pilot who becomes mixed up with various criminal activities in Istanbul.

Steven Henry Scheuer was a film and television historian and critic. He edited all seventeen editions of Movies on TV published between 1958 and 1993 and wrote The Movie Book (1974), subtitled A Comprehensive, Authoritative, Omnibus Volume on Motion Pictures and the Cinema World. He was moderator of the syndicated television series All About TV from 1969 to 1990. In 2002, he hosted and produced a 13-program series for public television, Television in America: An Autobiography.

<i>Air Cadet</i> (film) 1951 film by Joseph Pevney

Air Cadet is a 1951 American drama war film directed by Joseph Pevney and starring Stephen McNally, Gail Russell, Alex Nicol and Richard Long. Air Cadet featured United States Air Force (USAF) pilots in training along with actors mixed into the training courses. The film had a small early role for 26-year-old Rock Hudson and a scene with future astronaut Gus Grissom.

<i>Jet Over the Atlantic</i> 1959 film by Byron Haskin

Jet Over the Atlantic is a 1959 drama film directed by Byron Haskin and stars Guy Madison, Virginia Mayo, George Raft and Ilona Massey. The film's title was misleading as the airliner was a Bristol Britannia turboprop-engined, not "pure" jet-powered aircraft. George Raft's biographer Everett Aaker called Jet Over the Atlantic "a precursor of the disaster genre."

<i>Pillars of the Sky</i> 1956 American film

Pillars of the Sky is a 1956 American CinemaScope western film directed by George Marshall and starring Jeff Chandler, Dorothy Malone and Ward Bond. It was produced and distributed by Universal Pictures.

<i>Love in a Goldfish Bowl</i> 1961 American film written and directed by Jack Sher

Love in a Goldfish Bowl is a 1961 teen film directed by Jack Sher starring singing idols Tommy Sands and Fabian.

<i>The Plunderers</i> (1960 film) 1960 film by Joseph Pevney

The Plunderers is a 1960 American Western film directed by Joseph Pevney and starring Jeff Chandler, John Saxon and Dolores Hart. It was nominated for a Golden Globe in 1960.

Satellite in the Sky is a 1956 British CinemaScope science fiction film in Warner Color, produced by Edward J. Danziger and Harry Lee Danziger, directed by Paul Dickson, and starring Kieron Moore, Lois Maxwell, Donald Wolfit, and Bryan Forbes. The film was distributed by Warner Bros. Pictures. Special effects were by Wally Veevers, who would later work on Stanley Kubrick's 2001: A Space Odyssey (1968).

<i>Government Girl</i> 1943 film by Dudley Nichols

Government Girl is a 1943 American romantic-comedy film, produced and directed by Dudley Nichols and starring Olivia de Havilland and Sonny Tufts. Based on a story by Adela Rogers St. Johns, and written by Dudley Nichols and Budd Schulberg, the film is about a secretary working in Washington for the war administration during World War II who helps her boss navigate the complex political machinations of government in an effort to build bomber aircraft for the war effort.

References

Notes

    Citations

    1. ↑ Williams, Wirt. " 'Crowded Sky' weaves actual crises into pattern of disaster." Los Angeles Times, May 1, 1960, p. J7.
    2. ↑ "Overview: 'The Crowded Sky' (1960)." Turner Classic Movies , 2019. Retrieved: August 12, 2019.
    3. ↑ "Crowded Sky cast set." The Pittsburgh Press, November 2, 1959. Retrieved: August 26, 2014.
    4. ↑ group=Note
    5. ↑ Carlson 2012, p. 201.
    6. ↑ Nixon, Rob. "Articles: 'The Crowded Sky' (1960)." Turner Classic Movies , 2019. Retrieved: August 12, 2019.
    7. ↑ Witkin, Richard. "Heavy traffic over Amarillo: 'The Crowded Sky' by Hank Searis." The New York Times , March 1960, p. BR42.
    8. ↑ Scheuer, Philip K. "Paul Douglas will figure in 'Kidnap': Sturges to guide squadron; Russ discuss film exchange." Los Angeles Times, December 1, 1958, p. C15.
    9. ↑ Schumach, Murray. "Day of improved movie dialogue and characterization in offing." The New York Times, June 25, 1959, p. 21.
    10. ↑ Scheuer, Philip K. "Pantomimist will spout beat' verse: Dana Andrews resumes acting; Oakie returns to Paramount." Los Angeles Times, September 29, 1959, p. 27.
    11. ↑ "Zimbalist takes pilot training for film role." St. Petersburg Times, August 2, 1960. Retrieved: August 26, 2014.
    12. ↑ Maltin 1994, p. 236.
    13. ↑ "Original Print Information: 'The Crowded Sky' (1960)." Turner Classic Movies. Retrieved: August 26, 2014.
    14. ↑ "Douglas DC-6B" Fictitious airline Trans States using DC-6B N16020 of National Airlines, though no DC-6 seems to have carried that registration.
    15. ↑ Scheuer, Philip K. "'Crowded Sky' planes keep date with destiny." Los Angeles Times, September 1, 1960, p. C12.
    16. ↑ "The Crowded Sky." Variety's Film Reviews: 1959-1963. New Providence, New Jersey: R.R. Bowker, 1989. ISBN   978-0-83522-789-6.
    17. ↑ Archer, Eugene. "The Crowded Sky (1960)". The New York Times, February 11, 1961.
    18. ↑ Erickson, Glenn. "Review: The Crowded Sky." DVD Talk, January 25, 2010. Retrieved: August 26, 2014.
    19. ↑ Maltin 2009, p. 300.

    Bibliography

    • Carlson, Mark. Flying on Film: A Century of Aviation in the Movies, 1912–2012. Duncan, Oklahoma: BearManor Media, 2012. ISBN   978-1-59393-219-0.
    • Maltin, Leonard. Leonard Maltin's Movie Encyclopedia. New York: Dutton, 1994. ISBN   0-525-93635-1.
    • Maltin, Leonard. Leonard Maltin's Movie Guide 2009. New York: New American Library, 2009 (originally published as TV Movies, then Leonard Maltin’s Movie & Video Guide), First edition 1969, published annually since 1988. ISBN   978-0-451-22468-2.
    This page is based on this Wikipedia article
    Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply.
    Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.