Ticket On an Airplane

I was enjoying my morning coffee, a couple of scrambled eggs with toast, and avoiding the news on the kitchen TV. Usually I avoid the news by watching old TV shows, "Leave it to Beaver", "The Rifleman", "Have Gun Will Travel". This morning though I stumbled across a 1954 John Wayne film, "The High and the Mighty".

I assumed it was either a western or war movie. They seem to account for a lion's share of the movies John Wayne starred in. I was surprised to find it was disaster movie of sorts. A passenger plane flying from Hawaii to San Francisco was not going to make it for a reason I was not aware of as I came into the movie past the mid-point. 

Robert Stack was the captain of the flight. William Campbell was his co-pilot and John, well I am not sure why John was on the plane, but he was also a pilot for the airline and was carrying a checkered pass that may have or not kept him from flying at that time.

It was a classic averting disaster movie that reminded me in many ways of the fine Hitchcock film, "Lifeboat". Personal stories were plugged in to make the flight interesting and not just a bunch of panicky passengers screaming they did not want to die. I don't like many John Wayne movies, but this one was well done. 

"Lifeboat" was written by John Steinbeck and "The High and the Mighty" was penned by Ernest Hemingway. The two of them were giants of 20th century American Literature. Start with good writing and that will always help a movie become more successful. 

In the end though the plot became predictable. John Wayne was the hero I guess because he slapped Robert Stack into manning up and flying the damn plane when Stack had a crisis of confidence. Robert Stack stopped being a Nancy, thanked John for the intervention and successfully brought plane into San Francisco with 30 gallons of fuel to spare.

While I did enjoy the parts of the movie I watched and will most likely search it out to see the entire film; throughout the minutes I watched, the passenger seats kept popping into my mind. Look how freaking big they were and oh look at that , some guy's smoking a cigarette. Times have certainly changed.

My days of air travel peaked during the 1950s and early 1960s. My family flew all over the freaking place, especially the Pacific. I hated it. Mom learned to pack extra air sickness bags. I think eventually I might have puked some when the would "flight" was even mentioned. Didn't like flying then and I still don't. It doesn't scare me, I just hate the whole process; especially now, with all the extra pain the ass requirements just to step on board.

As the movie wound down and the passengers exited down the wheeled staircase, the little kid on the flight came down alone. That struck me as I remember flying alone at around the same age. My mom actually pinned a scrap of paper to the lapel of my new suit with contact info should I become lost, stolen or misplaced.

If you are into old movies, I would recommend both, especially "Lifeboat".

Keep it 'tween the ditches .....................................

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"Fly Away", by Lenny Kravitz seems it might just be a decent choice for this post.