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Island in the Sky (1953)   Directed by William Wellman(The Oxbow Incident, The Story of G.I. Joe, Battleground, The High and the Mighty)

Transport plane pilot Dooley (John Wayne) must keep his crew alive after they crash in the vast, snowy, and uncharted  wilderness of Labrador.  They must battle sub zero temps and hunger as their comrades try to locate them before it;'s too late.

If you're not aware, this movie and Wellman's other 'plane in trouble' movie (The High and the Mighty) starring John Wayne  haven't been on TV for over 20 years. AMC has been running them this month and I caught Island a couple of weekends ago (though I had to watch it in two sittings because a thunderstorm took out the satellite signal the first night). I want to watch The High and the Mighty, but it galls me that AMC makes it last three hours.

Anyway, this is an excellent survival movie that also takes a lot of time telling the story of the rescuers problems with their search. The area is nothing but snow and trees that all looks the same,  their proximity to the pole keeps the compasses from being reliable, and they must battle elements like frozen fog and blizzards.

The other air crews are a who's who of old western actors. Andy Devine, Loyd Nolan, James Arness, Bob Steele, Paul Fix, and Harry Carey Jr.  Keep a lookout for  Mike "Mannix" Connors and  a grown up Carl Switzer (Alfalfa from The Little Rascals). He also appears in The High and the Mighty.

This is a must for John Wayne fans.

Sounds like a great one Trek-Geezer. I'll keep it a watch out for it on AMC.

I'm sure it's better than that MESA OF LOST WOMEN. : )

I liked it.
It did have the "Violins for sadness" kind of music, but thats typical for the time period.
The camraderie of the other flyers was infectious, and i wonder...is this the film, where the Duke got to meet James Arness, and like the kid so much, he reccomended him for the lead in "Gunsmoke?"

They co-starred earlier in "Big Jim McClain" (1952) as federal agents working for HUAC beating up on dirty commies in Hawaii. So unless IITS was shot before that film guess not.

As a fan of John Wayne, this film is a must see for me, as it is one of the few Wayne films I have yet to see. It is also apparently available on dvd and/or video.