# John Wayne's Islands in The Sky.... **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [July 18, 2005, 12:58am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/john-waynes-islands-in-the-sky/312923 "2005-07-18T00:58:06Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 12\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Quasimodem](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/q/e274bd/32.png) [@Quasimodem](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Quasimodem)\ **Post date:** [July 18, 2005, 12:58am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/john-waynes-islands-in-the-sky/312923/1 "2005-07-18T00:58:06Z")
…and _The High and The Mighty_ have always been my favorites of all his films. I have always considered _Islands_ a very surreal work which showed Wayne in a very human and fragile light. Not as crack-sure of himself and very close to “breaking”. Both have finally been (I suspect) released by the Wayne Trust and can now be seen on AMC. If you’ll pay attention, you’ll recognize the spoof movie _Airplane_ 's gags on _The High and The Mighty_😃 One thing which bothers me (and what I would like y’all to comment on), is that Matthew Modine is introducing and commenting on both films, and a closeup of Matthew is featured right alongside a picture of the Duke. Does anyone know if Modine is going to play John Wayne in a bio-pic? Anyone remember his impression of Wayne in the Kubrick pic _Fulll Metal Jacket_ ? Thanks Quasi ---
**Author:** ![carnivorousplant](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/carnivorousplant/32/3563_2.png) [@carnivorousplant](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/carnivorousplant)\ **Post date:** [July 18, 2005, 1:04am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/john-waynes-islands-in-the-sky/312923/2 "2005-07-18T01:04:31Z")
> [@Quasimodem](#): > > I have always considered _Islands_ a very surreal work which showed Wayne in a very human and fragile light. Not as crack-sure of himself and very close to “breaking”. I noticed that. Guess one couldn’t help. The Duke had a _Stunt Double?_ I thought he was tough. 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![El\_Kabong](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/el_kabong/32/496_2.png) [@El\_Kabong](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/El_Kabong)\ **Post date:** [July 18, 2005, 2:40am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/john-waynes-islands-in-the-sky/312923/3 "2005-07-18T02:40:20Z")
I’d heard about the reputation of _Island in the Sky_ but was unaware it had been out of public view for so long. Glad it’s been restored and AMC ran it; pretty good film, making allowances for its for its age and the usual cloying sentimentality of films from that era. I particularly liked Lloyd Nolan’s and Andy Devine’s turns as two of the pilots searching for Wayne and company, the various in-flight shots of the C-47s, and the gorgeous location shooting. I’m giving _The High and the Mighty_ a miss for now; the promos didn’t look too promising and I fear _Airplane_ may have ruined this one for me. ---
**Author:** ![Kent\_Clark](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kent_clark/32/105_2.png) [@Kent\_Clark](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kent_Clark)\ **Post date:** [July 18, 2005, 2:50am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/john-waynes-islands-in-the-sky/312923/4 "2005-07-18T02:50:56Z")
I’m watching The High and The Mighty right now. Two things immediately jump out. 1. I never realized it was in color, since I haven’t seen it in all the years I had access to a color TV. 2. If you think Robert Stack was tough in Airplane, imagine him being slapped by John Wayne. ---
**Author:** ![carnivorousplant](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/carnivorousplant/32/3563_2.png) [@carnivorousplant](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/carnivorousplant)\ **Post date:** [July 18, 2005, 3:12am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/john-waynes-islands-in-the-sky/312923/5 "2005-07-18T03:12:30Z")
> [@kunilou](#): > > 1. If you think Robert Stack was tough in Airplane, imagine him being slapped by John Wayne. If the Duke slapped King Kong, Kong would have to take it and thank him. 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![ElvisL1ves](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/5daacb/32.png) [@ElvisL1ves](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ElvisL1ves)\ **Post date:** [July 18, 2005, 1:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/john-waynes-islands-in-the-sky/312923/6 "2005-07-18T13:25:00Z")
Watched 'em both, wunnerful, wunnerful … no movie prominently featuring airplanes can really be bad, eh? But the more Ernie Gann scripts I’m exposed to, the lower my opinion of his fiction-writing ability. The characters and dialogue, especially in H&M, were as stilted as in anything Irwin Allen ever did. Both plots, btw, are taken almost directly from his autobiography, _Fate Is The Hunter_, which is completely unrelated to his script for the later movie of the same name. Gann really did participate in a long SAR mission in northern Quebec, and really did barely make it to the mainland from Hawaii after an engine loss on a DC-4. Aw, just read the thing, it’s great. I do have a bone to pick with the SFX crew - the No. 1 engine on the airliner didn’t look twisted in its mounts in the inflight shots, even with the model, but on the ground suddenly it was hanging almost 45 degrees down. The landing at SFO wasn’t shown as being unusually hard, either. Also, the panel shots showed the landing by VOR/ILS, but Wayne was still babbling on about coming in the San Francisco northwest range. Four-course ranges were already almost gone in 1959, and nobody with a VOR receiver would use one anyway. Nitpick over. Yeah, _Airplane_ has spoiled me. I kept waiting for Robert Stack to say “Looks like I picked the wrong day to stop sniffing glue!”. Even Wayne slapping some sense back into him when he freaked didn’t make up for it. ---
**Author:** ![Earl\_Snake-Hips\_Tucker](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/earl_snake-hips_tucker/32/3269_2.png) [@Earl\_Snake-Hips\_Tucker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Earl_Snake-Hips_Tucker)\ **Post date:** [July 18, 2005, 7:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/john-waynes-islands-in-the-sky/312923/7 "2005-07-18T19:23:37Z")
“High and Mighty” parallels aside, just a reminder that the actual direct inspiration for “Airplane” (1980) was actually [Zero Hour (1957)](http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0051221/combined) ---
**Author:** ![Gangster\_Octopus](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/a8b319/32.png) [@Gangster\_Octopus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gangster_Octopus)\ **Post date:** [July 18, 2005, 8:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/john-waynes-islands-in-the-sky/312923/8 "2005-07-18T20:04:02Z")
Damn Damn Damn! I forgot this was on. When will it be on again, please don’t say in “20 years”. ---
**Author:** ![carnivorousplant](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/carnivorousplant/32/3563_2.png) [@carnivorousplant](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/carnivorousplant)\ **Post date:** [July 18, 2005, 8:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/john-waynes-islands-in-the-sky/312923/9 "2005-07-18T20:52:31Z")
> [@Gangster Octopus](#): > > When will it be on again, 28 July. [AMC](http://www.amctv.com/show/detail?CID=63487-1-EST) ---
**Author:** ![ElvisL1ves](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/5daacb/32.png) [@ElvisL1ves](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ElvisL1ves)\ **Post date:** [July 19, 2005, 1:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/john-waynes-islands-in-the-sky/312923/10 "2005-07-19T13:07:47Z")
The DVD’s of both movies will be available in August in the US. ---
**Author:** ![Hypno-Toad](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/b2d939/32.png) [@Hypno-Toad](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hypno-Toad)\ **Post date:** [July 19, 2005, 1:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/john-waynes-islands-in-the-sky/312923/11 "2005-07-19T13:24:10Z")
AMC made sure the Stack-slapping was in the commercials. I missed the movies, but now I have put “Airplane” on my DVD-buying list. ---
**Author:** ![ElvisL1ves](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/5daacb/32.png) [@ElvisL1ves](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ElvisL1ves)\ **Post date:** [July 19, 2005, 1:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/john-waynes-islands-in-the-sky/312923/12 "2005-07-19T13:49:00Z")
It’s too bad that scene became so cliched before I even got a chance to see its origin. Stack’s reply to getting slapped, “Thanks, I needed that”, simply reminded me of the old Skin Bracer aftershave commercials when it should have been a key dramatic moment.