The High and the Mighty

Widely considered to be one of the best performances of John Wayne's career, and largely accidental at that: Wayne stepped into the part of Dan Roman at the eleventh hour, following Spencer Tracy's last-minute exit, merely to save the project (which Wayne himself was financing) from going over budget. The character of Roman - stricken, vulnerable and utterly unheroic - was the antithesis of Wayne's omnipotent screen persona, which forced him to play considerably outside his normal range. The result was a heartrending, unexpectedly touching portrayal.

On departure from Honolulu the DC-4 has unpainted propeller blades, but on arrival at San Franciso, the propeller tips are painted red and yellow (an apparent safety measure to let ground crew see rotating propellers before walking into them).

The song "The High and the Mighty" (with lyrics) does not appear in the original 1954 release of this film. However, the studio wanted the hugely popular, chart-topping song to be nominated for the Best Song Academy Award that year. According to AMPAS regulations, the song could not be nominated because it was no officially sung in the film, even if would be heard elsewhere. To satisfy these regulations, a version was released towards the tail-end of 1954 for a few nights only with the song inserted into an Exit Music. The Academy then decided to give the song a nomination on the basis of these screenings. The song lost to "Three Coins in a Fountain".