Batjac Productions Films (Film Guide) - The High and the Mighty, the Alamo, Hondo, the Green Berets, Island in the Sky, Rio Lobo, Chisum (Paperback)

Please note that the content of this book primarily consists of articles available from Wikipedia or other free sources online. Commentary (films not included). Pages: 25. Chapters: The High and the Mighty, The Alamo, Hondo, The Green Berets, Island in the Sky, Rio Lobo, Chisum, Good-bye, My Lady, Big Jake, McQ, Brannigan, Legend of the Lost, McLintock , Blood Alley, The War Wagon, Cast a Giant Shadow, The Bullfighter and the Lady, Batjac Productions, Cahill U.S. Marshal, The Train Robbers. Excerpt: The High and the Mighty is a 1954 American disaster film directed by William A. Wellman and written by Ernest K. Gann who also wrote the novel on which his screenplay was based. The film's cast was headlined by John Wayne, who was also the project's co-producer. Composer Dimitri Tiomkin won an Academy Award for his original score while his title song for the film also was nominated for an Oscar. The film received mostly positive reviews and grossed $8.5 million in its theatrical release. The film explores the experiences and interactions of the passengers and crew aboard a fictional commercial airline flight from Honolulu to San Francisco that develops engine problems at its mid-way point resulting in a serious fuel leak. Although the captain prepares for what he expects will be an inevitable ditching, the more experienced First Officer convinces him that they can still make the airport despite the great odds against it. The crew eventually nurses the damaged aircraft to San Francisco where it lands safely with only two of its four engines still turning and an inspection reveals that it landed with virtually dry tanks. Initially a producer, John Wayne was cast in the film after another actor dropped outCredited cast members (in order of on-screen credits) and roles: John Wayne pushed for the use of CinemaScope, although Wellman later considered it "bulky and unwieldy" during filmingAfter Wayne and Robert Fellows had formed Wayne-Fellows Productions in 1952, the duo w...