The Crowded Sky

And it isn't until all the necessary back stories are told that we get to the crux of the matter--the fact that an airliner and a two-man jet plane are on a collision course. DANA ANDREWS is the tense pilot at the controls of the airliner and EFREM ZIMBALIST, JR. is in the small plane with TROY DONAHUE.

Unfortunately, none of the back stories are really interesting enough to invoke anything more than moderate interest, but at least we get to see ANNE FRANCIS as an attractive stewardess saddled with some bad dialogue and a lifeless romance with JOHN KERR.

The story only gets into high gear late in the proceedings and by that time you'll notice that the storytelling technique is the same one used to even lesser advantage in THE HIGH AND THE MIGHTY.

Summing up: Nothing special but worth a look as an example of what eventually led to all those Airport movies of the '70s.

Trivia note: A diner scene with Troy Donahue and Efrem Zimbalist, Jr. has the juke box playing "The Theme from A Summer Place," Donahue's hit film from the year before.

Pretty nice movie, interesting for the plot and effects of the time. (And the appearance of a prop airliner, this movie coming right at the transition from the age of propeller planes into the jet age.) People have commented on connections between this movie and "Airport 1975" in that Dana Andrews and Efrem Zimbalist, Jr. appear in both, with their roles reversed in each. (Andrews is the pilot of the airliner in this one, Zimbalist is the airline pilot in "Airport 1975.") There is another similarity between the movies, as well, which I won't spoil.

I was sort of surprised to see that this one isn't out on DVD. So many movies are coming out in that format, and there have to be people who would want to own this one. When I was a kid (1980s, maybe the late 1970s) this was on the local TV stations as an afternoon movie several times. So there are plenty of people besides those who caught the original release who might want to own this one.

Also there is something that interests the modern airline passenger in all these airline movies from 20+ years ago.... those larger seats, how polite people were on a plane, and how people used to actually dress up to fly. Ah, as Ray Walston said in "Damn Yankees," those were the good old days!

A decent cast, most likely under contract who couldn't say no, slogs through some wonderfully awful dialogue. Only a few of them even try to breathe life into their paper thin characters. The rest of them, like the audience, seem to be waiting for the crash so they can go home.

A mother lode of clichés mined by Jim Abrahams and the Zucker brothers for their 1980 classic, "Airplane," "The Crowded Sky" is entertaining in its own right. A shameless pastiche of flashbacks erupts when two planes find themselves on a collision course in the skies over the American heartland. Dying wives, vengeful mistresses, love-starved spinsters, marriage-crazy stewardesses, and tough agents spar with lovelorn husbands, ham actors, marriage-shy co-pilots, unforgiving fathers, and cads on the make. Director Joseph Pevney juggles the familiar sub-plots competently, and viewers are unlikely to be bored, although they may have to stifle a giggle or two.

While not as stellar as "The High and the Mighty" or "Airport," the cast does include some solid actors from the period. Characters rarely develop in films like this, and most are little more than stereotyped sketches. Not surprisingly, the performances run the gamut from professional to embarrassing. The pros fare best led by Dana Andrews, the by-the-book TransState captain; Patsy Kelly, a blowzy chain-smoking agent; and Rhonda Fleming, a sexy scheming wife. Although the film's credits include Efrem Zimbalist, Troy Donahue, Keenan Wynn, and Anne Francis, many of the rest never became names.

The special effects use obvious model airplanes on wires and are a dated delight. Also dated and delightful is the depiction of flying. The passengers all dress in suit and tie; the stewardesses take tickets aboard the plane; the captain personally points out the oxygen canister to an interested passenger; a smiling stewardess cracks jokes about false teeth while instructing passengers on emergency procedures; air traffic controllers work 40 hours without a break; passengers board without security checks. What a wonderful experience flying used to be; beyond slick obvious entertainment, "The Crowded Sky" has the added dimension of evoking nostalgia for a vanished way of travel.

Yes I loved it. What a gem of a movie.

I taped this just on a whim as it was on a very late night run here and I have to say I loved it. I found it a treat and a gem. My favourite part of the film is when a character is thinking out loud the camera focuses in on that person and the lighting around them dims as we head into their world either via voice over or a flashback scene.

I would not mind adding this movie to my collection if it ever comes out on DVD. This is one of the movies, no doubt that paved the way for movies like "Airport" and all those awful disaster movies of the 70s and 80s. Good going I'll give it 7/10