The High and the Mighty is a 1954 American aviation disaster film, directed by William A. Wellman, and written by Ernest K. Gann, who also wrote the 1953 novel on which his screenplay was based. Filme
Theatrical release poster
Captain John Sullivan panics and prepares to immediately ditch and Officer Dan Roman slaps him back to his senses
John Wayne pushed for the use of CinemaScope, although Wellman later considered it "bulky and unwieldy" during filming
Although Wayne and Wellman had considered Robert Cummings for the role of the captain, Robert Stack was selected after an interview with Wellman
William A. Wellman
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William Augustus Wellman was an American film director, producer, screenwriter, actor and military pilot. He was known for his work in crime, adventure, and action genre films, often focusing on aviat
Wellman filming The High and the Mighty (1954)
Wellman and Celia, his Nieuport 24 fighter, c. 1917 (one of several aircraft named for his mother)
Wellman in a captured German Rumpler (image from his 1918 account Go Get Em!...)
Wellman as a flight instructor at Rockwell Field, 1919