Based on the novel of the same title by Hank Searls, The Crowded Sky is an early sampler of the disaster movie genre, directed by Joseph Pevney.
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Theatrical release poster
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All the elements of what would become a popular movie genre in the 1970s (after Airport) are in place: a large ensemble, melodramatic back stories of the passengers and members of the crew, personal and professional tensions, a malfunctioning radio make that makes it hard to communicate with air traffic control, severe weather, and potential crash or near collision.
The plot cross-cuts between two stories until they (or rather their aircrafts) merge. One the one hand there is a U.S. Navy Lockheed TV-2 jet, the setting of an inter-generational conflict between vet pilot Ephrem Zimbalist Jr., who was once responsible for a crash, and a young and handsome novice (played by the then popular Troy Donahue), who proves more alert than given credit to.
The Navy jet, piloted by Captain Dale Heath (Zimbalist Jr.) and the enlisted man (Donahue), run into trouble as soon as it takes off. Heath’s radio and navigation system are malfunctioning, there is no way to determine their altitude.
Most of the action, though, is set aboard a commercial airliner carrying a full load of colorful and neurotic passengers, each defined by his/hers worries and problems.
Both Barnett and Heath have their personal crises: Heath is unhappily married to an unfaithful and manipulative wife (Rhonda Fleming) and worries about the welfare of his teenage daughter who wants to move to Washington DC.
Barnett continues to experience professional conflicts with his co-pilot, Mike Rule (John Kerr), who has his own demons, including a severe “father” problem and a troubled affair with the chief stewardess, Kitty Foster (Anne Francis).
The aircrafts, through errors in their flight path, are on a collision course that the air traffic controllers are unable to avert. When the crash occurs, Heath sacrifices himself, making amends for his past tragedy. The airliner is badly damaged and Louis Capelli (Joe Mantell), the flight engineer is sucked out of the aircraft, while the rest of the passengers fight for their lives.
Miraculously, with one engine destroyed and a wing on fire, Barnett brings the airliner down safely, but accepts responsibility for the collision during the investigation. In the happy ending, survivors Mike and Kitty are planning a life together.
Disappointingly, the cheesy dialogue is scripted by Charles Schneee, an otherwise reliable scribe, which doesn’t help the poor direction by Pevney.
John Kerr, who made a better impression in Minnelli’s Tea and Sympathy, is good looking but stiff, and the same can be said about the ultra-photogenic Donahue, who was then America’s most popular heartthrob, after making A Summer Place, the year before, opposite Sandra Dee.
Rest of the cast is populated by B-level actors like Fleming, Zimbalist, and Francis, or gifted thespians such as Dana Andrews who were in decline.
Cast
Dana Andrews as Dick Barnett
Rhonda Fleming as Cheryl Heath
Efrem Zimbalist Jr. as Dale Heath
John Kerr as Mike Rule
Anne Francis as Kitty Foster
Keenan Wynn as Nick Hyland
Troy Donahue as McVey
Joe Mantell as Louis Capelli
Patsy Kelly as Gertrude Ross
Donald May as Norm Coster
Louis Quinn as Sidney Schreiber
Tom Gilson as Rob Fermi
Credits:
Directed by Joseph Pevney
Produced by Michael Garrison
Screenplay by Charles Schnee, based on The Crowded Sky 1960 novel by Hank Searls
Music by Leonard Rosenman
Cinematography Harry Stradling Sr.
Edited by Tom McAdoo
Production and distribution company: Warner Bros
Release date: September 2, 1960
Running time: 105 minutes
Note:
TCM showed the movie on December 1, 2020.
