Forgotten Films: No Highway In The Sky (1951) and The Spirit of St. Louis (1957)

March, the traditional month of kite-flying, lambs, and lions, seems an appropriate time to explore both the love and fear of flying, as well as one of aviation's greatest lions, and a fictional lamb that roared. (And Surprise! Neither of this month's movies was directed by John Ford.)

While many people are probably familiar with Jimmy Stewart's portrayal of Charles Lindberg in The Spirit of St. Louis, far fewer will have seen his very delightful depiction of fictional scientist, Theodore Honey, in Henry Koster's No Highway in the Sky.

Warner Brothers' big-budget flair, and what was, at the time, state-of-the-art special effects, work to high adventure advantage in Billy Wilder's adaptation of The Spirit of St. Louis. The classic element here, however, is Stewart's performance. Jimmy Stewart's appearance got a comfortable nudge towards Charles Lindberg's look to enable him to play the role, but it would be hard to mistake the 47-year-old Stewart for the 25-year-old Lindbergh if you were to meet them on the street. Still, it's Stewart's love of aviation and comprehension of Lindberg's character that rings true in every scene. (None of us can bear to watch the film when we're tired because Stewart's in-flight exhaustion is so believable; we think that we, too, will never make it Le Bourget Field.)
The film suffers slightly from overplayed humor in some brief bit parts, but otherwise is a masterpiece of flashbacks, top-notch editing, and Stewart appeal. The action of the film begins and ends before Lindberg's personal fame proved more of a bane than a blessing, Stewart is able—without any "aw-shucks-madam-twarn't-no-trouble" affectations—to recreate Lindberg's confident courage, as well as his endearing innocence.

And speaking of endearing innocence, No Highway in the Sky, has that quality and more. In this truly original airplane disaster film, British director, Henry Koster, cleverly adapts Nevil Shute's novel, No Highway, into first-class fun by lightening up the heavier aspects of Shute's novel. (The novel's title is based on a stanza from The Wanderer:the ending by one of our favorite poets, John Masefield: "Therefore, go forth, companion: when you find/No Highway more, no track, all being blind/The way to go shall glimmer in the mind." Koster's writers simply removed "the glimmer in the mind" and added lots of sky.)

And while this isn't a comedy, every member of the cast seems to be having way too much fun with their roles. Stewart performs the absent-minded professor bit with likeable results, but also plays the earnest and vulnerable man-risking-all-for-right with equal appeal. Marlene Dietrich is flawless as the filmstar accustomed to her success; Glynis Johns is delightful as a stewardess with both heart and mind; and Jack Hawkins is solid as the man you'd like to have for your boss. We also love Janette Scott's performance as Stewart's daughter, and not just because she's named Elspeth, but because of her genuine sweetness (absolutely saccharine-free), as well as her trust in and loyalty to her father. Veteran British actor, Ronald Squire, as the Director of Farmborough Laboratories, makes it worth re-watching the film for his performance alone. Unlike The Spirit of St. Louis, however, don't expect much more than laughs out of the special effects when planes take off and land.

No parental precautions for The Spirit of St. Louis, unless watching stunt performers walk on airplane wings makes you squeamish. The only remotely possible caveats for No Highway in the Sky might be the pin-up calendar in a far wall at the Gander airport, or the fact that Marlene Dietrich's chain smoking aboard the airplane puts her at much greater risk than the plane's predicted nosedive into the Atlantic.

Tags: 2010, Forgotten Films, Recommended viewing