The High and the Mighty

Continuity mistake: As the crippled airliner nears the coast, John Wayne slips his life jacket over his head, then provides one for another crew member. He then turns toward the cockpit, and his life jacket has magically threaded itself around his waist, and tied itself in place.

Deliberate mistake: After the airplane loses its propeller and descends to lower altitude, the cockpit constantly shakes due to turbulence, and the flight crew complains about it in one scene. However, when the camera switches to the passenger cabin, everything remains perfectly still and serene until the airplane is on its final landing approach near the end of the movie.

More mistakes in The High and the Mighty

Alsop: She may be put together with paste and flour, but that woman has something. What would you say it was?
Miss Spalding: Practice. Plenty of practice.

More quotes from The High and the Mighty

Trivia: When Dr. Flaherty is painting on the beach, his tranquillity is broken by the nearby launch of a military weapon test. The film seen of the launch is stock footage of a U.S. built, back-engineered copy of the V-1 buzzbomb, one of the cutting edge weapons used by the Nazis during World War 2.

More trivia for The High and the Mighty

Join the mailing list

Separate from membership, this is to get updates about mistakes in recent releases. Addresses are not passed on to any third party, and are used solely for direct communication from this site. You can unsubscribe at any time.

Check out the mistake & trivia books, on Kindle and in paperback.