The High and the Mighty

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.

Factual error: After the plane takes off from Hawaii, bound for San Francisco, there's a long shot of it flying among the clouds, with the left side well lit by the Sun. If the plane is flying east, in the northern hemisphere, then the Sun would be in the southern sky, illuminating the plane's other side.

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.

More mistakes in 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.

Dan Roman: I need a big man. Grab me around the waist.

Ben Sneed: Yep, Dan Roman is one guy who had guts enough not to commit suicide.

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.

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