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About the Film

Year

1953

Rating

NR

Genre

Drama / Action / Adventure

Running Time

109 MIN

Synopsis

The call goes out: "Dooley's down!" The frozen, unforgiving terrain of subarctic Canada is the setting as screen giant John Wayne heads an all-star cast in this meticulously restored adventure drama. Set after World War II, Wayne plays Dooley, a former Army pilot flying transport missions, who is forced to crash-land his fuel-starved plane on a frozen lake after it strays from its course. A desperate game of survival begins as Dooley and his men confront a meager food supply, limited shelter, inadequate clothing, a primitive emergency radio transmitter, and an impending arctic storm. Meanwhile, Dooley's fellow pilots and their crews launch a seemingly overwhelming air search of the bleak, uncharted landscape -- grimly realizing that the rescue of the missing men diminishes with each tick of the clock. Lloyd Nolan, Walter Abel, James Arness, Andy Devine and Harry Carey, Jr. also star in this engrossing tale of bravery, hope, and survival of the human spirit.

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Where to Watch

Digital

About the Cast

John Wayne

Capt. Dooley

Lloyd Nolan

Stutz

Walter Abel

Col. Fuller

James Arness

McMullen

Andy Devine

Moon

Allyn Joslyn

J.H. Handy

Jimmy Lydon

Murray, the navigator

Harry Carey

Hunt

Hal Baylor

Stankowski, the engineer

Sean McClory

Frank Lovatt, the Copilot

About the Crew

Director

William Wellman

Producer

Robert Fellows

Producer

John Wayne

Writer

Ernest K. Gann

Based on Novel By

Ernest K. Gann

Music Scoring

Emil Newman