VeteranLight I don't have all the words right now but this film is a work of art.

Lumsdal Good , But It Is Overrated By Some

Spoonatects Am i the only one who thinks........Average?

FrogGlace In other words,this film is a surreal ride.

mark.waltz Over the top soap opera nonsense makes this one of the worst "Grand Hotel in the Sky" themed films. While it obviously was not used in the writing of that 1980 comedy classic, it's the only way to stomach the tepid plot line, clichéd characters and wretched pacing of the film. So why did I put myself through this film yet again, for the third time? To find some humor in my way of re- looking at it, and to once again catch one of my favorite comic character actresses, Patsy Kelly, rising back up after nearly two decades away.Yes, the comic sidekick of Harlow, Faye, Davies, Todd and other blonde 30's bombshells, is listed way down the credit list. She's far more interesting than the lead characters of Efrem Zimbalist and Rhonda Fleming whose marital troubles set up the story, and the struggles of pilot Dana Andrews, once again facing "Zero Hour". It was a serious plot twist of that 1957 sleeper, more famous because of the big twist being used in "Airplane". When his back story is explained, it takes the movie off course, with strange bleeds and unappealing unknown actors as his wife and son.The threat here is a mid-air collision, not food poisoning. With both Andrews and Zimbalist thinking of their personal issues while flying, no one in the sky is safe! There's also Troy Donahue as a sailor flying home on a military plane with Zimbalist, John Kerr as the co-pilot, Keenan Wynn as a TV writer sitting next to a mystery woman who knew him in her past, and Anne Francis as the stewardess, all of their names showing up in 3D style in the credits. Really ridiculous dialog, especially the two strangers sitting next to each other imagining what the other one is thinking. It seems to have inspired one of the many gags in "Airplane!" This has some of the same aspects of the 1954 blockbuster "The High and the Mighty" missing that fabulous score and the interesting assortment of unique characters. When it tries to be funny or topical or poignant, it falls flat. Flashbacks to earlier situations makes the structure jumbled. But that's not surprising, with more than a dozen stories to try to follow, to try and accept unbelievable dialog, and to try to deal with the weird way the story takes off, and ultimately belly flops.

win741 My husband and I enjoyed "The Crowded Sky", with all of its idiosyncracies and cultural datedness. However, it was troubling, to say the least, that Rhonda Fleming and Ephram Zimbalist Jr.--key stars in the film--had no closure at the end. The fate of the pilot, the co-pilot, the pilot's complex wife and daughter: they were left loose ends.I had hoped the pilots were going to eject. What finally happened was never dealt with--it was as if they didn't exist. Only the happy endings of the passengers were explained, described.In spite of the flashbacks' awkwardness, at times, the characters' lives were all quite interesting. All the more disappointing that we did not have enough follow up for the others.The Technicolor is lush. Ann Francis is beautiful. The WPA renditions of art and meaning gave a special dimension.

edwagreen Absolutely a miserable film in the airplane disaster genre. It's so bad, not because of the cast, but rather the most unbelievably ridiculous writing. Everyone has his own story here, and the plot becomes more ridiculous as the picture goes on.An older looking Dana Andrews found fault with his young son from the time of the latter's birth. You never saw a wife die so quickly in this totally waste of effort film. Jealous of John Kerr, who gave loving attention at the funeral of Andrews' wife, Andrews makes sure that Kerr never becomes a captain.In the other plane, Efraim Zimbalist plays a pilot with a loving young daughter. The latter worships the ground he walks on. He is married to a possessive, manipulative woman. (Rhonda Fleming.) Their marriage has gone nowhere. His passenger is Troy Donahue. We never knew why Donahue had to get home to Washington so quickly. By the end of the film, we couldn't care less.Kerr has a problem. Should he continue as a pilot or become an artist, as his asylum-resident father has been. The latter in a catatonic state has resumed painting. What? The guy doesn't even know what planet he is on.What were the writers thinking when they wrote this garbage? None of the plots or subplots are carefully examined.No wonder that John Kerr eventually quit acting. With a picture like this, forget it.

Neil Doyle And it isn't until all the necessary back stories are told that we get to the crux of the matter--the fact that an airliner and a two-man jet plane are on a collision course. DANA ANDREWS is the tense pilot at the controls of the airliner and EFREM ZIMBALIST, JR. is in the small plane with TROY DONAHUE.Unfortunately, none of the back stories are really interesting enough to invoke anything more than moderate interest, but at least we get to see ANNE FRANCIS as an attractive stewardess saddled with some bad dialogue and a lifeless romance with JOHN KERR.The story only gets into high gear late in the proceedings and by that time you'll notice that the storytelling technique is the same one used to even lesser advantage in THE HIGH AND THE MIGHTY.Summing up: Nothing special but worth a look as an example of what eventually led to all those Airport movies of the '70s.Trivia note: A diner scene with Troy Donahue and Efrem Zimbalist, Jr. has the juke box playing "The Theme from A Summer Place," Donahue's hit film from the year before.