Director
Hall Bartlett
Leading Actors/Actresses
Dana Andrews, Linda Darnell
Supporting Actors/Actresses
Sterling Hayden, Geoffrey Toone, Elroy 'Crazylegs' Hirsch
Genre
Drama, Film-Noir, Thriller
Language
English
Awards
N/A
Date of Release
1957
Producer
John C. Champion
Setting and Context
Canada 1956
Narrator and Point of View
Point of view is that of Ted Stryker
Tone and Mood
Serious and Dramatic
Protagonist and Antagonist
Protagonist is Ted. Antagonist is Treleaven, the poisoned halibut, and the storm.
Major Conflict
Ellen Stryker has left her husband Ted. She's taken their son Joey on a trip aboard an airplane. Stryker goes after his wife and son by purchasing passage on the plane as well in order to keep his marriage. Passengers and crew members aboard the plane begin to get violently ill and pass out due to food poisoning, including both of the pilots.
Climax
Ted must take over command as pilot with Ellen working the radio. They are able to crash land in Vancouver and save all aboard.
Foreshadowing
Stryker's bout with PTSD early in the film foreshadows him having to face it head on later while flying the commercial airliner.
Understatement
It is understated as to whether Ted and Ellen's marriage will work out.
Innovations in Filming or Lighting or Camera Techniques
N/A
Allusions
The film is an allusion to marriage, in that the choice to go through difficult times together determines whether the couple has a sliver of a chance of making it.
Paradox
Stryker and Treleaven fought in the war together; paradoxically, Treleaven doesn't believe in Stryker one shred.
Parallelism
We see Stryker in a hospital bed in a close up with wreckage from the war superimposed over him. This is paralleled while he is flying the commercial airliner as we see the war superimposed upon his head once again.
