Wednesday, March 30, 2011

Radio review – Lux – “Island in the Sky” (1955) ***

Tough, almost Hawksian tale about a plane that’s crashed in the Arctic. It kept reminding me of those radio plays about Arctic explorers trapped in the ice, like Hell on Ice – lots of wind, and stiff upper lips (albeit American-style), and professionalism, and flashbacks. The narration could almost be a spoof of tough guy movies with all the listing of the characters names. Having said that, the story adapts really well to radio (Arctic stories always go, with all that wind). Dick Powell delivers a fine unshowy performance in the role John Wayne played on screen.

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