Mr. Gann's characters [in The High and the Mighty] are types—the overage pilot, the perceptive stewardess, the sinister passenger—but they are not automatons … The title, one would think, is meant to be taken ironically: the crew and passengers on the flight from Hawaii to San Francisco may be high, but they are anything but mighty by the time Mr. Gann is through with them. With the assurance of complete technical knowledge, the author takes the plane up, then gets it into serious trouble. What happens then and the varied reactions of passengers and crew to their situation and to what they have made of their lives together make up Mr. Gann's story. It's one on the toughly sentimental side; adult readers who like a clearly defined plot line, with plenty of suspense, and the kind of factual information which carries conviction, will find The High and the Mighty especially satisfying.
Riley Hughes, "Novels Reviewed: 'The High and the Mighty'," in Catholic World (copyright 1953 by The Missionary Society of St. Paul the Apostle in the State of New York), Vol. CLXXVII, No. 1060, July, 1953, p. 313.
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