The High and the Mighty became a big-budget motion picture directed by William Wellman, produced by the Wayne-Fellows organization, and released on July 3, 1954 to considerable success and generally good reviews.

The movie's strengths include a faithful adaptation (by Gann) which intensifies the sense of isolation and helplessness aboard the plane and develops the suspense and sense of passing time most effectively. The casting is also exceptional: John Wayne, although younger and more heroically charismatic, contributes a controlled performance as Dan Roman; Robert Stack seems more outwardly hysterical as Sullivan, although that may be due to the film medium; other particularly notable performances were given by Phil Harris and Robert Newton. Jan Sterling and Claire Trevor were nominated for Academy Awards for Best Supporting Actress; Dimitri Tiomkin won the Oscar for Best Musical Score, which included the haunting theme that Roman whistles constantly — an image carried over from...