Island in the Sky is a 1953 Warner Bros. American aviation adventure drama film written by Ernest K. Gann based on his 1944 novel of the same name, directed by William A. Wellman and starring and coproduced by John Wayne. Because of its realistic depiction of an actual aircraft crash, some consider the film as among the classic aviation films. The film also features Andy Devine, Lloyd Nolan, James Arness and Paul Fix. Plot Pilot John Dooley and the crew of a World War II-era Douglas C-47 Skytrain (the military version of the DC-3) experience icy conditions and are forced to execute an emergency landing on a frozen lake in the uncharted wildlands near the Quebec–Labrador border. Dooley is a former airline pilot who had been pressed into duty hauling war supplies across the northern route to England. Far from settled country, the survivors can provide only an approximate position to rescuers. Dooley must keep his men alive while waiting for rescue in the extreme winter cold with temperatures plummeting to . At headquarters, Col. Fuller gathers fellow airmen who are determined to find the downed crew before the men succumb to hunger and the cold. The search pilots experience tension and fear and are unsure about their course of action, aware that a wrong decision could doom the missing crew. Cast John Wayne as Captain Dooley Lloyd Nolan as Captain Stutz Walter Abel as Colonel Fuller James Arness as Mac McMullen, pilot Andy Devine as Willie Moon, pilot Allyn Joslyn as J. H. Handy Jimmy Lydon as Murray Harry Carey, Jr. as Ralph Hunt, Moon's co-pilot Hal Baylor as Stankowski Sean McClory as Frank Lovatt, Dooley's co-pilot Wally Cassell as D'Annunzia Gordon Jones as Walrus Frank Fenton as Captain Turner Robert Keys as Major Ditson Sumner Getchell as Lieutenant Cord Regis Toomey as Sergeant Harper Paul Fix as Wally Miller Jim Dugan as Gidley George Chandler as Rene Louis Jean Heydt as Fitch, pilot Bob Steele as Wilson Darryl Hickman as Swanson, McMullen's radioman Mike Connors (billed as Touch Connors) as Gainer Carl Switzer as Sonny Harper, Stutz's co-pilot Cass Gidley as Stannish Herbert Anderson (as Guy Anderson) as Breezy Tony De Mario as Ogden Fess Parker as Fitch's co-pilot (uncredited) John Indrisano as Mechanic (uncredited) Dawn Bender as Murray's Wife (uncredited) Ann Doran as Moon's Wife (uncredited) Ed Fury as Server in Officer's Mess (uncredited) William Wellman as