After a plane crash, a survivor makes three calls that bring him into the lives of strangers.
1952 · Drama · Black and white · Approximately 96 minutes
Synopsis
On a flight to Los Angeles, lawyer David Trask gets to know three passengers whose lives are very different from his own. When the plane crashes and David survives, he contacts their families. What he learns from them makes him reconsider why he left home in the first place.
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Meet the cast
Also featuring Beatrice Straight as Claire Fortness.
Film credits
Director · Jean Negulesco
Screenplay and production · Nunnally Johnson
Original story · I. A. R. Wylie
Cinematography · Milton Krasner
Editing · Hugh Fowler
Art direction · Lyle Wheeler and J. Russell Spencer
Studio and distributor · Twentieth Century-Fox
Production and film notes
Flashbacks let David’s fellow passengers tell their stories before he hears from the people they left behind. The film marked Beatrice Straight’s screen debut and received the Best Scenario award at the 1952 Venice Film Festival. AFI Catalog
Gary Merrill and Shelley Winters reprised their roles for Lux Radio Theatre in January 1953. A 1956 television adaptation, Crack Up, used footage from the film alongside newly shot scenes. AFI Catalog
Related films
Cone of Silence (1960) · Another drama that follows the human consequences of an aviation accident.
Rebecca (1940) · The past takes on a different shape as more people tell their side of the story.