''Gallant Journey'' (aka ''The Great Highway'') is a 1946 American

historical film A historical drama (also period drama, costume drama, and period piece) is a work set in a past time period, usually used in the context of film and television. Historical drama includes historical fiction and romances, adventure films, and swa ...

written, produced and directed by

William A. Wellman William Augustus Wellman (February 29, 1896 – December 9, 1975) was an American film director, producer, screenwriter, actor and military pilot. He was known for his work in crime, adventure, and action genre films, often focusing on avi ...

and starring

Glenn Ford Gwyllyn Samuel Newton "Glenn" Ford (May 1, 1916 – August 30, 2006) was a Canadian-American actor who often portrayed ordinary men in unusual circumstances. Ford was most prominent during Classical Hollywood cinema, Hollywood's Golden Age as ...

and

Janet Blair Janet Blair (born Martha Janet Lafferty; April 23, 1921 – February 19, 2007) was an American big-band singer who later became a popular film and television actress. Early years Janet Blair was born Martha Janet Lafferty on April 23, 1921, in ...

. The film is a

biopic A biographical film or biopic () is a film that dramatizes the life of a non-fictional or historically-based person or people. Such films show the life of a historical person and the central character's real name is used. They differ from docudra ...

of the early U.S. aviation pioneer

John Joseph Montgomery John Joseph Montgomery (February 15, 1858 – October 31, 1911) was an American inventor, physicist, engineer, and professor at Santa Clara University in Santa Clara, California, who is best known for his invention of controlled heavier-than-air ...

. ''Gallant Journey'' depicts his efforts to build and fly gliders, from his childhood through to his death in 1911. The chief stunt pilot for the film was

Paul Mantz Albert Paul Mantz (August 2, 1903 – July 8, 1965) was a noted air racing pilot, movie stunt pilot and consultant from the late 1930s until his death in the mid-1960s. He gained fame on two stages: Hollywood and in air races. Early years Ma ...

Plot

When Father Dick Ball (

Charles Kemper Charles Kemper (September 6, 1900 – May 12, 1950) was an American character actor born in Oklahoma. The heavy-set actor was for decades a successful stage actor. Movie career Like many actors in New York, Kemper worked in short comedies fil ...

) in San Diego, California, recalls his childhood friend, John Joseph Montgomery (

), he recounts the story of the first American to ever fly a glider in 1883. As early as 1879, John told his girlfriend Regina Cleary (

) about his dreams of flying, although his family was very much opposed to this idea and considered him a fool. Regina believed in him, and secretly supported his work, until the first test flight in 1883, which was successful. John named his flying machine an "aeroplane". John's prominent father, Zachary Montgomery, who had become Assistant

Attorney General of the United States The United States attorney general (AG) is the head of the United States Department of Justice, and is the chief law enforcement officer of the federal government of the United States. The attorney general serves as the principal advisor to the p ...

, was keen on keeping his reputation intact. When he received news of his son's endeavors, he told him to stop his foolishness and continue his clergy studies instead. Father Ball became interested in John's work and supported his research and experiments. Another priest, Father Kenton (

Arthur Shields Arthur Shields (15 February 1896 – 27 April 1970) was an Irish actor on television, stage and film. Early years Born into an Irish Protestant family in Portobello, Dublin, Shields started acting in the Abbey Theatre when he was 17 years old. ...

), turned out to be an aviation enthusiast, and helped John with his inventions, arranging a job for him at a Santa Clara workshop. John continued his work for a few years, and built several model aircraft, preparing for a full-scale test flight. The only thing standing in his way is a medical condition making him dizzy and causing him to collapse. He is told by a doctor that he will never be able to fly safely suffering from this illness. John is disappointed, but his confidence is renewed when he encounters the parachute enthusiast and performer Dan Mahoney, who offers to pull the glider up in the air with his hot air balloon. The two fathers help John to complete a successful test flight with his new glider. Unfortunately his poor finances prevent him from pursuing his passion for flying any longer, even though many people show their interest in his work. A series of misfortunes and unfortunate events serve as additional discouragement for John, when Dan crashes and dies during a test flight, and an earthquake destroys his glider. Still John manages to scrape together $25,000 by selling his valuable belongings. He marries Regina, but is later dragged into court by a man who claims to be the rightful owner of an object John sold to get his money. The lengthy trial consumes all of John's money, but the judge rules in his favor at the end. John decides to give flying one more go and builds his own new glider design. He decides to fly it himself. In mid-air he gets a dizzy spell, loses control and crashes to the ground. He dies from his injuries a few hours later.

Cast

as John J. Montgomery *

as Regina 'Ginny' Cleary *

Charlie Ruggles Charles Sherman Ruggles (February 8, 1886 – December 23, 1970) was an American comic character actor. In a career spanning six decades, Ruggles appeared in close to 100 feature films, often in mild-mannered and comic roles. He was also the e ...

as man in park *

Henry Travers Travers John Heagerty (5 March 1874 – 18 October 1965), known professionally as Henry Travers, was an English film and stage character actor. His best known role was the guardian angel Clarence Odbody in the 1946 film ''It's a Wonderful Life' ...

as Thomas Logan * Jimmy Lloyd as Dan Mahoney / Prof. LaSalle *

as Father 'Dickie Ball' *

as Father Kenton *

Willard Robertson Willard Robertson (January 1, 1886 – April 5, 1948) was an American actor and writer. He appeared in more than 140 films between 1924 and 1948. He was born in Runnels, Texas, and died in Hollywood, California. Biography Robertson first w ...

as Zachary Montgomery *

Selena Royle Selena Royle (November 6, 1904 – April 23, 1983) was an American actress (of stage, radio, television and film), and later, an author. Early life and career Actress Royle was born in New York City to playwright Edwin Milton Royle and actress ...

as Mrs. Zachary Montgomery * Robert De Haven as Jim Logan, as a boy (as Robert DeHaven)

Production

Principal photography on ''Gallant Journey'' took place from March 4 to June 1, 1946. The locations in use were Malibu, Del Monte and the

movie ranch A movie ranch is a ranch that is at least partially dedicated for use as a set in the creation and production of motion pictures and television shows. These were developed in the United States in southern California, because of the climate. The fir ...

at Lasky Mesa, California. Wellman had a passion for flying which was expressed in a number of his films including ''

Wings A wing is a type of fin that produces lift while moving through air or some other fluid. Accordingly, wings have streamlined cross-sections that are subject to aerodynamic forces and act as airfoils. A wing's aerodynamic efficiency is expresse ...

'' (1927) which won the first

Academy Award for Best Picture The Academy Award for Best Picture is one of the Academy Awards presented annually by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences (AMPAS) since the awards debuted in 1929. This award goes to the producers of the film and is the only category ...

, ''

Young Eagles The Young Eagles is a program created by the US Experimental Aircraft Association designed to give children between the ages of 8 to 17 an opportunity to experience flight in a general aviation airplane while educating them about aviation. The pr ...

'' (1930), '' Central Airport'' (1933), '' Men with Wings'' (1938) and '' Thunder Birds'' (1942). ''Gallant Journey'' had its beginnings with the San Diego Junior Chamber of Commerce which had obtained the film rights to a biography on John Montgomery.Pendo 1983, p. 131. A number of realistic gliders and balloons were built for the film. A total of 11 gliders that reproduced Montgomery's original three gliders were built. In an attempt to duplicate the balloon launch of a glider at altitude, the stunt nearly was disastrous when the balloon suddenly flew uncontrollably up to 16,000 ft before the test pilot was able to control the gas release valve and bring the balloon back down to the intended 4,000 ft. The sequence was then shot safely.Pendo 1983, p. 132. The test pilots discovered that the original designs produced for the film that carefully followed the authentic Montgomery designs had to be redesigned in order to ensure safety and stability in flight. The redesigned gliders flew so well that they qualified for a

Civil Aviation Authority A civil aviation authority (CAA) is a national or supranational statutory authority that oversees the regulation of civil aviation, including the maintenance of an aircraft register. Role Due to the inherent dangers in the use of flight vehicles, ...

license to fly. A series of model gliders were also created for use in ''Gallant Journey''.

Reception

''Gallant Journey'' had its world premiere at

San Diego, California San Diego ( , ; ) is a city on the Pacific Ocean coast of Southern California located immediately adjacent to the Mexico–United States border. With a 2020 population of 1,386,932, it is the eighth most populous city in the United States ...

on September 4, 1946. with its full national release on September 24, 1946. Sterritt, David
"Articles: 'Gallant Journey'."
''Turner Classic Movies''. Retrieved: June 8, 2016. In his review for ''

The New York Times ''The New York Times'' (''the Times'', ''NYT'', or the Gray Lady) is a daily newspaper based in New York City with a worldwide readership reported in 2020 to comprise a declining 840,000 paid print subscribers, and a growing 6 million paid ...

'',

Bosley Crowther Francis Bosley Crowther Jr. (July 13, 1905 – March 7, 1981) was an American journalist, writer, and film critic for ''The New York Times'' for 27 years. His work helped shape the careers of many actors, directors and screenwriters, though his ...

considered the film Wellman's "vanity project": "... Mr. Wellman got himself together, helped to write, directed and produced a film called 'Gallant Journey,' intended to acclaim that daring man. But a look at the finished product, which came to Loew's Criterion yesterday, leads one to suspect that Mr. Wellman was quite as cuckoo as Montgomery was thought to be. For this curiously ill-constructed picture about a man who was crazy to fly goes bumping around in clumsy circles and ends up in a miserable heap." Aviation film historians Hardwick and Schnepf noted that ''Gallant Journey'' was "... (a) well-told story" with "Good aerial sequences of gliders and balloons." Film reviewer

Leonard Maltin Leonard Michael Maltin (born December 18, 1950) is an American film critic and film historian, as well as an author of several mainstream books on cinema, focusing on nostalgic, celebratory narratives. He is perhaps best known for his book of fil ...

considered the film as "OK, but not as stirring as it's meant to be."

Radio adaptation

''Gallant Journey'' was presented on the ''

Lux Radio Theatre ''Lux Radio Theatre'', sometimes spelled ''Lux Radio Theater'', a classic radio anthology series, was broadcast on the NBC Blue Network (1934–35) (owned by the National Broadcasting Company, later predecessor of American Broadcasting Company ...

'', November 11, 1946. Ford and Blair reprised their screen roles in the adaptation."Rehearsal.'
''Harrisburg Telegraph'' via ''

Newspapers.com Ancestry.com LLC is an American genealogy company based in Lehi, Utah. The largest for-profit genealogy company in the world, it operates a network of genealogical, historical records, and related genetic genealogy websites. In November 2018, ...

'', November 11, 1946, p. 19. Retrieved: September 15, 2015.

References

Notes

Citations

Bibliography

* Hardwick, Jack and Ed Schnepf. "A Buff's Guide to Aviation Movies". ''Air Progress Aviation,'' Vol. 7, No. 1, Spring 1983. * Pendo, Stephen. ''Aviation in the Cinema''. Lanham, Maryland: Scarecrow Press, 1985. .

External links

* *
Review of ''Gallant Journey''
in ''Flight'', January 16, 1947 issue
Photos of Janet Blair from ''Gallant Journey'' and other 1940s films
by

Ned Scott Ned Scott (April 16, 1907 – November 24, 1964) was an American photographer who worked in the Hollywood film industry as a still photographer from 1935–1948. As a member of the Camera Club of New York from 1930–34, he was heavily influ ...

{{William A. Wellman 1946 films 1940s biographical drama films 1940s historical drama films American aviation films American biographical drama films American historical drama films 1940s English-language films Films directed by William A. Wellman Films set in 1879 Films set in the 1880s Films set in the 1890s Films set in the 1900s Films set in 1911 Columbia Pictures films American black-and-white films 1946 drama films Biographical films about aviators 1940s American films