Unavailable for viewing for several decades due to disparate royalty and rights disputes, the film was finally made available in 2005 through the estate of John Wayne. Extensive restoration, including the recovery of a reportedly lost reel, was required before the film was realized in its current pristine condition for home video and television broadcast.
Ernest Gann's novel clearly indicates that the character of Sally McKee has resorted to prostitution in order to survive. The film version, made at the height of Hollywood censorship, was unable to explicitly state this; however, Gann slyly managed to insinuate the information during Sally's entrance, wherein two sailors at the Honolulu airport recognize her and pointedly remark, "Hey, look! Remember?"
Widely considered to be one of the best performances of John Wayne's career, and largely accidental at that: Wayne stepped into the part of Dan Roman at the eleventh hour, following Spencer Tracy's last-minute exit, merely to save the project (which Wayne himself was financing) from going over budget. The character of Roman - stricken, vulnerable and utterly unheroic - was the antithesis of Wayne's omnipotent screen persona, which forced him to play considerably outside his normal range. The result was a heartrending, unexpectedly touching portrayal.
Nearly every one of the beloved 1970s disaster movies was strongly influenced by The High and the Mighty (1954) and another pre-genre disaster film, Zero Hour (1957).
John Wayne's role is largely unscripted. Especially in the first half of the film, nearly all of his performance is conveyed through facial expression.