during world war ii and in an ice storm and captain john wayne ( a dooley ) and his small crew crash land their airplane over unpopulated and freezing north america . can friend and colleague like walter abel ( a fuller ) and lloyd nolan ( a stutz ) and jam arness ( a mcmullen ) and and andy devine ( a willie moon ) locate the downed crew before they succumb to the cold winter wrath . island in the sky be a survival story which spend far too much of it time concentrate on the various rescuer and and not enough time on the struggle crew . moreover and the time spend on the down crew isn not satisfy . although the temperature be say to be forty or seventy degree below zero ( at fahrenheit and no less ) and the crash survivor seldom look really cold or uncomfortable . at time and it painfully obvious they be act cold while a wind machine blow snow at the camera . mr. wayne perform some william a. wellman direct scene very well and however while especially during a miss rescue attempt . mike connors and darryl hickman and fes parker and and alfalfa switzer lend some occasional support . also look for mr. devine in a poolside bath suit and with what must be wellman child and michael and tim .