I’ve long been a big fan of Ernest K. Gann’s writings, to the extent I pull down and re-read my copy of “Fate Is The Hunter” once a year or so. It’s a remembrance of Gann’s service as an airline pilot before WWII, then as a cargo pilot during the war, and his adjustment to the post-war aviation era. If you have a long-term commitment to learning all you can about aviation and haven’t read the book, I highly recommend it.
If nothing else, it also reinforces the maxim that a good book doesn’t necessarily translate into a good movie. The film version of the book is okay, but it’s not nearly as gritty a look at Gann’s career as reading about it. (“Islands In The Sky,” a 1953 film about one of the book’s episodes, is a much better adaptation.) Released in 1964, FITH features iconic actors like Glenn Ford, Nancy Kwan, Rod Taylor, Wally Cox and Suzanne Pleshette.
