Sam McBane is an executive at Consolidated Airlines. One of Consolidated's passenger planes crashes shortly after takeoff, killing 53 people on board. There is only one survivor, a stewardess. The pilot of the plane was Captain Jack Savage, a long- time friend of Sam's. Sam and Jack flew transport planes together in WW2. Jack was a playboy, and the press are painting him as as irresponsible and undisciplined...and the cause of the crash. Consolidated's CEO and other executives are quite happy to go along with this view, as it makes Jack Savage the sole cause of the crash and absolves them from blame. However, Sam knows better and sets out to find the truth, and hopefully clear his friend.Quite original, in background and ultimate plot. The idea of fate/luck being the cause, rather than anyone's fault, isn't something that gets explored often. In fact, nowadays it is quite a radical notion as in our litigious, blame-finding society people always want to find something or someone, other than themselves, to blame for their misfortunes.Very engaging too, as we see the Sam and Jack's history in WW2 and get to know Jack (especially) and Sam's characters.Was set up for a very profound ending but, while it was practical and satisfying, it really could have done with something more philosophical. The end result felt a bit clumsy and devalued the bigger point to an extent.Overall, a very good movie but could have been brilliant.

Movies that depict air travel in the 1950's and 60's, such as "The High and the Mighty," "The Crowded Sky," and Ralph Nelson's 1964 adaptation of Ernest K. Gann's bestselling novel, "Fate is the Hunter," comprise a mini-genre that must evoke nostalgia among those who flew the friendly skies, when they were really friendly. Passengers dressed for the flight, friends and relatives came aboard to bid farewell, overhead bins were open and filled only with jackets and hats that the smiling stewardesses folded and placed there. Of course, those early days of air travel were also more dangerous, and crashes far more common than they are today. Prior to the film's titles, "Fate is the Hunter" opens with the fatal crash of an airliner only minutes after take-off. The ensuing story revolves around an investigation into the mystery of what caused the accident.Using hearsay and circumstantial evidence, the airline management and the Civil Aeronautics Board rush to blame the crash on pilot error; well played by Rod Taylor, the aptly named Captain Jack Savage and his reputation become the target. Savage is a womanizer and boozer, an irresponsible guy who makes an easy target for blame. However, Savage's old army buddy, Sam McBane, works for the same airline company and is assigned to investigate the cause of the crash. The always dependable and likable Glenn Ford plays McBane, and he subsequently interviews a number of people who interacted or knew Savage prior to the fatal flight. Suzanne Pleshette, Wally Cox, Nancy Kwan, and Dorothy Malone are among those who paint a more complex portrait of Savage that eventually leads to resolution.Despite the quaintness of flights without security checks, "Fate is the Hunter" is often engaging and holds viewer interest throughout. The leads are strong, the supporting cast is solid, and Jane Russell offers a cameo song, although her delivery outshines the lackluster tune. The velvety Oscar-nominated black-and-white cinematography by Milton Krasner and a score by Jerry Fielding further enhance the film, although today's CGI makes the film's special effects antiquated and obvious. While not quite a classic, "Fate is the Hunter" is a fine example of a Hollywood adaptation of a best-selling novel from the mid-1960's.

Good performances but it turned me off from the very beginning when the writers thought that it was OK to introduce us to the African American child flying alone and then kill her off with the rest of the unknown passengers. I guess they thought the audience of 1964 wouldn't be overly disturbed by this incident. This really bothered me; that cute little girl with her doll.The cameo of Dorothy Malone was fun to see, although her character was not particularly interesting.I guess you really have to be a Glen Ford fan. It was interesting at the beginning when we thought that we had missed the beginning of the movie where the opening credits roll past. From reading other comments, I'd like to check out the book that shares the title of this movie.

Ernest K. Gann's book becomes interesting, somewhat unusual and gripping drama involving a doomed airliner, on a routine flight from Los Angeles to Seattle, which loses its first engine--and then, apparently, its second--and crashes just after takeoff, leaving only one survivor (a remarkably uninjured stewardess). Glenn Ford is the investigator for the airline company who is pressured by board members into blaming the entire disaster on pilot Rod Taylor, an old military friend; Ford is uninterested in using the pilot as a scapegoat, instead putting his job on the line and searching out the actual reason the plane went down. Many issues this film brings up are still remarkably relevant today (pilot error, bird feathers jamming the engine, the possibility of a bomb), yet director Ralph Nelson stages some of the more dramatic sequences like cheapjack incidents from a TV serial. The cockpit action (including flashbacks to the war) is highly unconvincing, and the picture is further handicapped by disappointing visual effects. Ford's low-key work holds the movie together, and he's matched by Suzanne Pleshette, Nancy Kwan, and Nehemiah Persoff (playing an associate of Ford's who is eager to have his job). Taylor is too 'colorful' and overdoes it, and the flashback structure renders the film episodic, though the finale is good (if far-fetched) and the nasty politics of airline business are successfully brought off. **1/2 from ****