Lost Flight (made-for-TV, 1970)

 

A 1970 made-for-TV movie. An airliner crashes in the ocean, the passengers and crews reach an island where a power struggle ensues. IMDb says it was a version of Lord of the Flies with grown-ups, but I didn't quite see it.

I remember watching this as a kid. I was at least seven. I was home alone and had the TV on, probably playing with cars or army men, not really following the plot. The main thing I remember is the big round inflatable life rafts. A few passengers go off in one thinking they can get help. When the thing comes floating back with the passengers passed out, airline pilot Lloyd Bridges takes off his shirt and pants and swims out there in his big ol' boxer shorts. I remember wishing he had kept his pants on.

With Andrew Prine as a violent racist and would-be rapist, Bobby Van as a lounge singer, Billy Dee Williams as a Vietnam veteran Marine, Anne Francis,   

There's a child (Michael-James Wixted) with appendicitis and a pregnant woman ready to go into labor. There's a doctor but he doesn't seem very good.

The ending got a little weird, like it was the pilot to a serious Gilligan's Island-like drama.

Free on Movie Vault. 

There's a ten minute YouTube video called "Lost Flight Breakdown A Movie about Survival". It shows clips of the movie and a guy discusses realistic aspects of the film.