Adrift in the Pacific after their plane is shot down, WWII airmen Alec Brooke (Van Johnson) and Joe Moore (Cameron Mitchell) battle thirst and increasing desperation. To keep their spirits up, Alec weaves a story for Joe, his own story of daring boyhood adventures, of the pretty girl (June Allyson) he left behind and of his ne'er-do-well uncle's tall tales of the uncharted island of High Barbaree. Then the downed men realize they're drifting toward the supposed location of that fabled isle. Frequent screen costars Johnson and Allyson headline High Barbaree. A romantic drama aimed straight at the hearts of moviegoers whose lives were forever changed by the war. Based on a novel by Charles Nordhoff and James Norman Hall, the authors of Mutiny on the Bounty, the film also boasts a fine supporting cast: Marilyn Maxwell, Henry Hull, Claude Jarman Jr. and famed character star Thomas Mitchell.
