Hey, I'm Alive (1975 TV Movie) User Reviews

Amazing, little-known plane crash survivor story ...

[Vic_max · 7/10 · 2 June 2008]

Sometimes interesting events are lost over time. I had no idea this plane crash story really happened until I came across this movie. It's pretty amazing that there's any story tell when a small plane crashes in the huge, unpopulated expanse of the Yukon (way up near Alaska). One would expect, esp. in 1963, that you just disappear and are never heard of again.

Well, the two very different individuals on this crash had an experience that we learn about in this movie. The people (strangers to each other) couldn't be more different: a brash, Jewish New York lady in her 20s and a quiet, highly devout Mormon / Mexican-American man in his 40s.

Their clash is immediate: the man pushes his religious beliefs on the lady ... and she is rebellious yet vulnerable. You wonder if and when this might go from bad to worst... What's great is that you get to see Sally Struthers and Ed Asner kind of in their prime and putting out great performances.

One thing to be prepared for is the playup on religion / god. It's kind of done in a 1970's mystical style which, by today's standards, might seem a little like there was a religious agenda.

While the movie mainly focuses on the interaction between the two wildly diverse characters over an amazing 49 day period ... it's only 75 minutes long and is worth the watch just to learn about this amazing story.

"I don't need God I need FOOD!"

[mls4182 · 5/10 · 14 April 2023]

I was a sensitive little kid when these trashy TV movies came out. They were manipulative towards a far more naive society. I even remember every other week on Marcus Welby the plot was some happy beautiful girl preparing for her wedding then BOOM! She finds a dreaded mole and it is all over.

A lot of people died from moles on 1970s TV.

Anyway, back to this film. Lou Grant and Gloria Stivic stranded together might be interesting but not these two characters. They are unbearably annoying.

With Struthers crying out in hunger on this film, one can only remember the SNL skits spoofing her weight gain in her feed the children commercials.

This film is not to be taken seriously. Which is a good thing.

ok tv fare

[Stu-42 · 5/10 · 6 January 2000]

This supposedly true story of two people stranded in the Yukon for almost 50 days without food after the first week was an ok tv drama. The acting was decent in parts, but very phony in others. There was also a strong religious overtone. The characters didn't really seem all that intelligent and it didn't really show how they survived that long which does seem impossible. The ending was especially strange. Overall pretty watchable, but that's about it.

In defense

[sf_sellars · 14 June 2007]

I was disappointed reading some of these comments.

I work at a museum that has a display about the event that this movie is about. To Flores' granddaughter, they crashed in the Yukon Territory, in CANADA. The Yukon is not in Alaska, rather beside it in Canada.

While I have yet to see the film I know plenty about the event and trust that the events were portrayed fairly accurately from the book written by Klaben. Helen Klaben has returned to the Yukon to hike into the site a couple of times and may be returning again this year.

It is a pretty incredible story and their incredible survival should not be downplayed by the people who doubt the possibility or validity.

"You're not going to believe this story."

[mark.waltz · 3/10 · 10 December 2021]

When Lou Grant met Gloria Bunker Stivic, it was not a pretty picture and the reason why is that in this TV movie based upon a real incident that led to a novel, their characters are written to she is a type of people that couldn't realistically survive together in a situation like that for one night let alone 49. Sally Struthers' declaration of "You're not going to believe" had me declaring "I'm not going to care" because these two opinionated people get along as easy as a wolf and a rabbit would. He's an extremist Christian call appears to be drunk every time he speaks and she's presented to be a brain dead nitwit who never shuts up but barely says anything of intelligence.

The audience has several options in this 75 minutes, whether to fast forward or turn it off, but they had to learn to rely on each other, and if the viewer can get irritated by them within 20 minutes, imagine how the real pair felt when way they went through this. I love both of these actors in their other TV series and other shows and movies I've seen them in (and that includes live theater), but I felt like I was being preached at to accept that anybody paired together in a situation like this would be able to make it through. Their spouses get to meet as a search party is sent out, and that's one interesting element to see who puts up with the other two. The way Asner's obsession with his version of God is developed seems to have an agenda attached to it, and after a while, I just did not want to hear their voices anymore. Perhaps this was better as a book because you didn't have to listen to them, but as a movie, it is as exciting as eating snow.

True to Life

[bumponalog81 · 8/10 · 12 January 2007]

As Ralph's granddaughter, I know the movie has details that correctly depict their survival experience. The sardine cans were recovered from the crash site a few years ago. The gash in the trees and plane wreckage allowed family members to find the site and start the reconstruction project on the plane. Ralph was known as a man of few words; Asner's flaw is not properly portraying the strength in Ralph's proactive and resourceful role in keeping the two alive. It is based upon Helen's book about her survival experience in the Yukon Territory of Alaska. Unfortunately, the movie contains actors who are a bit annoying, but reflective of the actions performed by the Helen and Ralph. The cinematography was not very interesting, but it shows what happened that winter. I feel that the movie should be remade to give the experience more credibility to the movie watcher. People who have seen this movie in theater know that it is much more interesting to be able to see the vast winter scene on a large color screen. I am surprised that other people have seen this film.

The story was fascinating and inspirational

[cwheelwright · 9/10 · 28 November 2003]

It has been years since I have seen this film. Just recently, I thought about it again. After reading the Associated Press recently reported article during the 23 Nov 2003 time period, a similar event where a 40-year-old woman (Ms. Mischelle Hileman) from WALLOWA, Ore survived under extremely cold conditions. She was a diabetic who had no food, nor did she have adequate clothing or shelter for 6 or 7 days, and could not walk due to some type of injury. The nightly temps. were below freezing, near 4 degrees F. and the day temperatures were not much higher. According to the searchers, and the local Sheriff this person could only have been saved due to the hand of Providence. To me it is very refreshing to learn about the ordeals of others, how they contribute their well being and survial due to divine help.

I for one would like to see this show, Hey, I'm Alive again, and wouldn't mind owning a copy of the film.

True story, even if dramatic licence taken - SPOILER

[gcapp · 23 October 2004]

The spoiler does not identify the precise problems that arise in the situation, nor how the two people are ultimately rescued or their condition.

Since in the true incident the movie tells the story of, the stranded flyers are rescued, it is not a spoiler to say the movie ends with that rescue.

This story is based on the true incident circa 1961 in which Ralph Flores and Helen Klaben, flying from Alaska to the Lower 48, crashed east of Watson Lake, Yukon. Their survival made news, and the Whitehorse Star does have, in its commemorative editions of 100 years of publishing, a photo of the real Helen Klaben in hospital in Whitehorse.

The basis of the movie seems to be that Helen has been traveling around the world, and accepts a flight with Ralph Flores from Alaska to points further south. After a night stop in Whitehorse (shown nicely in a shot that shows the recognizable downtown area behind the airport), their next day sees them go down (cause not made clear) somewhere in the Watson Lake Triangle, an area where other planes have gone down over the years.

Dramatic licence may have been taken on the clash between the Mormon Flores and the Jewish Klaben, but Flores early on establishes a hierarchy he hopes will prevent them from committing adultery in their lonely condition. They clash over their beliefs and how it affects their possibility of rescue. The searchers don't hold out much hope as the days go by, and *SPOILER* the stranded flyers are tantalized by a sound they can barely hear through the woods.

Might be a good movie to watch on a searing hot day!

Hey how did they actually survive?

[yenlo · 9 June 2000]

A pretty much forgotten made for TV film about a college educated girl and a graduate from the school of hard knocks Canadian who are stranded in the Yukon when their small plane goes down. Sally Struthers and Ed Asner made for a strange pairing to say the least. The picture had some annoying religious overtones and never touched enough on how they actually survived.

Truth captured

[angels-840-124431 · 9 September 2010]

I own both the book and the movie which I have read and watched numerous times. For those individuals who feel it is boring or tedious, I feel I need to remind them that often in real-life situations - there is not the intense action and drama. Keeping warm and melting water took a great deal of their time and energy. As for those who feel it is too religious - you are missing one true aspect of the experience. Flores had a great devotion of God and felt compelled to share it with Klaben. I was very pleased with the directors of the film - that they did not take poetic license and feel they had to add a lot of fictional incidents or enhance beyond the true nature of the experience. Klaben did spend most of her time reading as mobility was difficult. Flores did spend a lot of time gathering wood. One gets the idea of the number of days by the calendar clearly illustrated in the book and the movie. I, for one, appreciated the straight-forward approach of capturing the 49-day experience without a lot of Hollywood hype.

Poor Film

[Michael_Elliott · 9 April 2008]

Hey, I'm Alive (1975)

* 1/2 (out of 4)

Made for TV movie is based on a true story. The film tells the story of a religious freak (Ed Asner) and a free loving girl (Sally Struthers) who crash their plane in the Yukon wilderness and have to survive for 49 days. This film makes the fatal mistake of having a downright horrid screenplay that gives us two very annoying characters and makes us stay with them for 75-minutes. The first thirty-minutes is nothing more than Asner preachers and going on religious spells while Struthers acts stupid and says one dumb comment after another. Struthers voice over narration is among the worst I've ever heard and what she says is just downright silly. The screenplay usually just centers on them talking and it never really gets the wilderness involved, which is a shame as some of the visuals are quite good. The film starts to pick up during the second half when the two start talking about normal things but by then it's way too late because the movie is almost over. Asner is decent in his role but Struthers is pretty bad from start to finish as it seems she thinks she's playing Gloria from All in the Family.