JOHN Wayne ‘s daughter-in-law says hardly a day goes by that she doesn ‘t get a letter or a phone call from people inquiring about how to see his most elusive movie – one of the most requested of all titles by movie buffs.

“They saw it when it first came out in 1954 or they ‘ve only read about it,or they ‘ve bought a terrible bootleg copy,” says Gretchen Wayne – widow of John ‘s son Michael – of “The High and the Mighty,” which hasn ‘t been shown

on TV since 1982 and has never been released on video.

The decades-long wait ends tonight,when the granddaddy of aviation disaster movies premieres in a gorgeously restored version at 8 p.m.on AMC;it will be released next month on a two-disc DVD by Paramount Home Entertainment.

“The High and the Mighty,” which also stars Robert Stack and a score of Wayne ‘s favorite actors as passengers and crew on a stricken Honolulu-to-San Francisco jetliner,was one of about a dozen films produced by John

Wayne ‘s production company – which eventually acquired all rights to the movies.

By the time Michael Wayne, who managed the company ‘s affairs,was ready to put “The High and the Mighty ” out on video in the early ’90s though,he discovered the film ‘s negative was severely damaged.

“There was a water leak in our storage facility,” Gretchen Wayne recalls.”The reels had to be carried out in buckets of water “

Michael Wayne died in 2001,but his widow followed through on the decade-long restoration, which employed computer techniques that didn ‘t exist even a couple of years ago. Ironically,John Wayne had wanted to hire Spencer Tracy for what turned out to be one of his most famous roles,as a troubled World War I veteran who takes

charge when the plane ‘s captain, played by Stack,gives into panic.

“But Tracy wasn ‘t available,” Gretchen Wayne said.”And director William Wellman,who had been a pilot in World War I,insisted the captain be played by an actual flyer and wanted to cast Bob Cummings.But Cummings decided to do Hitchcock ‘s ‘Dial M for Murder ‘ instead..”

Besides being a first-rate piece of entertainment,”The High and the Mighty ” is a time capsule of what airline travel was like half a century ago.

“My kids are in their late 30s and early 40s,and they can ‘t believe people actually got dressed to go on airplanes,”

Gretchen Wayne says with a laugh.”And stewardesses really did light passengers ‘ cigarettes,, just like in this movie!”

THE HIGH AND THE MIGHTY

Sunday, 8 p.m., AMC