Wing and a Prayer (1944)

Director:

Henry Hathaway

Writers:

Jerome Cady (story)
Jerome Cady (screenplay)

Release Date:

24 July 1944 (USA)

Genre:

Action | Drama | War

Plot:

An aircraft carrier is sent on a decoy mission around the Pacific, with orders to avoid combat, thus...

Plot Keywords:

Navy | US Navy | WWII | Aircraft Carrier | Decoy

Awards:

Nominated for Oscar.

Cast

Don Ameche	...	Flight Cmdr. Bingo Harper
Dana Andrews	...	Lt. Cmdr. Edward Moulton
William Eythe	...	Ensign Hallam 'Oscar' Scott
Charles Bickford	...	Capt. Waddell
Cedric Hardwicke	...	Admiral (as Sir Cedric Hardwicke)
Kevin O'Shea	...	Ens. Charles 'Cookie' Cunningham
Richard Jaeckel	...	Beezy Bessemer
Harry Morgan	...	Ensign Malcolm Brainard (as Henry Morgan)
Richard Crane	...	Ensign Gus Chisholm
Glenn Langan	...	Executive Officer
Renny McEvoy	...	Ens. Cliff Hale
Robert Bailey	...	Ens. Paducah Holloway
Reed Hadley	...	Cmdr. O'Donnell
George Mathews	...	Dooley
B.S. Pully	...	Flat Top

Also Known As:

Wing and a Prayer: The Story of Carrier X (USA) (long title)

Runtime:

97 min

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Color:

Black and White

Aspect Ratio:

1.37 : 1

Sound Mix:

Mono (Western Electric Recording)

Certification:

Netherlands:12 | USA:Approved | Finland:S | Spain:13 | Sweden:15

Company:

Twentieth Century-Fox Film Corporation

Trivia:

When Gus Chisholm is strafed in the water, the various Japanese aircraft shown are American F4F Grumman "Wildcats" and American Douglas SBD "Dauntless" Divebombers

Goofs:

Anachronisms: The film takes place in the months leading up to the Battle of Midway in June, 1942, and the pilots in it fly Grumman TBF Avenger torpedo bombers. The TBF was not introduced until just prior to Midway and saw its first operational flights at the battle. During the period in which the film takes place, the pilots would actually be flying Douglas TBD Devastator torpedo bombers instead.

Movie Connections:

Referenced in "Boston Legal: A Whiff and a Prayer (#2.4)" (2005)

Soundtrack:

Taps

Birds Eye View of Film

The Movie was shot on the back lot of 20th Century Fox. The studio used sailors from NAS Longbeach Ca. as extras for about 2 weeks . In the Scene when a Bomb hits the Ship i am the first man on the fire hose . They had built part of a Carrier Deck over a lake and used SBD'S on this deck for close ups but then used film footage from actual battle scene's in between . This explains difference of planes and ships.