The Wings of Eagles (1957)

Director:

John Ford

Writers:

Frank Fenton (screenplay)
William Wister Haines (screenplay)

Release Date:

22 February 1957 (USA)

Genre:

Biography | Drama

Tagline:

What A Guy Wayne !

Plot:

A biography of Navy flier-turned-screenwriter Frank W. "Spig" Wead. |

Plot Keywords:

Paralysis | Based On True Story

Cast

John Wayne	...	Frank W. 'Spig' Wead
Dan Dailey	...	'Jughead' Carson
Maureen O'Hara	...	Min Wead
Ward Bond	...	John Dodge
Ken Curtis	...	John Dale Price
Edmund Lowe	...	Adm. Moffett
Kenneth Tobey	...	Capt. Herbert Allen Hazard
James Todd	...	Jack Travis
Barry Kelley	...	Capt. Jock Clark
Sig Ruman	...	Manager
Henry O'Neill	...	Capt. Spear
Willis Bouchey	...	Barton
Dorothy Jordan	...	Rose Brentmann

Runtime:

110 min

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Color:

Color (Metrocolor)

Sound Mix:

Mono (Westrex Recording System) | Perspecta Stereo

Certification:

Argentina:Atp | West Germany:12 (nf) | Finland:K-12 | Portugal:M/12 | Spain:13 | USA:Approved (PCA #18317) | Sweden:15

Company:

Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer (MGM)

Trivia:

According to director John Ford, "Everything in the picture was true. The fight in the club - throwing the cake - actually happened. I can verify that as an eyewitness. I ducked it. And the plane landing in the swimming pool right in the middle of the Admiral's tea - that really happened."

Goofs:

Anachronisms: When on board the aircraft carrier, as "Spig" Wead is leaving the ship, a plane is being towed in the background. The national insignia on the side of the aircraft is incorrect. There was no red stripe in the white bars that bordered the star during WWII. This version did not come into being until after the war.

Quotes:

'Jughead' Carson: [the General has just given him some whiskey for Spig] Well, thank you sir!
'Jughead' Carson: [he chugs it and throws it behind the mirror] They can make better booze in a bathtub!

Movie Connections:

Referenced in Kill Bill: Vol. 1 (2003)

Soundtrack:

Mama Inez

An excellent "non-war" movie about people who make winning wars possible.

Despite the title and the time frame (and the misunderstanding of the movie by other reviewers), this is not a typical war movie. This movie is really a biography and personal study of the obsessiveness and dedication that is necessary in the technological nature of warfare today. In one respect it is too bad that the movie stars John Wayne because the expectation is that it would feature a "gung ho" performance. Instead it is an amazing acting effort by Wayne as a suffering, crippled, insensitive Navy officer and author whose vision and commitment made much of the Naval air force possible. It is an excellent performance by Wayne and almost more of a "stretch" for him than Dustin Hoffman portraying an autistic "Rainman."