The Wings of Eagles (1957)

Director:

John Ford

Writers:

Frank Fenton (screenplay)
William Wister Haines (screenplay)
(more)

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
rest of cast listed alphabetically:
Tige Andrews	...	Arizona Pincus (uncredited)
Veda Ann Borg	...	(uncredited)
Danny Borzage	...	Pete (uncredited)
Olive Carey	...	Bridy O'Faolain (uncredited)
Franklyn Farnum	...	Man on sidewalk outside movie theater (uncredited)
James Flavin	...	MP at garden party (uncredited)
Mimi Gibson	...	Lila Wead (uncredited)
Fred Graham	...	Officer in brawl (uncredited)
Sam Harris	...	Patient (uncredited)
William Henry	...	Naval aide (uncredited)
Louis Jean Heydt	...	Dr. John Keye (uncredited)
Stuart Holmes	...	Producer (uncredited)
Christopher James	...	(uncredited)
Janet Lake	...	Nurse (uncredited)
William Paul Lowery	...	Wead's baby, 'Commodore' (uncredited)
Cliff Lyons	...	(uncredited)
Mae Marsh	...	Nurse Crumley (uncredited)
May McAvoy	...	Nurse (uncredited)
Alberto Morin	...	Second manager (uncredited)
Forbes Murray	...	Congressman (uncredited)
Peter Ortiz	...	Lt. Charles Dexter (uncredited)
Jack Pennick	...	Joe McGuffey (uncredited)
Chuck Roberson	...	Officer (uncredited)
Evelyn Rudie	...	Doris Wead (uncredited)
Arthur Salzfass	...	Navy pilot (uncredited)
Harry Strang	...	Bartender (uncredited)
William Tracy	...	Air officer (uncredited)
Charles Trowbridge	...	Adm. Crown (uncredited)
Dale Van Sickel	...	Naval officer (uncredited)
Harlan Warde	...	Executive Officer (uncredited)
Blue Washington	...	Bartender at Officer's Club (uncredited)
Terry Wilson	...	Naval officer (uncredited)

Directed by
John Ford

Writing credits (in alphabetical order)
Frank Fenton		screenplay
William Wister Haines		screenplay
Frank Wead		based on the life and writtings of (as Commander Frank W. 'Spig' Wead)

Produced by
James E. Newcom	....	associate producer
Charles Schnee	....	producer

Original Music by
Jeff Alexander

Cinematography by
Paul Vogel		(director of photography) (as Paul C. Vogel)

Film Editing by
Gene Ruggiero

Art Direction by
Malcolm Brown
William A. Horning

Set Decoration by
F. Keogh Gleason		(as Keogh Gleason)
Edwin B. Willis

Makeup Department
William Tuttle	....	makeup artist

Second Unit Director or Assistant Director
Wingate Smith	....	assistant director

Sound Department
Wesley C. Miller	....	recording supervisor (as Dr. Wesley C. Miller)

Special Effects by
A. Arnold Gillespie	....	special effects
Warren Newcombe	....	special effects

Stunts
Fred Graham	....	stunts (uncredited)
Chuck Hayward	....	stunts (uncredited)
John Hudkins	....	stunts (uncredited)
Cliff Lyons	....	stunts (uncredited)
Paul Mantz	....	aerial stunts (uncredited)
Frank McGrath	....	stunts (uncredited)
Bob Morgan	....	stunts (uncredited)
Chuck Roberson	....	stunt double: John Wayne (uncredited)
Chuck Roberson	....	stunts (uncredited)
Ronnie Rondell Jr.	....	stunts (uncredited)
Paul Stader	....	stunts (uncredited)
Dale Van Sickel	....	stunts (uncredited)
Jack Williams	....	stunts (uncredited)
Terry Wilson	....	stunts (uncredited)

Costume and Wardrobe Department
Walter Plunkett	....	wardrobe: Miss O'Hara

Editorial Department
Charles K. Hagedon	....	color consultant

Music Department
Arthur Morton	....	orchestrator (uncredited)

Other crew
Adm. John Dale Price	....	technical advisor
Dr. John Keye	....	technical advisor (uncredited)

Thanks
Frank Wead	....	dedicatee (as Frank 'Spig' Wead)

Production Companies

• Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer (MGM)

Distributors

• Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer (MGM) (1957) (USA) (theatrical)
• Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer (MGM) (1957) (West Germany) (theatrical)
• National Broadcasting Company (NBC) (1963) (USA) (TV) (original airing)
• Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer (MGM) (1966) (USA) (theatrical) (re-release)
• Atalanta Filmes (1999) (Paraguay) (VHS) (re-release)
• MGM/UA Home Entertainment (2000) (USA) (VHS)
• Warner Home Video (2006) (USA) (DVD)

Runtime:

110 min

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Color:

Color (Metrocolor)

Sound Mix:

Mono (Westrex Recording System) | Perspecta Stereo

Certification:

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

Company:

Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer (MGM)

Trivia:

There is a scene in the movie where we see the director, played by Ward Bond, looking at a clip of a film written by the main character. The clip is from the film Hell Divers (1931), which was actually written by Frank Wead.

Goofs:

Continuity: In the first scene where Lieutenant Junior Grade Wead is flying with Captain Hazzard, on the ground Captain Hazzard is in the front seat, but in the air Wead is in the front seat.

Quotes:

John Dodge: I don't want a story just about ships and planes. I want it about the men who run them - how they live and think and talk. I want it from a pen dipped in salt water, not dry martinis.

Movie Connections:

Referenced in Kill Bill: Vol. 1 (2003)

Soundtrack:

Mama Inez

A sentimental movie where Ford gives a special warmth to a friend...

Maureen O'Hara is teamed with a very inferior part in "The Wings of Eagles," a moving tribute based on a true story...

As Wayne's neglected, temperamental wife, she finds her dedicated husband frequently spending most of his time and energy on improving the status of Navy aviation...

On the night, Wayne is appointed skipper of a fighter squadron, he falls down a flight of stairs and suffers back injuries that render him a cripple...

Determined to fight his way back to some kind of independence, he persuades his wife to leave him and live her own life with their two daughters...

Nursed back to health by his sidekick (Dan Dailey—largely instrumental in motivating him in physical rehabilitation) he begins a new civilian career as a successful Hollywood writer...

Just when Wayne and Maureen, now a successful businesswoman, plan a reconciliation, news is broadcast of the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor...

Maureen is last seen having another test of Irish temper as she heaves her half-packed suitcase across the room, frustrated that she again has lost her husband to the Navy...

Despite his handicap, Wayne is sent to the Pacific theater of war to supervise his revolutionary jeep-carrier tactical system...

The film is filled with humor: Wayne's plane landing in the swimming pool strike in the middle of the admiral's out-door tea party; the clubroom fight and cake throwing; the assorted cast members falling into the pool... It is also filled with deep drama and heartbreaking tragedy: the tender kiss of a wife deeply in love on the head of a man in pain; Wayne learning to walk again; the shipmates on deck in full military ceremony to say goodbye to a decorated flying ace...

Ford gives a special warmth to a friend, considered a national hero...