I'll tell you right now, the first fifteen minutes of Men with Wings are the best. Walter Abel takes the lead as an aeroplane enthusiast and pioneer, and his young daughter, Virginia Weidler, is also passionate about flying. Her best friend, Billy Cook, and her crush, Donald O'Connor, fly kites together and try to keep up with Walter as he builds his flying machine. Both Billy and Donald make their film debuts, and they're paired together again in Tom Sawyer, Detective and Beau Geste. These three kids are adorable and have a natural chemistry-if you're a Donald O'Connor fan, you need to see him as an irresistibly darling child.
Then, Walter dies in a plane crash and the kids grow up. When the cast gets replaced by Louise Campbell, Fred MacMurray, and Ray Milland, the movie goes downhill. There's an uninteresting love triangle, lots of boring airplane footage, and some unsuspenseful war drama. Fred isn't likable, and Ray "blandly" lives up to his name. It's worth noting, however, that this movie was filmed in Technicolor; Gone With the Wind wasn't really as groundbreaking as it thought it was.
Then, Walter dies in a plane crash and the kids grow up. When the cast gets replaced by Louise Campbell, Fred MacMurray, and Ray Milland, the movie goes downhill. There's an uninteresting love triangle, lots of boring airplane footage, and some unsuspenseful war drama. Fred isn't likable, and Ray "blandly" lives up to his name. It's worth noting, however, that this movie was filmed in Technicolor; Gone With the Wind wasn't really as groundbreaking as it thought it was.