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:

The real Frank Wead grew noticeably balder as he got older (WWII era). In order to be accurate about that, this is the only film in which John Wayne appears without his toupee.

Goofs:

Revealing mistakes: When Spig and Dodge are screening the dailies of "Hell Divers", the smoke they exhale goes behind the movie screen on the wall. During the take they were sitting in front of a blank wall and the dailies they were "watching" were added later causing them to obliterate the exhaled cigarette smoke.

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:

Song of the Islands

A nice biographical film about Naval Commander Frank "Spig" Wead, credited with starting the air wing of the US Navy

"The Wings of Eagles" starred John Wayne and Maureen O'Hara and was directed by John Ford. While not a blockbuster by any stretch of the imagination, the film nevertheless has some great touches that would make a viewer wish to see the film again. Wayne played Lt. Commander Frank "Spig" Wead, the man credited with getting the Navy an air wing to support its military ships, and Maureen O'Hara plays the wife that has to contend with Spig's love of country first and family second. Dan Dailey has a good role as Wead's best friend in the military, while other members of the John Ford company of players contribute their talents to the film. Ken Curtis shows up a good bit, and Ward Bond has a role as a film director that smacked of a caricature of John Ford. Bond plays this to the hilt, and seemed to enjoy the chance to show Ford how he came off, at times.

The scenes that were very watchable could include several fight scenes between members of the Army Air Corps and their Naval counterparts, plus a very heart rending view of Wayne's efforts to rehabilitate himself, following a fall down a flight of stairs at his house. Good, but not great, an 8/10.