The Wings of Eagles (1957)

User Rating:

6.6/10   

Director:

John Ford

Writers:

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

Release Date:

22 February 1957 (USA)

Genre:

Biography | Drama | War

Tagline:

What A Guy Wayne !

Plot:

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

Plot Keywords:

Beautiful Woman | Paralysis | Animal In Title | Biplane | 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
Frank Fenton		(screenplay) and
William Wister Haines		(screenplay)
Frank Wead		(based on the life and writings 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 (as Adm. John Dale Price USN [Ret])
Dr. John Keye	....	technical advisor (uncredited)

Thanks
Frank Wead	....	dedicatee (as Commander 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)

Other Companies

• Department of Defense, The  grateful acknowledgement
• United States Navy, The  grateful acknowledgement

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) | Canada:PG (video rating) | 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:

Song of the Islands

Ford-directed Biopic of Aviation Pioneer...

If John Ford hadn't made THE WINGS OF EAGLES, Commander Frank W. 'Spig' Wead would be best known today for the impressive collection of military-oriented stories he wrote for motion pictures, during the 30s and 40s. Among his credits are HELL DIVERS (with Wallace Beery and Clark Gable), TEST PILOT (with Gable and Spencer Tracy), DIVE BOMBER (with Errol Flynn and Fred MacMurray), and THEY WERE EXPENDABLE (for John Ford, with John Wayne and Robert Montgomery). He brought to his writing a love of flying, pride in the military, and an understanding that a 'greater good' must sometimes take precedence over personal happiness.

In THE WINGS OF EAGLES, director Ford illustrates how Wead's life was every bit as interesting and dramatic as anything he wrote. A close personal friend (so much so that he even cast Ward Bond to play a thinly-disguised version of himself, named 'John Dodge', in the film), Ford was witness to many of the triumphs and tragedies of the pioneer Naval aviator/engineer's life. After completing THE SEARCHERS, Ford commemorated the tenth anniversary of his friend's passing with this sensitive, 'warts-and-all' tribute.

Wead (portrayed by John Wayne, in one of his most fully realized characterizations...he even sacrificed his hairpiece, as the older Wead, for the sake of authenticity), begins the film as a typical hell-raising Ford hero, a Navy flier who loved taunting his Army counterparts (led by the terrific Kenneth Tobey), lived for the sheer joy of flying bi-planes (even when he was clueless as to HOW to fly them), and had the love of a feisty yet devoted woman (Maureen O'Hara, of course!) But, in keeping with the tone of much of the older Ford's work, Wead's life does not tie itself up into a neat, happy package, but develops into a complex near-tragedy of a man so consumed with his career that his marriage breaks down, and has his greatest dream snatched away from him when an accident cripples him. Rather than falling back on the potential aid a wife could provide, he refuses her help, relying on his Navy 'family' (represented by Dan Dailey, in one of his most popular roles) for rehabilitation. With Pearl Harbor, Wead's expertise is again called upon, and he leaves a successful career as a screenwriter to rejoin the Navy, becoming the innovator of jeep carriers...only to see his health fail him, yet again, forcing him out of the service he loved.

It is a story both sad and moving, and Wayne, so often accused of being 'bigger than life' and one-dimensional in his portrayals, again demonstrates his underrated acting talent, capturing the frustration of a man who never truly achieves the ultimate triumphs he dreams of. Wead is a 'real' person, not always likable, but someone you learn to admire for his sheer determination to contribute, and not surrender to self-pity.

With an excellent supporting cast (particularly Ken Curtis, as Wead's lifelong friend, John Dale Price), THE WINGS OF EAGLES may disappoint someone looking for a 'typical' war movie, but, as a film biography, is far more honest than Hollywood's 'usual' hokum.

'Spig' Wead would have loved it!