The Wings of Eagles 1957

     Frank ‘Spig’ Wead is a U.S. Navy pilot.  He loves adventure and getting into trouble.  On the plus side, he is fiercely in favor of Naval aviation.  Spig is married to Min and they have a young son.  Unfortunately, the boy dies two weeks after his first birthday and they separate for a time.  Spig doesn’t have enough left for Min after the Navy gets more than their share.  They reconcile and Min has two daughters.  He’s still away from the family and the girls barely know who he is.  He comes home and he has an accident that paralyzes him.  Spig becomes a screenwriter and his material is based on flying.  When WWII begins, Spig needs to find a way get back into the action.

     It seems difficult to believe that everything in this film is true?  There are fights in a club with cake throwing more than once?  Spig flies a plane and he doesn’t know anything about flying yet?  The plane has the wings torn off and lands in a swimming pool?  This event happened during the Admiral’s tea?  Naval aviation is serious business and the equipment is expensive?  I didn’t like this film.  All the horsing around and the neglect of his family don’t seem like anything to brag about?  I didn’t think their antics were funny either?  2* (I didn’t like this film) 

        

110 min, Bio directed by John Ford with John Wayne, Maureen O’Hara, Dan Dailey, Ward Bond, Ken Curtis, Edmund Lowe, Kenneth Tobey, James Todd, Barry Kelley, Sig Ruman, Henry O’Neill, Willis Bouchey, Dorothy Jordan.

Note:  Imdb 6.8 out of 10, 57% audience on Rotten Tomatoes, TCM Leonard Maltin 2.5* out of 5* user ratings average 3.2* out of 5*, Amazon 4.7* out of 5* with 219 reviews.

Special Note:  Filmed in Naval Air Station Pensacola, Florida; MGM Studios, Culver City, California.  John Wayne was 25 years older than Spig.  John Ford stated that everything in the picture was true.  Frank Wead became balder as he grew older.  Wayne wore a toupee and he removed it as he aged in the film.  The character of John Dodge was a fictional version of John Ford.  Many of the props in his office were borrowed from Ford.