The Wings of Eagles
| The Wings of Eagles | |
|---|---|
|
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| Directed by | John Ford |
| Produced by | Charles Schnee |
| Screenplay by |
Frank Fenton and William Wister Haines |
| Based on | the life and writings of Commander Frank W. "Spig" Wead |
| Starring | |
| Music by | Jeff Alexander |
| Cinematography | Paul C. Vogel. A.S.C. |
| Edited by | Gene Ruggiero, A.C.E. |
| Distributed by | Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer |
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Release date
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February 22, 1957 |
|
Running time
|
110 minutes |
| Country | United States |
| Language | English |
| Budget | $2,644,000 |
| Box office | $3,650,00 |
The Wings of Eagles is a 1957 American Metrocolor film starring John Wayne, Dan Dailey and Maureen O'Hara, based on the life of Frank "Spig" Wead and the history of U.S. Naval aviation from its inception through World War II. The film is a tribute to Wead (who died ten years earlier, in 1947, at the age of 52) from his friend, director John Ford, and was based on Wead's "We Plaster the Japs", published in a 1944 issue of American Magazine.
John Wayne plays naval aviator-turned-screenwriter Wead, who wrote the story or screenplay for such films as Hell Divers with Wallace Beery and Clark Gable, Ceiling Zero with James Cagney, and the Oscar-nominated World War II drama They Were Expendable in which Wayne co-starred with Robert Montgomery.
The supporting cast features Ward Bond, Ken Curtis, Edmund Lowe and Kenneth Tobey. This film was the third of five in which Wayne and O'Hara appeared together; others were Rio Grande (1950), The Quiet Man (1952), (1963) and Big Jake (1971).
Soon after World War I is over, "Spig" Wead (John Wayne), along with John Dale Price (Ken Curtis), tries to prove to the Navy the value of aviation in combat. To do this, Wead pushes the Navy to compete in racing and endurance competitions. Several races are against the US Army aviation team led by Captain Herbert Allen Hazard (based on Jimmy Doolittle – played by Kenneth Tobey).
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