I Wanted Wings
| I Wanted Wings | |
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Theatrical poster
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| Directed by | Mitchell Leisen |
| Produced by | Arthur Hornblow Jr. |
| Written by |
Sig Herzig Beirne Lay, Jr. Richard Maibaum |
| Story by |
Eleanore Griffin Frank Wead |
| Based on | book I Wanted Wings by Lt. Beirne Lay, Jr. |
| Starring |
Ray Milland William Holden Veronica Lake |
| Music by | Victor Young |
| Cinematography | Leo Tover |
| Edited by | Hugh Bennett |
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Production
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| Distributed by | Paramount Pictures |
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Release date
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Running time
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135 minutes |
| Country | United States |
| Language | English |
| Budget | $1,262,454.87 or $1,050,000 |
I Wanted Wings is a 1941 American drama film directed by Mitchell Leisen and based on a book by Lieutenant Beirne Lay, Jr. The film stars Ray Milland and William Holden. The supporting cast includes Wayne Morris, Brian Donlevy, Constance Moore and Veronica Lake. I Wanted Wings features Lake's first major film role. Her career took off shortly thereafter; the same year, she starred in Sullivan's Travels. Lake would become one of the most popular and successful actresses of the early 1940s.
It's 1940, prior to the American entry into what would become World War II. After an air raid exercise in Los Angeles involving eighteen U.S. Army Air Corps Boeing B-17 Flying Fortress bombers, one of them goes down in the desert on its way back to base. Mysteriously, the dead body of a woman is found in the wreck. The pilot, Lieutenant Jefferson Young III (Ray Milland), is accused of having an unauthorized civilian passenger on board and charged accordingly for disobeying orders. Before the court martial decides on a ruling, they review Jeff's military background and history.
The son of a wealthy Long Island businessman, Jeff joins the U.S. Army Air Corps. At basic training in Texas, he meets former football hero Tom Cassidy (Wayne Morris) and Al Ludlow (William Holden), a garage mechanic. Jeff and Al become close friends and support each other through training. Jeff meets a girl named Sally Vaughn (Veronica Lake), unaware that she used to be Al's sweetheart. Although Jeff is already in love with photographer Carolyn Bartlett (Constance Moore), Sally sees her chance when Jeff gets drunk in the aftermath of a crash in which one of his buddies perished and Carolyn is out of town. Fortunately, Al comes between them and pulls Jeff away. After this, Jeff continues to court Carolyn. During training at another airfield, Tom dies in an aircraft crash while performing a daredevil stunt. Al, a senior cadet captain, takes the blame for what happened and is discharged from the Air Corps, losing his chance to become a pilot.
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Wikipedia