Wing and a Prayer
| Wing and a Prayer | |
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1944 theatrical poster
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| Directed by | Henry Hathaway |
| Produced by |
Walter Morosco William Bacher |
| Written by | Jerome Cady |
| Starring |
Don Ameche Dana Andrews William Eythe |
| Music by | Hugo Friedhofer |
| Cinematography | Glen MacWilliams |
| Edited by | J. Watson Webb Jr. |
| Distributed by | 20th Century Fox |
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Release date
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Running time
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92 min |
| Country | United States |
| Language | English |
| Box office | $2,250,000 |
Wing and a Prayer (also known as The Story of Carrier X) is a black-and-white 1944 war film about the heroic crew of an American carrier in the desperate early days of World War II in the Pacific theater, directed by Henry Hathaway and starring Dana Andrews and Don Ameche. Although arguably a classic propaganda movie, it was appreciated for its very realistic portrayal and was nominated for the 1944 Academy Award for Best Original Screenplay.
In the days just after the attack on Pearl Harbor, the American people are asking "Where is our navy? Why doesn't it fight?" Gravely weakened by the disaster, the Navy comes up with a plan to trap the Japanese fleet, by using one carrier as several ships to deceive the Japanese Navy into heading for Midway, where a showdown with them will be planned. Meanwhile, on the carrier charged with the mission, flight commander Bingo Harper (Don Ameche) is in charge of the bomber crews on one of the aircraft carriers that shouldered the burden in the desperate early days of the war. He is tough and sticks to the rules, while his young pilots behave more like youngsters and do not always follow his logic.
A new squadron led by Lieutenant Commander Edward Moulton (Dana Andrews) is assigned to the carrier. From the very first landing, Harper notices a careless attitude by ex-Hollywood Academy Award–winning star Ensign Hallam "Oscar" Scott (William Eythe). Harper warns Moulton that the squadron's safety cannot be jeopardized and any repeat of the sloppiness will not be tolerated. Moulton does his best with his men, but he is far from having absolute control. During a bombing run, Ensign Breinard (Harry Morgan) drops a bomb close to the carrier and Harper grounds him. After winning the Navy Cross for actions at Coral Sea, Ensign Cunningham fails to follow the correct takeoff procedure and ditches his plane into the sea, Harper forbids him to fly again. Later, Cunningham saves the ship in a suicide attack on a torpedo from a Japanese plane.
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Wikipedia