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Wing and a Prayer (1944) -- An aircraft carrier is sent on a decoy mission around the Pacific, with orders to avoid combat, thus lulling Japanese alertness before the battle of Midway...

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Overview

User Rating:
7.1/10   531 votes
MOVIEmeter: ?
Down 5% in popularity this week. See why on IMDbPro.
Director:
Writers:
Jerome Cady (story)
Jerome Cady (screenplay)
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Contact:
View company contact information for Wing and a Prayer on IMDbPro.
Release Date:
24 July 1944 (USA) more
Genre:
Tagline:
MIGHTY DRAMA OF AIRCRAFT CARRIER X (original ad - all caps) more
Plot:
An aircraft carrier is sent on a decoy mission around the Pacific, with orders to avoid combat, thus... more | add synopsis
Awards:
Nominated for Oscar. more
NewsDesk:
User Comments:
A Very Different View Of Midway more (13 total)

Cast

  (Cast overview, first billed only)

Don Ameche ... Flight Cmdr. Bingo Harper

Dana Andrews ... Lt. Cmdr. Edward Moulton
William Eythe ... Ensign Hallam 'Oscar' Scott
Charles Bickford ... Capt. Waddell
Cedric Hardwicke ... Admiral (as Sir Cedric Hardwicke)
Kevin O'Shea ... Ens. Charles 'Cookie' Cunningham
Richard Jaeckel ... Beezy Bessemer
Harry Morgan ... Ensign Malcolm Brainard (as Henry Morgan)
Richard Crane ... Ensign Gus Chisholm
Glenn Langan ... Executive Officer
Renny McEvoy ... Ens. Cliff Hale
Robert Bailey ... Ens. Paducah Holloway
Reed Hadley ... Cmdr. O'Donnell
George Mathews ... Dooley
B.S. Pully ... Flat Top
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Additional Details

Also Known As:
Wing and a Prayer: The Story of Carrier X (USA) (long title)
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Runtime:
97 min
Country:
Language:
Aspect Ratio:
1.37 : 1 more
Sound Mix:
Mono (Western Electric Recording)

Fun Stuff

Trivia:
When Gus Chisholm is strafed in the water, the various Japanese aircraft shown are American F4F Grumman "Wildcats" and American Douglas SBD "Dauntless" Divebombers more
Goofs:
Anachronisms: The film takes place in the months leading up to the Battle of Midway in June, 1942, and the pilots in it fly Grumman TBF Avenger torpedo bombers. The TBF was not introduced until just prior to Midway and saw its first operational flights at the battle. During the period in which the film takes place, the pilots would actually be flying Douglas TBD Devastator torpedo bombers instead. more
Movie Connections:
Soundtrack:
A Week-End in Havana more

FAQ

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7 out of 10 people found the following comment useful.
A Very Different View Of Midway, 16 August 2007
5/10
Author: bkoganbing from Buffalo, New York

If you want to see the actual story of the battle of Midway than definitely see the film that came out in the Seventies. If you can fast forward through the fictional plot involving Charlton Heston and his family problems you will see a very good documentary about the battle and how close run it was.

Wing and a Prayer came out two years after and there were restrictions placed on the details, probably due to the fact that one of the reasons we won it was because we had broken the Japanese naval code. Still some of the restrictions were a bit ridiculous.

Whose idea was it to cast Sir Cedric Hardwicke as an American Admiral, presumably the Chief of Naval Operations who gave us an overview of the film we were about to see in a prologue. The Chief of Naval Operations at that time was one Ernest J. King who was a rather profane man given to using universally understood words in his normal conversations. He must have had one good laugh at the very prim and proper Cedric Hardwicke playing him, in on a pass from the Royal Navy.

The aircraft carrier where the story takes place is unnamed, but I think we can assume it's the Enterprise. In charge is Admiral Charles Bickford playing most probably Raymond Spruance who had tactical command of the task force at Midway.

The plot of Wing and a Prayer centers around a conflict between Dana Andrews head of a torpedo squadron assigned to the carrier and Don Ameche, a stern by the book Naval commander in charge of the airplanes and their crews. Ameche and Andrews have conflicts similar to what Ameche had with Tyrone Power in films like In Old Chicago. If Power hadn't been in the Marines at the time serving in the real war in the Pacific, I'm sure he would have had Andrews's part.

The usual wartime clichés and characters abound in Wing and a Prayer. One unusual part is that played by William Eythe, a Hollywood actor enlisted in the service and who's one of Andrews's pilots. This might have been Darryl F. Zanuck's idea of a tribute to his main star who as I said was actually serving.

Wing and a Prayer is not a bad film, but with Midway out there it's just not the best film on the subject.

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