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IMDb > The Wings of Eagles (1957)

The Wings of Eagles (1957) More at IMDbPro »

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Overview

User Rating:
6.6/10   1,194 votes
MOVIEmeter: ?
Down 8% in popularity this week. See rank & trends on IMDbPro.
Director:
John Ford
Writers:
Frank Fenton (screenplay) and
William Wister Haines (screenplay) ...
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Contact:
View company contact information for The Wings of Eagles on IMDbPro.
Release Date:
22 February 1957 (USA) more
Genre:
Biography | Drama | War more
Tagline:
What A Guy Wayne ! more
Plot:
A biography of Navy flier-turned-screenwriter Frank W. "Spig" Wead. | add synopsis
User Comments:
Excellent more

Cast

  (Complete credited cast)

John Wayne ... Frank W. 'Spig' Wead
Dan Dailey ... 'Jughead' Carson

Maureen O'Hara ... Min Wead
Ward Bond ... John Dodge
Ken Curtis ... John Dale Price
Edmund Lowe ... Adm. Moffett
Kenneth Tobey ... Capt. Herbert Allen Hazard
James Todd ... Jack Travis
Barry Kelley ... Capt. Jock Clark
Sig Ruman ... Manager
Henry O'Neill ... Capt. Spear
Willis Bouchey ... Barton
Dorothy Jordan ... Rose Brentmann
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Additional Details

Runtime:
110 min
Country:
USA
Language:
English
Color:
Color (Metrocolor)
Sound Mix:
Mono (Westrex Recording System) | Perspecta Stereo

Fun Stuff

Trivia:
The character of John Dodge was a fictional version of John Ford. Many of the props in Dodge's office - the Oscars, the pipe, the hollow cane - were borrowed from Ford. more
Goofs:
Anachronisms: When on board the aircraft carrier, as "Spig" Wead is leaving the ship, a plane is being towed in the background. The national insignia on the side of the aircraft is incorrect. There was no red stripe in the white bars that bordered the star during WWII. This version did not come into being until after the war. more
Quotes:
John Dodge: I don't want a story just about ships and planes. I want it about the men who run them - how they live and think and talk. I want it from a pen dipped in salt water, not dry martinis. more
Movie Connections:
Referenced in Kill Bill: Vol. 1 (2003) more
Soundtrack:
Mama Inez more

FAQ

This FAQ is empty. Add the first question.
15 out of 19 people found the following comment useful:-
Excellent, 1 June 2002
8/10
Author: zetes from Saint Paul, MN

Not one of Ford's best works as a director, but it's an excellent film nonetheless. It's one of the best biopics I've ever seen. The subject is Frank "Spig" Wead, a Navy man through and through who, despite all his success in the service, was never able to make much of a connection with his wife and daughters. It was a very personal story for John Ford, who was a good friend of Wead's. Wead was the screenwriter on Ford's excellent They Were Expendable (and also Air Mail, which I haven't seen). The film concentrates on the man and his relationships. John Wayne gives a downright excellent performance as Wead. Maureen O'Hara is back as his love interest, and their interactions here are marvelous. Also giving excellent performances are Ken Curtis (maybe his best role in a Ford film), Dan Dailey, and Ward Bond as the first movie producer who hires Wead. Bond's performance is in loving imitation of John Ford. The Wings of Eagles is a very touching tribute to a friend. The only problem is that it is such a personal story to Ford that the most interesting part, the relationship with the wife and kids, is not treated fully in order to make Wead look better than he probably did in real life. 8/10.

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