| Complete credited cast: | |||
| John Wayne | ... | ||
| Dan Dailey | ... |
'Jughead' Carson
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| Maureen O'Hara | ... |
Min Wead
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| Ward Bond | ... | ||
| Ken Curtis | ... |
John Dale Price
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| Edmund Lowe | ... |
Adm. Moffett
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| Kenneth Tobey | ... |
Capt. Herbert Allen Hazard
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James Todd | ... |
Jack Travis
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Barry Kelley | ... |
Capt. Jock Clark
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Sig Ruman | ... |
Manager
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Henry O'Neill | ... |
Capt. Spear
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| Willis Bouchey | ... |
Barton
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| Dorothy Jordan | ... |
Rose Brentmann
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U.S. Navy pilot Frank 'Spig' Wead is a fun-loving and rowdy adventurer, but also a fierce proponent of Naval aviation. His dedication to the promotion of the Navy's flying program is so intense that his marriage and family life suffer. When an accident paralyzes him, Spig finds a new means of expressing his love of flying: screenwriting. Successful and acclaimed, he finds the U.S. entry into World War II to be an irresistible call. Pleading that he be reinstated in the Navy despite his paralysis, Spig finds he has an enormous contribution yet to make. Written by Jim Beaver <jumblejim@prodigy.net>
The iconic director and his usual cast of players take on Naval Aviation in this look at a man who helped to advance navy aviation as John Wayne again looms on the screen bigger than life in the role of Frank "Spig" Wead, a pioneer of the navy air corps. Based on the autobiography of Wead the usual themes of adventure, patriotism and romance abound with stellar supporting roles with veteran actors like Ken Curtis, Dan Daily, and Ward Bond as a thinly veiled portrait of director Ford himself. Set against the background of World War II the film is about courage and commitment in a big way, and there really is not another actor who could have brought it to the screen with the believability that the "Duke" manages so easily. One of his finer roles.