The Wings of Eagles

Plot synopsis:
Soon after World War I is over, "Spig" Wead (John Wayne), along with John Dale Price (Ken Curtis), tries to prove to the Navy the value of aviation in combat. To do this, Wead pushes the Navy to compete in racing and endurance competitions. Several races are against the US Army aviation team led by Captain Herbert Allen Hazard (based on Jimmy Doolittle – played by Kenneth Tobey).
Wead spends most of his time either flying or horsing around with his teammates, meaning that his wife Minnie, or "Min" (Maureen O'Hara), and children are ignored.
The night Wead is promoted to fighter squadron commander, he falls down a flight of stairs at home, breaks his neck and is paralyzed. When "Min" tries to console him he rejects her and the family. He will only let his Navy mates like "Jughead" Carson (Dan Dailey) and Price near him. "Jughead" visits the hospital almost daily to encourage Frank's rehabilitation ("I'm gonna move that toe"). Carson also pushes "Spig" to get over his depression, try to walk, and start writing. Wead achieves some success in all three goals.
After great success in Hollywood, Wead returns to active sea duty with the Navy in World War II, developing the idea of smaller escort, or "jeep," carriers to augment the main aircraft carrier force. A heart attack sends Wead home before the war's end.
Director John Ford is himself represented in the film, in the humorously-named character of film director John Dodge, played by another Ford favorite, Ward Bond.

Tags: violence

Review:
He rarely did characters with flaws, either physical or mental.But he does a great job.Did anyone catch a wonderful comment made by Wayne while he and the naval staff were watching films of the carriers being bombed?
John Ford+John Wayne+Maureen O' Hara= Film Film Biopic.
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.
He brought to his writing a love of flying, pride in the military, and an understanding that a 'greater good' must sometimes take precedence over personal happiness.In THE WINGS OF EAGLES, director Ford illustrates how Wead's life was every bit as interesting and dramatic as anything he wrote.
A close personal friend (so much so that he even cast Ward Bond to play a thinly-disguised version of himself, named 'John Dodge', in the film), Ford was witness to many of the triumphs and tragedies of the pioneer Naval aviator/engineer's life.
After completing THE SEARCHERS, Ford commemorated the tenth anniversary of his friend's passing with this sensitive, 'warts-and-all' tribute.Wead (portrayed by John Wayne, in one of his most fully realized characterizations...he even sacrificed his hairpiece, as the older Wead, for the sake of authenticity), begins the film as a typical hell-raising Ford hero, a Navy flier who loved taunting his Army counterparts (led by the terrific Kenneth Tobey), lived for the sheer joy of flying bi-planes (even when he was clueless as to HOW to fly them), and had the love of a feisty yet devoted woman (Maureen O'Hara, of course!) But, in keeping with the tone of much of the older Ford's work, Wead's life does not tie itself up into a neat, happy package, but develops into a complex near-tragedy of a man so consumed with his career that his marriage breaks down, and has his greatest dream snatched away from him when an accident cripples him.
Wead is a 'real' person, not always likable, but someone you learn to admire for his sheer determination to contribute, and not surrender to self-pity.With an excellent supporting cast (particularly Ken Curtis, as Wead's lifelong friend, John Dale Price), THE WINGS OF EAGLES may disappoint someone looking for a 'typical' war movie, but, as a film biography, is far more honest than Hollywood's 'usual' hokum.
John Ford's biopic about the life of aviator-turned-screenwriter Frank "Spig" Wead, played by John Wayne.
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.
John Wayne gives a downright excellent performance as Wead.
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.
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.
I would love to have been a fly on the wall when those two were goin' at it.Although Wayne was fiftyish when he did this film, I think he displayed a good youthful Wead as well as the somewhat more mature one.
In one respect it is too bad that the movie stars John Wayne because the expectation is that it would feature a "gung ho" performance.
Instead it is an amazing acting effort by Wayne as a suffering, crippled, insensitive Navy officer and author whose vision and commitment made much of the Naval air force possible.
A nice biographical film about Naval Commander Frank "Spig" Wead, credited with starting the air wing of the US Navy.
"The Wings of Eagles" starred John Wayne and Maureen O'Hara and was directed by John Ford.
Wayne played Lt. Commander Frank "Spig" Wead, the man credited with getting the Navy an air wing to support its military ships, and Maureen O'Hara plays the wife that has to contend with Spig's love of country first and family second.
Dan Dailey has a good role as Wead's best friend in the military, while other members of the John Ford company of players contribute their talents to the film.
Ken Curtis shows up a good bit, and Ward Bond has a role as a film director that smacked of a caricature of John Ford.
Bond plays this to the hilt, and seemed to enjoy the chance to show Ford how he came off, at times.The scenes that were very watchable could include several fight scenes between members of the Army Air Corps and their Naval counterparts, plus a very heart rending view of Wayne's efforts to rehabilitate himself, following a fall down a flight of stairs at his house.
Hollywood biography based on a Air hero named Frank Wead with sterling performance by John Wayne.
Wonderfully shot Ford film with a lively look at the spirit of Navy , including glorification of military life , familiar drama , love and sentimental nostalgia with interesting character studio of a varied assortment of individuals .
John Ford's willingness to play it up big in his movies was normally one of the director's great strengths.
A good example is this tribute to his friend "Spig" Wead.Wead (John Wayne) is a U.
The way he sees it, "How else are we gonna get aviation?" To that end, he takes on the Army, Navy superiors, and even his wife, Min (Maureen O'Hara).
Normally, the gears didn't grind so loudly as they do here."Wings Of Eagles" is perhaps best known for Ford's insertion of an autobiographical element, a director named "John Dodge" who enlists Wead as a screenwriter, which Ford actually did after Wead's Navy career came to a sharp end.
Just a year after making "The Searchers" with Ford, the actor was in his peak thespian form and plays the valleys of Wead's life with candid abandon, even shedding his hairpiece this one time on screen.
Much of the rest of the time is spent on merry fisticuffs with rival Army aviators, or eye-rolling reaction shots from cigar- chewing Dan Dailey as Spig's enlisted buddy Jughead.Spig's virtual abandonment of his family is one of the movie's constant themes.
This bio-pic about the naval aviation proponent and writer Frank "Spig" Wead may have one sitting on the fence for a moment or two at the beginning, not sure whether or not to stay with it, but there's a magic that slowly casts its spell, with the Metrocolor and a great opening set in Pensacola, Florida in the 20's, and John Wayne as "Spig" Wead commandeering a pontoon plane and crashing it right into a big party for southern belles and military brass.
For a John Ford-John Wayne collaboration that maybe not that many people have ever even heard of, this film is a true surprise, not only looking fantastic with the sets and color, but featuring great acting from Wayne in a very different role for him.
John Ford's tribute to Frank 'Spig' Wead(John Wayne) the pioneer aviator who helped develop naval air power and later turned to screen writing.
Well directed with top notch sets; and an all-star cast that features:Maureen O'Hara, Dan Dailey, Ken Curtis, Barry Kelley, Edmund Lowe and Ward Bond even "spoofs" Ford himself.
In this absurd John Ford biography, John Wayne and Maureen O'Hara play the young Mr.
Favorite early film moment: check out the way Wayne attacks Ms. O'Hara's face in the "love scene" before the accident!
Intermission: John Wayne and Dan Daily sing, "I'm Gonna Move That Toe".The movie becomes more dramatic.
Not so for O'Hara; who looks like Maureen O'Hara with an ugly streak of silver paint in her hair.Check out the scene with Wayne saying, "it's too late"; then, O'Hara kisses his balding head - a symbolic way of saying, "John Wayne, you are older than your years, take it easy, we love you." It's a very nicely photographed scene, and the highlight of the movie.
*** The Wings of Eagles (2/22/57) John Ford ~ John Wayne, Maureen O'Hara, Ward Bond, Dan Dailey.
I feel like I'm missing something...Spig sacrifices his personal life with that bad-ass Maureen O'Hara because of his sense of duty to the Navy.
Frank "Spig" Wead's life story, as directed by real-life friend John Ford, starring John Wayne as the hot-shot aviation expert who transforms the U.S. Navy in the 1920s with his piloting prowess, rivaling (but not alienating) the Army in aviation power; later, after suffering a spinal cord injury and a separation from his wife and children, Wead discovers an untapped talent for writing, becoming a successful screenwriter and playwright!
John Wayne and Maureen O'Hara, both of whom toss cigarettes and matches away with abandon, are reassuring as husband and wife, and though O'Hara's initial exit is perplexing, Ford's handling of the narrative doesn't jar us with unresolved feelings.
John Wayne plays Spig Wead, credited with starting the Navy flying program, and Maureen O'Hara plays his long suffering wife.
My husband loves this film, but neither Wayne nor O'Hara seem to have been trying to act in it.
It's worth seeing for the aerial sequences, and if you like war movies.It's got a lot of the John Ford acting company in it, but Ford must have been sick during the direction of it.
The only good scenes have Ward Bond in them, when he plays a film director named "John Dodge"; he does a wonderfully hammy impression of John Ford..
This is all despite the producers having some great WW2 footage at their disposal, and the help of the US Navy.I mainly watched this because it starred John Wayne.
John Ford took the inspiration for this film from the actual life story of Frank 'spig' Wead, (John Wayne) who was a naval aviator and Hollywood writer.
Despite it being a comical look at the silly escapades with his life-time friends in the army and navy, it also illuminates the guilt laden sorrow between his wife (Maureen O'Hara) and the unfortunate tragedy like the loss of his first son which the couple had to endure.
A Great film for Wayne and a movie which became a Classic for his fans.
Interesting story but not one of John Wayne's better movies..
Maureen O'Hara is teamed with a very inferior part in "The Wings of Eagles," a moving tribute based on a true story...As Wayne's neglected, temperamental wife, she finds her dedicated husband frequently spending most of his time and energy on improving the status of Navy aviation...On the night, Wayne is appointed skipper of a fighter squadron, he falls down a flight of stairs and suffers back injuries that render him a cripple...Determined to fight his way back to some kind of independence, he persuades his wife to leave him and live her own life with their two daughters...Nursed back to health by his sidekick (Dan Daileylargely instrumental in motivating him in physical rehabilitation) he begins a new civilian career as a successful Hollywood writer...Just when Wayne and Maureen, now a successful businesswoman, plan a reconciliation, news is broadcast of the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor...Maureen is last seen having another test of Irish temper as she heaves her half-packed suitcase across the room, frustrated that she again has lost her husband to the Navy...Despite his handicap, Wayne is sent to the Pacific theater of war to supervise his revolutionary jeep-carrier tactical system...The film is filled with humor: Wayne's plane landing in the swimming pool strike in the middle of the admiral's out-door tea party; the clubroom fight and cake throwing; the assorted cast members falling into the pool...
John Ford remarked that Wings of Eagles was the last really good film he directed and though I disagree with that, Wings of Eagles does rank as one of his and John Wayne's best films.It's a loving tribute to a great American hero and friend of theirs, Frank W.
For John Ford he did the screenplays for his films Airmail and They Were Expendable.After Pearl Harbor Wead applied for and got active duty though he was desk bound at first.
And eventually he did get to the Pacific Theater and served on one of the carriers he fought so valiantly for in and out of uniform.Wayne gives one of his best screen performances and he's equally matched by Maureen O'Hara as his wife and Dan Dailey as his good friend who sees him through the paralysis and eventual recovery.There's no happy ending here for the Duke and Maureen, unlike Rio Grande and The Quiet Man. Spig is a flawed human being, as dedicated to partying and carousing as he is to the Navy and Naval Aviation.
She calls him, "Star Spangled Spig" but from a term of derision it becomes one of admiration.Wings of Eagles proved to be the last film for character actor Henry O'Neill who plays one of Wead's Navy doctors.
Was this how John Ford saw himself?As long as America produces men and women like Spig Wead this country will endure.
The best John Wayne movie, besides The Shootist.
Also, a tip of the hat to the part of the story dealing with nerve injuries and rehab, and the backdrop of America's unpreparedness in air power post-WW I, think about Billy Mitchell while you're watching this movie.Must see for Wayne, O'Hara, or John Ford fans..
It's more a reference to the light and silly spirit of the first half of the film where John Wayne and Dan Dailey act a little more like frat boys than navy fliers.
Once 'Spig' Wead (Wayne) is nearly killed in an accident and is so badly hurt that his flying days are over, the movie seemed a lot more like a real-life version of the life of this actual person who served in the US Navy and was a consultant to Hollywood.
John Ford - John Wayne = good.
This film is an effort by famed Director John Ford to pay homage to a close personal friend of his.
Ford knew Frank "Spig" Wead very well and, from what I've heard and read, the Director pulled no punches in his portrayal of his friend.
A good example is the scene in Spig Wead's (John Wayne's) office, with Pincus (Tige Andrews) and Carson (Dan Dailey).
"I didn't want to make it," said Ford about the movie, "but I didn't want anybody else to make it." Probably no one else would have made it.The romance between Wayne and O'Hara is handled clumsily.
At one point in the film, Ford ridicules himself ("John Dodge") instead of someone in his cast.The director was beginning to run out of steam by this time.
It sounds like a fond personal relationship had a lot to do with the decision to make this film, as the popularity of Frank 'Spig' Wead's pulp and magazine stories eventually led him to Hollywood and a friendship with director John Ford.
Not that his military life didn't merit consideration for the subject of a film itself, but his failings as a husband and father seemed to outweigh in a sense, a lot of the good he achieved in terms of personal success.
There's more in the way of military camaraderie on display before it gets to Spig Wead's daunting accident that sidelined his career, thereby pointing him in the direction of writing about naval and aviation history, for which he was considered a recognized authority.
Weaded Out. With John Wayne, John Ford, Dan Dailey, and Maureen O'Hara involved in a true life story of a friend, you expect a perfect film here.
John Wayne plays a person who is looked upon as a hero, and give the film credit, it shows that he had many flaws.
Maureen O'Hara only gets a few good scenes in this one as his wife.The interesting thing to Wead is that even after this miracle, he still does not appear to have learned any lesson about change.
His priorities stay out of whack and he never seems to get a personal life with goals that make sense.Wayne is not comfortable playing Wead, and Ford though accurate with the main character, appears not to get a lot of the fine detail work of events behind the Biopic accurate.
The other was this film, and what I specifically remembered was the final scene where Frank Wead is transferred from his ship to another to be retired.
Or, did John Ford just try to make it a good and fun story?
As I watched this film, what was mostly on my mind was what a lousy husband and father Frank Wead was...at least as portrayed in this film.John Wayne did quite an admirable job acting here, particularly because it is not the kind of role -- a cripple -- that we usually associate with Wayne.
But, as the old saying goes, "They also serve who only stand and wait." Perhaps, next to Wayne, the best portrayal goes to Dan Dailey.Maureen O'Hara and John Wayne were excellent together, although of their pairings this is my least favorite.In the past year or so I've reexamined quite a few of John Wayne's films, and overall I'm more impressed than I remembered.
If you haven't seen this film, and you like Wayne at all, you ought to watch it...at least once.