Audience Rating: NR (Not Rated)
Binding: VHS Tape
EAN: 9786301978590
Format: NTSC
ISBN: 6301978595
Label: MGM (Warner)
Languages: Array
Manufacturer: MGM (Warner)
Number Of Items: 1
Publisher: MGM (Warner)
Release Date: 1992-04-01
Running Time: 110
Studio: MGM (Warner)
Theatrical Release Date: 1957-02-22

John Ford had a big emotional investment in The Wings of Eagles, and his favorite star John Wayne rewarded the director with one of his strongest performances. The subject is Frank "Spig" Wead, Naval aviation legend turned Hollywood screenwriter, who had written Ford's very good 1932 movie Air Mail and his magnificent WWII elegy They Were Expendable (1945). On the latter, Ford made the extraordinary gesture of putting Wead's screenplay credit on the same main-title panel as his own.

Ford was fond of exploring the theme of "victory in defeat." Wead's life was made to order for that. The hell-raising flyboy shenanigans, and his flailing marriage to a scrappy Irish redhead (The Quiet Man's Maureen O'Hara reporting for duty), were abruptly curtailed by a fall that left him with severe spinal damage. He should never have been able to walk again, but he fought his way back to limited mobility and built a new career as a writer. And when WWII broke out, Wead talked his way into uniform once more and made a key contribution to the Pacific air war.

It would be satisfying to report that The Wings of Eagles is a triumph--that the broad comedy of the early reels cuts brilliantly against the raw pain of the Weads' marriage, the grief of a family broken and mended and broken again, the film's specters of death and deep frustration. There are powerful moments--especially the complex, scalding scene of the newly injured Spig dismissing Min (O'Hara) from his life. But the low comedy is very low, the visual style sometimes stark but more often just drab, and the screenplay is very choppy about the passage of time. Ford-Wayne pal Ward Bond turns up as a crusty movie director with a walking stick full of booze, an office full of Western memorabilia, and the nudge-nudge moniker "John Dodge." --Richard T. Jameson

Customer Rating:
Summary: Its Army vs Navy
Comment: Wings of Eagles is the lighthearted story of naval Commander Frank W. (Spig) Weed, a pioneer in naval aviation at the end of WWI. While not a biography in the strictest sense the movie highlights his life adventures, beginning as he serves as one of the first naval flight cadets and ending with his final retirement during WWII. John Wayne stars in the role of Spig, Maureen O'Hara as his wife and Dan Dailey as the supportive Navy CPO "Jughead" Carson.

While somewhat comical at times, the movie portrays actually events as Spig takes on the Army in the quest to support naval aviation. Unfortunately, life takes a nasty turn leaving Spig Weed crippled with little chance of recovery and now medically out of the navy. Spig now turns to writing and is offered a job to write about the navy for a Hollywood producer. As WWII approaches and Spig is able to maneuver his way back to the Navy with the help his supportive naval friends. While not your typical John Wayne movie this one is worth a look-see.

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Customer Rating:
Summary: The Wings of Eagles
Comment: A awesome war film envolving John Wayne and Ms. O' Hara! A must have for fans of the duke!

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Customer Rating:
Summary: The best of John Wayne
Comment: One of my favorite JW movies. I saw it when it was a new production... way back when... and it is still a great insight into an American hero, Spig Wead.

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Customer Rating:
Summary: The Wings of Eagles
Comment: This is a great war movie and I enjoyed it very much also a great acting job by John Wayne, Dan Dailey and Maureen O'Hara and a great supporting cast. They were even funny sometimes.

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Customer Rating:
Summary: I never received my order.
Comment: What else can I say - I've never gotten the DVD I ordered, The Wings of Eagles.

Joyce

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