The Wings of Eagles

I'll close the book on Maureen O'Hara (at least until Christmas, when I hope to check back in with The Miracle on 34th Street) with The Wings of Eagles, a 1957 picture directed by John Ford and starring, who else, but John Wayne. Arguably O'Hara's most notable film was The Quiet Man, with Wayne and directed by Ford, and in the last decade or so of her career she made a few more films with Wayne, such as Big Jake and McClintock!

The Wings of Eagles is Wayne's show, though. It is the real life story of Frank "Spig" Wead, who was a navy flier turned screenwriter, and in fact a friend of Ford's. The first part of the film is almost unwatchable, a melange of slapstick farce and tragedy, where we are asked to believe Wayne, then 50 years old, as a young man, one of the first naval airmen, driving around in a Stutz Bearcat and dangerously piloting a plane that ends up crash landing at an admiral's tea party.

Wead didn't see action in World War I, but spent much of the post-war period publicizing military air defense by participating in races and other competitions. But an accident, not in a plane, but falling down stairs, paralyzed him, and he spent some grueling time trying to regain the ability to walk, which he did, though helped with canes.

The film gets interesting when Wead, who tried his hand at writing pulp stories, is approached by Hollywood. Ward Bond plays a thinly-veiled version of Ford (all those shiny Oscars in his office) that is a wonderful scene for movie buffs and shows that Ford did have a sense of humor about himself. Wead is successful, and even writes plays for Broadway.

O'Hara plays Wead's long-suffering wife, who is frequently alone due to his travels. He finally lets her go when he is injured, too proud to want her at his bedside. This angle is remarkably adult for a film of this type, showing that not everything is rosy in a marriage. The two are set to reconcile when Pearl Harbor happens, and Wead volunteers for a desk job, but ends up on something of his own design, a "jeep carrier," which ferries planes and other materiel to aircraft carriers.

The Wings of Eagles is corny as hell and would have been better off not trying to be funny. Dan Dailey, as Wead's longtime friend, has some nice scenes when he won't let Wead give up after being injured, but otherwise there's too much Broadway musical in his performance.

As Wayne/Ford films go, this one is below average, but military buffs may find it worthwhile.