''Wings for the Eagle'' (aka ''Shadow of Their Wings'') is a 1942 American

drama film In film and television, drama is a category or genre of narrative fiction (or semi-fiction) intended to be more serious than humorous in tone. Drama of this kind is usually qualified with additional terms that specify its particular super-g ...

starring

Ann Sheridan Clara Lou "Ann" Sheridan (February 21, 1915 – January 21, 1967) was an American actress and singer. She is best known for her roles in the films ''San Quentin'' (1937) with Humphrey Bogart, ''Angels with Dirty Faces'' (1938) with James Cagne ...

Dennis Morgan Dennis Morgan (born Earl Stanley Morner, December 20, 1908 – September 7, 1994) was an American actor-singer. He used the acting pseudonym Richard Stanley before adopting the name under which he gained his greatest fame. According to one obi ...

Jack Carson John Elmer Carson (October 27, 1910 – January 2, 1963) was a Canadian-born American film actor. Carson often played the role of comedic friend in films of the 1940s and 1950s, including ''The Strawberry Blonde'' (1941) with James Cagney and ...

and

George Tobias George Tobias (July 14, 1901 – February 27, 1980) was an American theater, film and television actor. He had character parts and supporting roles in several major films of Hollywood's Golden Age. He is also known for his role as Abner K ...

, directed by

Lloyd Bacon Lloyd Francis Bacon (December 4, 1889 – November 15, 1955) was an American screen, stage and vaudeville actor and film director. As a director he made films in virtually all genres, including westerns, musicals, comedies, gangster films, an ...

. It tells the story of workers at a Lockheed aircraft assembly plant in the months preceding the

attack on Pearl Harbor The attack on Pearl HarborAlso known as the Battle of Pearl Harbor was a surprise military strike by the Imperial Japanese Navy Air Service upon the United States against the naval base at Pearl Harbor in Honolulu, Territory of Hawaii, j ...

. It was the first of 11 films in which Morgan and Carson appeared together, though they did not become known as a movie "team" until a few years later.

Plot

In 1940, Corky Jones (

) and Gil Borden (

Don DeFore Donald John DeFore (August 25, 1913 – December 22, 1993) was an American actor. He is best known for his roles in the sitcom ''The Adventures of Ozzie and Harriet'' from 1952 to 1957 and the sitcom ''Hazel'' from 1961 to 1965, the former of w ...

) come to

Burbank, California Burbank is a city in the southeastern end of the San Fernando Valley in Los Angeles County, California, United States. Located northwest of downtown Los Angeles, Burbank has a population of 107,337. The city was named after David Burbank, w ...

, looking for jobs. They get work at the Lockheed aircraft factory. Corky stays with his friend Brad Maple (

) and his wife Roma (

) Brad is unemployed. At work, Corky befriends Jake Hanso (

) and his son Pete (

Russell Arms Russell may refer to: People * Russell (given name) * Russell (surname) * Lady Russell (disambiguation) * Lord Russell (disambiguation) Places Australia *Russell, Australian Capital Territory *Russell Island, Queensland (disambiguation) **Ru ...

). Pete is studying to become a military pilot. Corky rents a room from Jake after Brad becomes jealous of him. Jake is a supervisor at the plant, born abroad, who loses his job because he is not a citizen. Roma leaves Brad. Corky begins dating Roma, and the two men fight over her, creating a

romantic triangle A love triangle or eternal triangle is a scenario or circumstance, usually depicted as a rivalry, in which two people are pursuing or involved in a romantic relationship with one person, or in which one person in a romantic relationship with so ...

. When the Japanese launch a sneak attack on Pearl Harbor, Pete reports for service. He is killed in action. Corky joins the military as an air cadet, and he arranges for Roma and Brad to get back together. On an early mission his plane shoots down a Japanese fighter, avenging Pete's death.

Cast

Production

''Wings for the Eagle'', originally titled ''Shadow of Their Wings'' was partly set in Burbank, California near the Lockheed Corporation which had built a production facility where 45 buildings spread out over 550 acres. Warner Bros. received permission to shoot at the Lockheed plant, but, for security reasons, the film crew and actors were instructed to keep a birth certificate on them at all times. The original casting had

Ronald Reagan Ronald Wilson Reagan ( ; February 6, 1911June 5, 2004) was an American politician, actor, and union leader who served as the 40th president of the United States from 1981 to 1989. He also served as the 33rd governor of California from 1967 ...

co-starring with Dennis Morgan but he was replaced by Morgan and Jack Carson became the "sidekick". Warner Bros. advertised the connection with Lockheed in a full-page ad in ''Life'' magazine, dedicating the film, "to the workers who actually build Wings for the Eagle. To the workers of America's Fighting aircraft industry ... men and women devoted to the new gospel "We can! We must! We Will!" ''Wings for the Eagle'' was churned out quickly between January 12–February 1942 at both the Lockheed plant and the Curtiss-Wright Aircraft Company in Buffalo, New York, using a near-

documentary film A documentary film or documentary is a non-fictional film, motion-picture intended to "document reality, primarily for the purposes of instruction, education or maintaining a Recorded history, historical record". Bill Nichols (film critic), Bil ...

style. At the conclusion of the production, Sheridan, Morgan and Carson went on war bond tours together. Later, Morgan and Carson would visit hospitals and camps throughout the South Pacific during the war.LaBianco, Lorraine
"Articles: 'Wings for the Eagle' (1942)."
''TCM'', 2019. Retrieved: June 23, 2019. Aviation film historian Stephen Pendo in ''Aviation in the Cinema'' (1985) described how ''Wings for the Eagle'' benefited from its association with Lockheed, especially being able to photograph the ceremony highlighting the rollout of the 2,000th aircraft produced for the war effort. An interesting anecdote involved "

Billy Curtis Billy Curtis (born Luigi Curto; June 27, 1909 – November 9, 1988) was an American film and television actor with dwarfism, who had a 50-year career in the entertainment industry. Career The bulk of his work was in the western and science fict ...

, a midget, who showed one way of solving a fuselage construction problem."

Reception

The New York Times ''The New York Times'' (''the Times'', ''NYT'', or the Gray Lady) is a daily newspaper based in New York City with a worldwide readership reported in 2020 to comprise a declining 840,000 paid print subscribers, and a growing 6 million paid ...

'' called Wings for the Eagle "a rather substantial and satisfying film," but said it "doesn't have the tight construction of its planes and it lacks some of the flaring excitement of films devoted mainly to scenes of air combat." ''

The Los Angeles Times ''The'' () is a grammatical article in English, denoting persons or things already mentioned, under discussion, implied or otherwise presumed familiar to listeners, readers, or speakers. It is the definite article in English. ''The'' is the m ...

'' said the film won't make motion picture history but "is a satisfactory enough passing event, important now."

References

Notes

Citations

Bibliography

* Beck, Simon D. ''The Aircraft-Spotter's Film and Television Companion''. Jefferson, North Carolina: McFarland & Company, 2016. . * Paris, Michael. ''From the Wright Brothers to Top Gun: Aviation, Nationalism, and Popular Cinema.'' Manchester, UK: Manchester University Press, 1995. . * Pendo, Stephen. ''Aviation in the Cinema''. Lanham, Maryland: Scarecrow Press, 1985. .

External links

* * * * {{Lloyd Bacon 1942 films 1942 romantic drama films American aviation films American black-and-white films American romantic drama films American World War II propaganda films Films directed by Lloyd Bacon Films scored by Friedrich Hollaender Films set in 1940 Films set in 1941 Films set in California Warner Bros. films 1940s English-language films