''Wings of Destiny'' is a 1940 action

war film War film is a film genre concerned with warfare, typically about naval, air, or land battles, with combat scenes central to the drama. It has been strongly associated with the 20th century. The fateful nature of battle scenes means that war fi ...

directed by

Rupert Kathner Rupert Kathner (1904–1954) was an Australian film director best known for newsreels and low-budget films. He worked with Alma Brooks, an ex-barmaid, who co-produced, operated the camera, edited, co-scripted and acted in their films.Morgan Kathne ...

and starring

Marshall Crosby Marshall Crosby (18 February 1882 – 1 January 1954) was a popular Australian actor and singer of film, theatre, radio and TV. He appeared in a number of shows for J. C. Williamson Ltd and was a leading radio actor, remembered for his role ...

and

John Fernside John Fernside (died 27 October 1957, aged 65) was an Australian actor who worked extensively on stage and screen from the 1910s through to 1950s. He co-starred with Chips Rafferty in two Australian films of the 1940s; ''The Overlanders'' (1946) an ...

. The film is about the activities of

fifth columnists A fifth column is any group of people who undermine a larger group or nation from within, usually in favor of an enemy group or another nation. According to Harris Mylonas and Scott Radnitz, "fifth columns" are “domestic actors who work to un ...

in Australia during the

Second World War World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...

. ''Wings of Destiny'' was one of the first films of the war to depict fifth columnists as well as the

aboriginal Australians Aboriginal Australians are the various Indigenous peoples of the Australian mainland and many of its islands, such as Tasmania, Fraser Island, Hinchinbrook Island, the Tiwi Islands, and Groote Eylandt, but excluding the Torres Strait Islands ...

Plot

A group of Australian officials are investigating a reported discovery of

wolframite Wolframite is an iron, manganese, and tungstate mineral with a chemical formula of that is the intermediate between ferberite ( rich) and hübnerite ( rich). Along with scheelite, the wolframite series are the most important tungsten ore minerals ...

, a strategic material needed for the manufacture of munitions. The rich mineral is found in central Australia on land owned by Frederick Jamieson (

), a rich businessman. They also realize that German agent, Mark Heinrich (

) is behind an attempt to steal the war matériel. When an aircraft flown by Jamieson's pilot, Jerry Marsden (Jim McMahon), is sabotaged by Heinrich, the aircraft is forced down in the outback. Marsden and mechanic Monty Martin (George Lloyd) survive and encounter "Mulga" Flannigan (Reginald King), an old prospector who warns the pair about the dangers of the outback. The next morning, in affirmation of the lurid tales Mulga has told, another prospector staggers into their improvised campsite, with a spear wound and soon dies. Aboriginals, including Peters (

Raymond Longford Raymond Longford (born John Walter Hollis Longford, 23 September 18782 April 1959) was a prolific Australian film director, writer, producer and actor during the silent era. Longford was a major director of the silent film era of the Australian ...

, a bushman, offers to help them. An aircraft flown by Tommy Ryan (Johnny Williams) swoops low over the stranded fliers, but Ryan, who is working for Heinrich, flies on to

Alice Springs Alice Springs ( aer, Mparntwe) is the third-largest town in the Northern Territory of Australia. Known as Stuart until 31 August 1933, the name Alice Springs was given by surveyor William Whitfield Mills after Alice, Lady Todd (''née'' Al ...

. Ryan lies about what he had seen, telling Marion (Patricia McDonald), Jamieson's daughter, who loves Marsden, that the young pilot was killed. Ryan was told to kill Marsden but tries to find a way to double cross the enemy agent. Deciding to press his advantage, Heinrich visits Jamieson, hoping to force the businessman to surrender his claim on the wolframite mineral. The meeting devolves into violence and Jamieson is shot and killed. Marion is threatened but Ryan appears to confront him. Ultimately, Marion is rescued and Heinrich is apprehended.

Cast

as Frederick Jamieson *

as Mark Heinrich * George Lloyd as Monty Martin * Cecil Perry as Arthur Rogers * Johnny Williams as Tommy Ryan * Jim McMahon as Jerry Marsden * Reginald King as "Mulga" Flannigan * Patricia McDonald as Marion Jamieson *

as Peters * Stan Robinson as prospector

Production

''Wings of Destiny'' was shot, in part, on location at the Sydney waterfront and featured footage of aboriginal tribal life from Kathner's earlier film, '' Phantom Gold'' (1937). It reportedly took two years to research and six months to film at a cost of "thousands of good Australian pounds." "Australia talkies at last."
'' The Biz'', Fairfield, NSW (via National Library of Australia), 7 December 1939, p. 11. Retrieved: 18 August 2012.

has a small role as an old bushman who rescues the party in the desert.Pike and Cooper 1998, p. 191. The aircraft used in ''Wings of Destiny'' was a

Ryan Brougham The Ryan Brougham was a small single-engine airliner produced in the United States in the late 1920s and early 1930s.Taylor 1989, p. 772. Its design was reminiscent of the M-1 mailplane first produced by Ryan in 1926, and like it, was a high-wi ...

Release

''Wings of Destiny'' was previewed to the press, after which some scenes at

were deleted and a courtroom scene was added to the end of the film. It was passed for registration as an Australian quota production under the

Film Quota Act The Film Quota Act, full title the New South Wales Cinematograph Films (Australian Quota) Act was an act of legislation passed in September 1935 that came into force on 1 January 1936. Under the Act it was compulsory that in the first year of opera ...

and released in September 1940. Reviews and public reception were poor. The critic from ''

The Sydney Morning Herald ''The Sydney Morning Herald'' (''SMH'') is a daily compact newspaper published in Sydney, New South Wales, Australia, and owned by Nine. Founded in 1831 as the ''Sydney Herald'', the ''Herald'' is the oldest continuously published newspaper ...

'' called ''Wings of Destiny'':

... A very inferior picture... The story contains evidence and imagination, and the film has some good photography, but the camera is never allowed to roam, so that almost every interior scene is focussed on some corner of a room, and remains there until the scene ends. The exterior scenes are much better... Occasionally dramatic tension is achieved, also some good Australian characterisation."Convoy."
''
The Sydney Morning Herald ''The Sydney Morning Herald'' (''SMH'') is a daily compact newspaper published in Sydney, New South Wales, Australia, and owned by Nine. Founded in 1831 as the ''Sydney Herald'', the ''Herald'' is the oldest continuously published newspaper ...
'' (via National Library of Australia), 16 September 1940, p. 3. Retrieved: 18 August 2012.

References

Notes

Citations

Bibliography

* Munson, Kenneth. ''Airliners from 1919 to the Present Day''. London: Peerage Books, 1982. . * Pike, Andrew and Ross Cooper. ''Australian Film 1900–1977: A Guide to Feature Film Production''. Melbourne, Australia: Oxford University Press, 1998. .

External links

''Wings of Destiny''
in the

Internet Movie Database IMDb (an abbreviation of Internet Movie Database) is an online database of information related to films, television series, home videos, video games, and streaming content online – including cast, production crew and personal biographies, ...

''Wings of Destiny''
at Oz Movies {{Rupert Kathner 1940 films 1940s action war films Australian aviation films Australian black-and-white films Australian action war films 1940 war films 1940s English-language films 1940s Australian films