''Winning Your Wings'' is a 1942 Allied propaganda film of World War II produced by Warner Bros. Studios for the

US Army Air Forces The United States Army Air Forces (USAAF or AAF) was the major land-based aerial warfare service component of the United States Army and ''de facto'' aerial warfare service branch of the United States during and immediately after World War II ...

, starring

James Stewart James Maitland Stewart (May 20, 1908 – July 2, 1997) was an American actor and military pilot. Known for his distinctive drawl and everyman screen persona, Stewart's film career spanned 80 films from 1935 to 1991. With the strong morality ...

. It was aimed at young men who were thinking about joining the Air Force. Members of the production crew would later form the core of the First Motion Picture Unit. After a BT trainer lands on a tarmac, a pilot in full flight gear gets out and walks toward the camera. Once he comes near enough to be recognized as Stewart, he begins his narration: "I want to talk to you all today about one of my favorite subjects, the Army Air Forces." "First, are there any questions?" Then begins a series of vignettes in which young men in different social positions ask about being in the air force, such as a college student, a high school student, and a 26-year-old worker with a family. Stewart assures each that they can join the air force and still be able to keep their various educational, occupational and family commitments. Then the film details the average mustering in process, about the medical exams, the cadet training and learning how to fly. The short recruitment film appeared in movie theaters nationwide beginning in late May 1942 and was very successful, resulting in 150,000 new recruits. Due to

racial segregation Racial segregation is the systematic separation of people into racial or other ethnic groups in daily life. Racial segregation can amount to the international crime of apartheid and a crime against humanity under the Statute of the Intern ...

policies of the U.S. Army Air Forces, there are no

African American African Americans (also referred to as Black Americans and Afro-Americans) are an ethnic group consisting of Americans with partial or total ancestry from sub-Saharan Africa. The term "African American" generally denotes descendants of ens ...

s depicted in the film, although, at the time of the film's creation, the first black aviators had already begun serving in the military, mainly the

Tuskegee Airmen The Tuskegee Airmen were a group of primarily African American military pilots (fighter and bomber) and airmen who fought in World War II. They formed the 332d Fighter Group and the 477th Fighter Group, 477th Bombardment Group (Medium) of the ...

program. ''Winning Your Wings'' was preserved by the

Academy Film Archive The Academy Film Archive is part of the Academy Foundation, established in 1944 with the purpose of organizing and overseeing the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences’ educational and cultural activities, including the preservation of m ...

and the

UCLA Film and Television Archive The UCLA Film & Television Archive is a visual arts organization focused on the preservation, study, and appreciation of film and television, based at the University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA). Also a nonprofit exhibition venue, the a ...

in 2013. This film was produced in 1942 during World War II and therefore the aircraft production numbers described in the film are likely to have been inflated for propaganda and misinformation to the enemy purposes. They do not correlate with World War II aircraft production or United States aircraft production during World War II.

References

External links

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''Winning Your Wings''
at the

National Archives and Records Administration The National Archives and Records Administration (NARA) is an " independent federal agency of the United States government within the executive branch", charged with the preservation and documentation of government and historical records. It ...

1942 films American World War II propaganda shorts First Motion Picture Unit films American aviation films Films directed by John Huston Films scored by Alfred Newman Films about the United States Army Air Forces Articles containing video clips American black-and-white films American war drama films 1940s war drama films 1940s English-language films 1940s American films {{war-film-stub