I Wanted Wings

When Constance Bennet's character is sitting on the tail of the bomber taking pictures, she's using a range finder camera. When she jumps down, she's now holding a TLR (twin lens reflex).

I Wanted Wings has a lot of heavyweights in the cast; William Holden, Veronica Lake, Ray Milland, and Brian Donlevy. The production values are first-rate and it is right up there with Air Force, one of the best Air Pilot movies of all time. Even Wayne Morris was good, and he wasn't even playing a detective.

There was only one part of the film that I found unbelievable. How anyone would dump Veronica Lake for Constance Bennett is well beyond my comprehension. Veronica Lake was SMOKIN HOT!. I would landed one of those planes in Yankee Stadium to get a date with her. Other than that, the training of what would shortly become WW 2 pilots was very incisive. The script was believable, and the cinematography first-rate. It reminded me a bit of An Officer and a Gentleman. Recommended

The story begins at a court martial. Jeff (Ray Milland) is in serious trouble and Al (William Holden) appears to speak up for him. Al's story is told in a flashback that lasts the duration of the film. There were three cadets in flight school who are friends. Jeff is a rich but nice guy, Al is a poor gas station attendant and Tom is a happy goofball. The film follows them through flight school, showing their ups and downs. In addition, there is a side story about Al and his short relationship with a real screw-ball, Sally (Veronica Lake). She is, to put it bluntly, unhinged and when he drops her, she vows to destroy him! And, during the rest of the picture she appears periodically to cause chaos (probably what psychotherapists would label a 'Borderline personality').

Aside from making all three cadets too impulsive and stupid at times, this is a rather enjoyable film. I particularly enjoy airplane flicks. Like many of Hollywood's films from 1940-41, it seems as if the movie folks knew US involvement in WWII would begin soon and so they began making movies glorifying the military and, in particular, making military training look wonderful (such as in "Caught in the Draft", "High Flyers" and "Buck Privates").

I was to be a guard at the phony gate as the stars passed through but I was not in the picture when released. I was a private in the U.S. Army Air Corps at Kelly Field. I am sorely disappointed that some movie studio has the picture locked up so no one can now obtain a copy except at an exorbitant price on eBay. This picture seemed to be the "launch pad" for many in the cast. It was fun to see and hear stars such as Brian Donlevy and Ray Milland complaining about the hot weather at San Antonio. During the filming a plane crashed on the runway and the pilot burned in it. It seemed so very ironic that it happened in front of the cameras in reality while so much boring stuff was staged. I saw the movie in New Your on my way to Europe in WWII. Forrest Lee Green

As a former Air Force pilot, I noticed that none of the pilots wore their wings while in their workaday blouses (as opposed to flight suits or more formal jacket and tie uniforms). That must have been standard just before WW II. The film is hardly a gung-ho recruitment poster. It shows some unconvincing cowardice (from Ray Milland) and some slightly more convincing insecurity (from Wm. Holden). It does have some good shots of training planes doing aerobatics -- and those must have been responsible for the Academy Award for special effects. Holden's emergency landing in a small field is also well done. The film hints at the kinds of things pilots have to learn, but doesn't educate us to the process. The early version of the B-17 did not have a tail-gun, so that design feature permits Veronica Lake to stowaway late in the film. By the way, the base security at March Field must have been really lax! Lake is wonderful as a sinuous singer (voice dubbed) in a glimmering gown. That she turns out to be Holden's ex-ember strains credulity. But this sub-plot is strong, simply because of Lake and Holden, who is given the only three-dimensional character in the film and who deals with his character with restraint. The love plot between Milland and Moore is bland, except for the brief instant when she grants him permission to kiss her. While the film was made in 1941, the pilot class that Holden, Milland, and Wayne Morris (who later became a Navy ace) is 38a -- early 1938. The film, then, is supposed to depict a time-span of a little more than two years, though we are given few signals about when it happens -- other than the elegant late 30s autos -- or how much time the action consumes.