I Wanted Wings

I was either 12 or 13 when I saw this movie and it probably had much to do with my becoming a United States Air Force pilot. Shortly after I saw the movie my father and I attended the grand opening of Ellington Field in Houston and I saw a P-38 and fell in love with aviation.

I have seen the movie again in recent years and after twenty-nine years in the Air Force tend to pick the movie apart for the "Hollywood" production which is frequently quite different from the real world. However, it was an outstanding movie for its time and I probably have many fellow aviators that this movie influenced when they were young and impressionable.

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

This Army air corps recruitment film from Paramount Pictures and director Mitchell Leisen follows three cadets, former stockbroker Jeff (Ray Milland), insecure mechanic Al (William Holden), and amiable lunkhead Tom (Wayne Morris), as they go through flight training under the tutelage of tough instructor Captain Mercer (Brian Donlevy). The boys also find time for romance with photographer Carolyn (Constance Moore) and gold-digging nightclub singer Sally (Veronica Lake). Also featuring Harry Davenport, Phil Brown, Edward Fielding, Willard Robertson, Hobart Cavanaugh, Charles Drake, Alan Hale Jr., Craig Stevens, and Hedda Hopper.

This movie is an overlong, melodramatic mess, but I liked it anyway. The first half is not unlike many pre-WW2 military boot-camp movies, where guys bond, fight over a girl or two, and slowly reveal why they joined the service, since in those pre-war days, they all had to have some reason, be it scandalous or life re-invention. Just as things were beginning to grow stale, at around the midway point of the movie Veronica Lake shows up as a super-sexy manipulator, and things get interesting again. She looks amazing and her character is irredeemable. According to the trivia I read, this is the film where she started getting a bad work reputation, but knowing that just adds to her performance. Where it all leads is ridiculous, but entertaining, although like so many studio-era films, it's all wrapped up too nice and neat at the end. The movie features some terrific aerial footage and stunt flying, but ironically it would win the Oscar for Best Special Effects, which are arguably the worst aspect of the film.

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