La victoire des ailes

As has been noted, this is one wartime film that got it right. Apart from the accurate depiction of army flight training, WV probably remains the only movie featuring the Consolidated B-24. A flight instructor who helped with the film reports that most of the cast got along well with the supporting officers and men, the exception being Edmund O'Brien. While filming an engine-start sequence he noted the usual "fire guard" with the extinguisher and became exceedingly nervous. Finally he "abandoned ship" and refused to proceed with the shot. Considering that his performance was witnessed by genuine airmen, let alone some combat veterans, EO's stock plummeted on base.

Unless you have a personal connection to this movie, you will probably just consider it a good movie. In my case, my grandfather was involved in its production so I rated it higher. My grandfather was too old and had too many kids to serve during WWII so instead, he moved the family as needed to do his part. For most of the war, he was the final inspector for the bombers at Davis-Monthan AFB in Tucson, Arizona. Some of the scenes with the bombers were filmed nearby. He received a certificate of thanks for his participation but it has been lost over the years. It meant a lot to my Dad and his siblings to be able to see this movie again.

"Winged Victory" is a most unusual film. Although it was made by Twentieth Century-Fox and was directed by George Cukor, the film stars all sorts of contract actors who had been drafted or volunteered for the war effort. These men and women were mostly all unknowns back in 1944 but many went on to big careers, such as Judy Holiday, Jeanne Crain, Edmund O'Brien, Lee J. Cobb, Red Buttons, Barry Nelson, George Reeves, Karl Malden, Gary Merrill and quite a few others.

The story begins back at home as various men received word that they were accepted into the Air Corps' program. But instead of being sent to various schools (such as pilot training or gunnery), the men are given exhaustive and nerve-wracking tests to determine the best fit for their abilities. Following this, they are assigned to various programs or washed out if seen as unfit. Then, you see them going through training program and finally they are sent into action. Along the way, you see a few vignettes, such as men with their girlfriends and one man in pilot training who was killed...and the reaction of his pregnant wife. I am actually surprised that the movie showed this latter story, as I expected it all to be very upbeat and rah-rah for us...which, fortunately, wasn't always the case. Because of that, it felt more real and interesting to watch. Overall, a very interesting film that seemed more like a hybrid between a drama and a documentary...well made and well worth seeing....as well as an important historical piece.

I had a personal interest in this movie. When I was 17 and just out of high school I got a job at 20th Century Fox as a member of the Laborers and Hod Carriers Union. At the end of my first day (sweeping the deck of an aircraft carrier) I was told to bring a suitcase the next morning with enough clothes etc. for one or two weeks. When I arrived the next morning a bus was waiting and about 20 of us headed south toward San Diego. Just short of there we stopped at an army base called either Camp Callan or Camp Hahn. Once we were bunked in we went north a few miles into Camp Pendleton, the big Marine base. There, on the beach, we started building what was supposed to be a Japanese Pacific island base. It took us about a week or ten days to complete the installation, which included a water tank, gun entrenchments, sand-bagged trenches and living quarters. All this was at very high pay, sometimes 'golden time', which was triple our regular hourly wage. Our food was also first rate = prime rib at lunch, etc. - which was amazing because it was wartime and very hard to get good meat at home.

Once the job was finished I waited eagerly for the movie to come out, which was about eight or ten months later. Then I waited eagerly through two hours of the movie before my handiwork finally came on screen. Then it was no more than three or four minutes (maybe less) of the movie's heroes dive bombing the base and blowing it to smithereens. A bit disappointing, but still fun.

In spite of the disappointment I enjoyed the movie and have not seen it since. I learned later that this movie was underwritten by the government and Fox was paid on a cost plus basis, which maybe accounts for our extravagant pay and lifestyle down there. Bob Weverka

This movie gets it right. As a former USAF Aviation Cadet, I can tell you this movie has it all. The tedium of the application process. The waiting for word. The joy of acceptance. The worry about making it through the course. The sorrow of watching one's buddies (perhaps the best of them) wash out. The anguish of paying the ultimate price - the death of fellow student airmen. The glory of graduation. Always the flying, the flying, the flying. Many are called but few are chosen. We did for pay what we would have eagerly paid to do. Later, a lifetime of flying fighters and close air support aircraft. Living through combat in Viet Nam but always with the foundation gained in the Aviation Cadet Corps.