The Wings of Eagles (1957)

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Approved
1h 50min
Biography, Drama
22 Feb 1957 (USA)
Movie

6.6 (4,606)

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A biography of Navy flier-turned-screenwriter Frank W. "Spig" Wead.

Director:

John Ford

Writers:

Frank Fenton, William Wister Haines, Frank Wead

Stars:

Reviews:

Photos and Videos

A biography of Navy flier-turned-screenwriter Frank W. "Spig" Wead.

Still of John Wayne (I) in The Wings of Eagles (1957)

Still of Maureen O'Hara (I), Ken Curtis (I), Dan Dailey (I) and Chuck Roberson in The Wings of Eagles (1957)

Still of John Wayne (I), Edmund Lowe (I) and James Todd (I) in The Wings of Eagles (1957)

Still of John Wayne (I), Ken Curtis (I) and Dan Dailey (I) in The Wings of Eagles (1957)

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23 photos | 1 video

Cast verified as complete

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	John Wayne	...	Frank W. 'Spig' Wead
	Dan Dailey	...	'Jughead' Carson
	Maureen O'Hara	...	Min Wead
	Ward Bond	...	John Dodge
	Ken Curtis	...	John Dale Price
	Edmund Lowe	...	Adm. Moffett
	Kenneth Tobey	...	Capt. Herbert Allen Hazard
	James Todd	...	Jack Travis
	Barry Kelley	...	Capt. Jock Clark
	Sig Ruman	...	Manager
	Henry O'Neill	...	Capt. Spear
	Willis Bouchey	...	Barton
	Dorothy Jordan	...	Rose Brentmann
Rest of cast listed alphabetically:
	Tige Andrews	...	Arizona Pincus (uncredited)
	Frank Baker	...	Police Officer (uncredited)
	Ray Baker	...	Captain (uncredited)
	Audrey Betz	...	Tourist (uncredited)
	Veda Ann Borg	...	Lovely (uncredited)
	Danny Borzage	...	Pete (uncredited)
	George Bruggeman	...	Party Guest (uncredited)
	Olive Carey	...	Bridy O'Faolain (uncredited)
	Gordon Carveth	...	Party Guest (uncredited)
	Donald Chaffin	...	Spectator at Screening (uncredited)
	Russ Clark	...	Cop (uncredited)
	Ruth Clifford	...	Tourist (uncredited)
	Tom Coleman	...	Spectator at Screening (uncredited)
	Oliver Cross	...	Premier Guest (uncredited)
	Jane Crowley	...	Tourist (uncredited)
	Dan Dowling	...	Waiter (uncredited)
	Michael Dugan	...	Captain (uncredited)
	Ken DuMain	...	Spectator at Screening (uncredited)
	Franklyn Farnum	...	Premier Guest (uncredited)
	Fred Fisher	...	Officer (uncredited)
	James Flavin	...	MP at Garden Party (uncredited)
	William Forrest	...	Admiral Gooding (uncredited)
	Raoul Freeman	...	Committee Member (uncredited)
	Kenneth Gibson	...	Party Guest (uncredited)
	Mimi Gibson	...	Lila Wead (uncredited)
	James Gonzalez	...	Board Member (uncredited)
	Fred Graham	...	Officer in Brawl (uncredited)
	Sam Harris	...	Patient (uncredited)
	Marcoreta Hellman	...	Tourist (uncredited)
	William Henry	...	Naval Aide (uncredited)
	Louis Jean Heydt	...	Dr. John Keye (uncredited)
	Stuart Holmes	...	Producer (uncredited)
	Shep Houghton	...	Party Guest (uncredited)
	John Hudkins	...	Officer in Brawl (uncredited)
	Ray Hyke	...	Lieutenant (uncredited)
	William Joyce	...	Naval Aide (uncredited)
	Janet Lake	...	Nurse (uncredited)
	Leota Lorraine	...	Red Outfit Wife (uncredited)
	William Paul Lowery	...	Wead's Baby - 'Commodore' (uncredited)
	Cliff Lyons	...	Officer in Brawl (uncredited)
	Mae Marsh	...	Nurse Crumley (uncredited)
	May McAvoy	...	Nurse (uncredited)
	Jody McCrea	...	Tex Brooks (uncredited)
	Frank McLure	...	Committee Member (uncredited)
	Matt Moore	...	Doctor (uncredited)
	Bob Morgan	...	Officer in Brawl (uncredited)
	Alberto Morin	...	Second Manager (uncredited)
	Sol Murgi	...	Spectator at Screening (uncredited)
	Forbes Murray	...	Congressman (uncredited)
	Peter Ortiz	...	Lt. Charles Dexter (uncredited)
	Web Overlander	...	Congressman (uncredited)
	Jack Pennick	...	Joe McGuffey (uncredited)
	Gil Perkins	...	Officer in Brawl (uncredited)
	Chuck Roberson	...	Officer (uncredited)
	John Rosser	...	Army Officer (uncredited)
	Evelyn Rudie	...	Doris Wead (uncredited)
	Arthur Salzfass	...	Navy Pilot (uncredited)
	Jeffrey Sayre	...	Committee Member (uncredited)
	Scott Seaton	...	Premier Guest (uncredited)
	Mabel Smaney	...	Tourist (uncredited)
	Tom Steele	...	Officer in Brawl (uncredited)
	Harry Strang	...	Bartender (uncredited)
	William Tracy	...	Air Officer (uncredited)
	Charles Trowbridge	...	Adm. Crown (uncredited)
	Dale Van Sickel	...	Naval Officer (uncredited)
	Eleanore Vogel	...	Tourist (uncredited)
	Ralph Volkie	...	Jimmie (uncredited)
	Harlan Warde	...	Executive Officer (uncredited)
	Blue Washington	...	Bartender at Officer's Club (uncredited)
	Luree Wiese	...	Tourist (uncredited)
	Terry Wilson	...	Naval Officer (uncredited)
	Judith Woodbury	...	Spectator at Screening (uncredited)

Directed by

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John Ford

Written by

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Frank Fenton	...	(screenplay) and
William Wister Haines	...	(screenplay)

Frank Wead	...	(based on the life and writings of) (as Commander Frank W. 'Spig' Wead)

Produced by

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James E. Newcom	...	associate producer
Charles Schnee	...	producer

Music by

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Jeff Alexander

Cinematography by

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Paul Vogel

...

director of photography (as Paul C. Vogel)

Editing by

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Gene Ruggiero

Editorial Department

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Charles K. Hagedon

...

color consultant

Art Direction by

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Malcolm Brown
William A. Horning

Set Decoration by

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F. Keogh Gleason	...	(as Keogh Gleason)
Edwin B. Willis

Makeup Department

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William Tuttle

...

makeup artist

Production Management

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Tom Andre

...

unit manager (uncredited)

Second Unit Director or Assistant Director

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Wingate Smith

...

assistant director

Art Department

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Frank Wesselhoff

...

painter (uncredited)

Sound Department

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Wesley C. Miller	...	recording supervisor (as Dr. Wesley C. Miller)
James Brock	...	sound (uncredited)

Special Effects by

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A. Arnold Gillespie	...	special effects
Warren Newcombe	...	special effects

Stunts

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Fred Graham	...	stunts (uncredited)
Chuck Hayward	...	stunts (uncredited)
John Hudkins	...	stunts (uncredited)
Cliff Lyons	...	stunts (uncredited)
Paul Mantz	...	aerial stunts (uncredited)
Frank McGrath	...	stunts (uncredited)
Bob Morgan	...	stunts (uncredited)
Chuck Roberson	...	stunt double: John Wayne (uncredited) / stunts (uncredited)
Ronnie Rondell Jr.	...	stunts (uncredited)
Paul Stader	...	stunts (uncredited)
Dale Van Sickel	...	stunts (uncredited)
Jack Williams	...	stunts (uncredited)
Terry Wilson	...	stunts (uncredited)

Costume and Wardrobe Department

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Walter Plunkett

...

wardrobe: Miss O'Hara

Music Department

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Arthur Morton

...

orchestrator (uncredited)

Additional Crew

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John Dale Price	...	technical advisor (as Adm. John Dale Price USN [Ret])
John Keye	...	technical advisor (uncredited)

Thanks

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Frank Wead

...

dedicatee (as Commander Frank 'Spig' Wead)

Crew verified as complete

Production Companies

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Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer (MGM)

Distributors

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Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer (MGM) (1957) (United States) (theatrical)
Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer (MGM) (1957) (Belgium) (theatrical)
Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer (MGM) (1957) (France) (theatrical)
Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer (MGM) (1957) (United Kingdom) (theatrical)
Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer (MGM) (1957) (West Germany) (theatrical)
Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer (MGM) (1957) (Sweden) (theatrical)
Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer (1957) (India) (theatrical)
National Broadcasting Company (NBC) (1963) (United States) (tv) (original airing)
Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer (MGM) (1966) (United States) (theatrical) (re-release)
MGM/UA Home Entertainment (1990) (United States) (VHS)
Atalanta Filmes (1999) (Paraguay) (VHS) (re-release)
Warner Home Video (2006) (United States) (DVD)
HBO Max (2020) (United States) (video) (VOD)

Special Effects

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Other Companies

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Department of Defense (grateful acknowledgement)
United States Navy (grateful acknowledgement)

Storyline

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Plot Summary	U.S. Navy pilot Frank 'Spig' Wead is a fun-loving and rowdy adventurer, but also a fierce proponent of Naval aviation. His dedication to the promotion of the Navy's flying program is so intense that his marriage and family life suffer. When an accident paralyzes him, Spig finds a new means of expressing his love of flying: screenwriting. Successful and acclaimed, he finds the U.S. entry into World War II to be an irresistible call. Pleading that he be reinstated in the Navy despite his paralysis, Spig finds he has an enormous contribution yet to make. Written by Jim Beaver Plot Summary
Plot Keywords	beer champagne whiskey tequila cigar-smoking See All (59) »
Taglines	What A Guy Wayne ! See more »
Genres	Biography Drama War
Parents Guide	View content advisory »
Certification	Argentina:Atp Australia:G Finland:K-12 France:Tous publics Italy:T Norway:12 Spain:13 Sweden:15 United Kingdom:U United Kingdom:PG (video rating) United States:Approved United States:TV-PG (TV Rating) West Germany:12 (nf)

Additional Details

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Also Known As	L'aigle vole au soleil (France) Dem Adler gleich (Germany) Escrit sota el sol (Spain, Catalan title) Escrito bajo el sol (Spain) Asas de Águia (Brazil) See more »
Runtime	110 min
Country	United States
Language	English
Color	Color (Metrocolor)
Aspect Ratio	1.37 : 1 (negative ratio) See more »
Sound Mix	Mono (Westrex Recording System) Perspecta Stereo
Filming Locations	Naval Air Station Pensacola, Florida, USA See more »

Box Office

Budget

$2,644,000 (estimated)

Did You Know?

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Trivia	Most of the extras in the Pensacola, Florida, scenes were actual Navy flight students and flight instructors. Although the Navy objected, director John Ford made certain that the military men were paid "extra" wages. See more »
Goofs	When Frank "Spig" Wead is taking command of the aircraft carrier during WWII the car that drives up to the docked carrier is a 1950 or '51 Chevrolet or Pontiac yet the scene is supposed to be during the war, which ended in 1945. See more »
Movie Connections	Edited from Hell Divers (1931). See more »
Soundtracks	Mama Inez See more »
Quotes	Frank W. 'Spig' Wead: [while trying to regain nerve control of his toes in the hospital] I'm gonna move that toe! See more »

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