The Wings of Eagles
1957 film by John Ford / From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Dear Wikiwand AI, let's keep it short by simply answering these key questions:
Can you list the top facts and stats about The Wings of Eagles?
Summarize this article for a 10 year old
The Wings of Eagles is a 1957 American Metrocolor film starring John Wayne, Dan Dailey and Maureen O'Hara, based on the life of Frank "Spig" Wead and the history of U.S. Naval aviation from its inception through World War II.[3] The film is a tribute to Wead (who died 10 years earlier, in 1947 at age of 52) from his friend, director John Ford, and was based on Wead's "We Plaster the Japs", published in a 1944 issue of The American Magazine.[4]
The Wings of Eagles | |
---|---|
Directed by | John Ford |
Screenplay by | Frank Fenton and William Wister Haines |
Based on | the life and writings of Commander Frank W. "Spig" Wead |
Produced by | Charles Schnee |
Starring | |
Cinematography | Paul C. Vogel. A.S.C. |
Edited by | Gene Ruggiero, A.C.E. |
Music by | Jeff Alexander |
Distributed by | Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer |
Release date | February 22, 1957 |
Running time | 110 minutes |
Country | United States |
Language | English |
Budget | $2,644,000[1] |
Box office | $3,650,000[1][2] |
John Wayne plays naval aviator-turned-screenwriter Wead, who wrote the story or screenplay for such films as Hell Divers (1931) with Wallace Beery and Clark Gable, Ceiling Zero (1936) with James Cagney, and the Oscar-nominated World War II drama They Were Expendable (1945) in which Wayne co-starred with Robert Montgomery.[5]
The supporting cast features Ward Bond, Ken Curtis, Edmund Lowe and Kenneth Tobey. This film was the third of five in which Wayne and O'Hara appeared together; others were Rio Grande (1950), The Quiet Man (1952), McLintock! (1963) and Big Jake (1971).