Wings for the Eagle *** (1942, Ann Sheridan, Dennis Morgan, Jack Carson) – Classic Movie Review 12,540

Director Lloyd Bacon’s charming 1942 Warner Bros romantic adventure drama film Wings for the Eagle stars Ann Sheridan, Dennis Morgan, and Jack Carson, and tells the story of workers at a Lockheed aircraft assembly plant before the attack on Pearl Harbor.

The screenplay is based on the story Shadow of their Wings by Byron Morgan and B H Orkow, in which American civilian aircraft workers rally round during wartime in World War Two to keep up their factory’s output of fighter planes, while three of them become involved in a love triangle.

This robustly made, well-acted and endearing wartime melodrama, full of fruity characters and packed with poignant scenes, is successful in a simple, sincere and effective way that later nostalgia cash-ins such as Swing Shift (1984) never quite were. It was ideal for its time and it has retained its charm and poignancy.

Morgan plays the plane mechanic Corky Jones, who waves the flag while competing with co-worker Brad Maple (Carson) for Roma Maple (Sheridan), who keeps her plucky chin up in a particularly heart-warming manner.

Also in the cast are George Tobias, Don DeFore, Russell Arms, Tom Fadden, John Ridgley, Frank Wilcox, Billy Curtis, Emory Parnell, and Edgar Dearing.

It was filmed quickly in January and February 1942, and released on 18 July 1942.

Wings for the Eagle (1942) is the first of three screen pairings of Ann Sheridan and Dennis Morgan, followed by Shine On, Harvest Moon (1944) and One More Tomorrow (1946).

It is the first of 11 films Morgan and Carson appear in together.

Warner Bros received permission to shoot at the nearby Lockheed plant in Burbank, California, where they had built a production facility with 45 buildings over 550 acres. Cast and crew had to keep their birth certificates on them at all times for security reasons. They also filmed at the Curtiss-Wright Aircraft Company in Buffalo, New York.

After filming, Sheridan, Morgan and Carson went together on war bond tours. Later during the war, Morgan and Carson visited hospitals and camps in the South Pacific.

The cast are Ann Sheridan as Roma Maple, Dennis Morgan as Corky Jones, Jack Carson as Brad Maple, George Tobias as Jake Hanso, Russell Arms as Pete Hanso, Don DeFore as Gil Borden, Tom Fadden as Tom “Cyclone” Shaw, John Ridgely as Johnson, Frank Wilcox as Stark, George Meeker as Personnel Man, Fay Helm as Miss Baxter, Billy Curtis as Midget Emory Parnell as Policeman, and Edgar Dearing as Motorcycle Officer.

© Derek Winnert 2023 – Classic Movie Review 12,540

Check out more reviews on http://derekwinnert.com