I Wanted Wings

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).

As a former Air Force pilot, I noticed that none of the pilots wore their wings while in their workaday blouses (as opposed to flight suits or more formal jacket and tie uniforms). That must have been standard just before WW II. The film is hardly a gung-ho recruitment poster. It shows some unconvincing cowardice (from Ray Milland) and some slightly more convincing insecurity (from Wm. Holden). It does have some good shots of training planes doing aerobatics -- and those must have been responsible for the Academy Award for special effects. Holden's emergency landing in a small field is also well done. The film hints at the kinds of things pilots have to learn, but doesn't educate us to the process. The early version of the B-17 did not have a tail-gun, so that design feature permits Veronica Lake to stowaway late in the film. By the way, the base security at March Field must have been really lax! Lake is wonderful as a sinuous singer (voice dubbed) in a glimmering gown. That she turns out to be Holden's ex-ember strains credulity. But this sub-plot is strong, simply because of Lake and Holden, who is given the only three-dimensional character in the film and who deals with his character with restraint. The love plot between Milland and Moore is bland, except for the brief instant when she grants him permission to kiss her. While the film was made in 1941, the pilot class that Holden, Milland, and Wayne Morris (who later became a Navy ace) is 38a -- early 1938. The film, then, is supposed to depict a time-span of a little more than two years, though we are given few signals about when it happens -- other than the elegant late 30s autos -- or how much time the action consumes.

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

Mitchell Leisen was drafted in to do this one after shooting had started when it wasn't coming together under the original director. He did a good job of the flying shots but the clichéd, inconsistent script stops this from being any more than passable.

The movie is also long, unusual for Leisen as he liked fast paced movies, and I guess some of this is due to scenes capturing the feel of the air force at work. However by the time you get back to the court martial scenes at the beginning you have almost forgotten what the trial was about.

I liked Brian Donlevy - thought he was convincing. Bill Holden was just starting out. Ray Milland always reminds me of a second rate Cary Grant, except he managed to do something later in his career that Cary was unable to do - win the Oscar for best actor. There is no development at all for his character in the script. Didn't mind Veronica Lake though she was apparently not a lot of fun to work with in this her first movie.

This movie is also referenced in Leisen's next movie "Hold Back the Dawn" as the movie Leisen is making when the Charles Boyer character comes in to tell his story.

I Wanted Wings has its place in Hollywood history because of winning the Best Special Effects Oscar for 1941. It's story about three men who wanted to become pilots in the Army Air Corps and the women who loved them is a bit dated.

Ray Milland, William Holden, and Wayne Morris are three very different types looking to be pilots. Milland is a well known playboy from the Long Island horsey set, Morris a good natured football jock, and Holden a poor garage mechanic who wants to better himself. It all comes real easy for Milland while the other two have to sweat out under the tutelage of Flight Instructor Brian Donlevy who they keep running into no matter where they go in the Army Air Corps.

The women in their lives are Constance Moore photo journalist doing a cover story for a magazine like Life or Look and sultry nightclub singer Veronica Lake. Holden and she have a past, but she's got her eyes set on Milland's millions.

I Wanted Wings is of course at its best in the air. Director Mitchell Leisen is invading territory that normally belonged to William Wellman, still Leisen does a nice job with material he normally wouldn't be assigned to. I'm guessing Paramount wanted Wellman for director, but he was probably tied up someplace else.

These guys are all a wee bit too noble though, especially Holden who was getting type cast in what he called his 'Smiling Jim' roles. As for Milland, I'm not sure why everyone keeps going out of their way to pull his chestnuts out of the fire.

Veronica Lake got her first real big break it's with here that Leisen's talents shine. This was where the famous peekaboo hairdo with the accompanying come hither glance was invented.

I agree with other reviewers that the film was too long by about 25 minutes. Still I Wanted Wings should please the aviation fans out there.