Winning Your Wings

Before I checked on IMDb, I had completely forgotten John Huston's contribution here – since no director is listed during the opening titles – though I was well aware of James Stewart's participation (oddly enough, this was their sole collaboration)! Anyway, this is typical – and, in retrospect, pretty efficient – 'recruiting poster' stuff (yet another Oscar-nominated documentary, in a category that had a staggering 25 candidates and emerged with a quartet of winners!), with the star delineating the pros (but, obviously none of the cons!) should American youths join the Air Force. For the record, the attack on Pearl Harbour was a very recent memory – and, watching this, we realize just how far the Government went in order to induct pilots, bombardiers, navigators, etc. to fill the thousands upon thousands of planes of various sizes that would be employed in the war effort! Stewart is the right sort of average guy to make such a notion seem appealing, even "adventurous" – but the jingoism is excusable under the circumstances, as the prospective officers are either credited with their college-bred specialization (which would thus be put at the nation's disposal) or given the opportunity to acquire one for those that had been left lagging behind in education…which suggests that combat duty was very much seen as a level 'playing-field'!

With the US launched into World War II, Hollywood began working with the armed forces to get people to join. An example is John Huston's Academy Award-nominated "Winning Your Wings", featuring Jimmy Stewart talking about the Air Force, the enlistment process, and who all participates in operating the planes.

Obviously the sheer level of propaganda comes across as corny nowadays, especially with the archaic gender relations. My favorite propaganda shorts from the era were the cartoons portraying Bugs Bunny and Daffy Duck battling Nazis (not surprisingly, many of them got pulled from circulation after the war).

Anyway, this short works well as a time capsule. Entertaining, if nothing else.

Newly-minted LT Jimmy Stewart gives a folksy appeal to guys from 18 to 26 to join up and fight the axis!

Jimmy would go on to make an admirable career in the Air Force Reserve and become the recognizable face of the Strategic Air Command in the 1950's--- here you can get a first glimpse of this enthusiasm. Winning Your Wings is aimed at recruiting officers--- more specifically at what must have been hordes of guys with the qualities but not necessarily the educational credentials to make the cut. Don ("Hazel") Defore does a bit as a 26-year old married gas station jockey who's not sure he's qualified. There's a run down of what must have been virtually unknown commissioned positions (navigators, meteorologists) and a run down of the 9-man crew of a B-17, all framed within Stewart's likable homespun drawl. Look for a nearly unrecognizable Peter Graves in the Flying Fortress. And go for Captain, they knock down $450 a month!

As with most short or documentary films, "Winning Your Wings" doesn't have a plot that might be divulged. But, these comments will provide some of the information from this short for those who may be interested but not able to find this film to watch. I also give some background information on Jimmy Stewart's military service, and on the pay amounts during World War II.

While he didn't do any Hollywood movies during the war, James Stewart did star in one short featurette. He made this recruiting film in May 1942. It was a joint project of the Army Air Forces and Warner Brothers. Stewart was a lieutenant in the Air Forces at the time. The Air Forces then badly needed more men to train as pilots and for other aviation positions. So, a group of Hollywood people serving on active duty was put together to make this recruiting film.

John Huston was a captain in the Army Signal Corps at the time, and was making films for the Army. He directed "Winning Your Wings." Stewart got the lead role. He plays himself as an Army Air Forces pilot. An opening scene shows planes flying, landing and then Stewart getting out of the cockpit of a plane. He narrates the rest of the film with various film clips. A number of actors appear in the film as civilians in high school, college, or at work. Only a few have a line or two. Those include Don DeFore, Charles Drake, Harry Lewis and Ray Montgomery.

The U.S. had only been in the war five months when this film was made. The Air Forces were in dire need of trained pilots and other aviation positions. Stewart gives some interesting figures. He said the U.S. was producing 65,000 fighter planes this year (1942) and 100,000 next year. That will require two million men to keep them flying. "It takes 38 men on the ground to keep a B-17 bomber in the air," Stewart says. The film touches on the ground support, but its main emphasis and appeal is for men to man the bombers.

Stewart says that the Army Air Forces need 15,000 captains, 40,000 lieutenants and 35,000 flying sergeants. He gives some pay figures, and says that a 2nd Lieutenant earns $245 per month. Most 2nd Lieutenants in the Army were then receiving $150 per month. The only ones at $245 were officers on flight status and airborne officers. The differences were flight pay and jump pay. So, again, that amount applied only to the officers who served as pilots, co-pilots, bombardiers and navigators. Stewart says that captains are paid $430 per month. Again, that's for officers on flight status. Most captains – those who were not flyers or paratroopers, were paid $350 per month.

Toward the end of the film, Stewart says, "By the time you finish your training, America will have overwhelming superiority in the air." This recruiting film was highly successful and apparently resulted in some 150,000 enlistments for flying positions. Some sources regard this film as propaganda (i.e., Wikipedia on 26 December 2016). The primary distinction of propaganda is its attempt to influence people's opinion (Cambridge dictionary). If this film is propaganda, then every public service or private or other project that tries to get people to pursue a medical field, educational career, or and other profession must also be propaganda. I think most people can clearly distinguish job, professional or career recruiting films from propaganda.

Jimmy Stewart is very good, as are all those with small parts. This featurette is well done and received an Academy Award nomination for best short in 1946.

Stewart's last movie before the start of World War II was "Ziegfeld Girl" that came out on April 25, 1941. His first movie after the war was "It's a Wonderful Life" that came out in December 1946. During those 5.5 years between, Stewart's Hollywood career was on hold while he served in the U.S. Army Air Forces.

Stewart entered the Army in March 1941 as a private, although he had more than 400 hours of flying time before the war. He applied for aviation and was accepted as a 2nd Lieutenant. At the end of the war, he held the rank of Colonel. His rise from private to colonel in just four years is a record that no one is likely to repeat or beat. Because of his experience, Stewart's first assignments were in flight instruction. But, by 1943 he was assigned to American Air Force units in Europe. He flew 20 combat missions in Europe as a bomber pilot, and held various command positions. He stayed in the reserves after the war, and served an active stint during the Vietnam War. He retired in 1968 as a general. He has another record as the movie actor to reach the highest rank in military service.

During World War 2, the US government was responsible for producing many films that would be categorized as propaganda in order to inspire people from all over America to answer the call of their homeland. While the term "propaganda" is typically used to describe rousing posters or films utilized by less reputable regimes (such as the Nazis), this film can't really be construed as anything but. It even has a few lies in it to make america look more powerful than it really was back then. The film starts with a trainer aircraft piloted by Jimmy Stewart landing at an airbase. He climbs out and starts explaining how the Army Air Forces (formerly the Army Air Corps) has been busy recruiting americans so that they can put this extremely destructive war to an end as fast as possible. He says how people in his time period are living through the greatest mobilization of people in the entire history of the world. Men and women from all occupations, from every corner of the US leave their old lives behind and sign up for a new one in the armed forces. Stewart says how even those currently in college are technically allowed to drop out and join the military, even if they don't have a degree yet. The military on the other hand actually wants students to earn degrees as various skills will come in handy depending on what your job in the army is going to be. Not just this, but people can also join the Air Force Reserve, allowing them to work towards their diplomas (and upon completing the term) enter the air force as the first rank of commissioned officer (Second Lieutenant). The film then goes on to say how in large planes such as the workhorse Boeing B-17, each person inside has a specific role, and they all need to work together in order to accomplish their objectives and make sure they're brought home safely. Obviously the pilot and copilot don't need an introduction for what they do, but the navigator, an often overlooked position, is just as critical. The navigator is responsible for plotting the course of the plane while it's in flight and making sure it doesn't get lost. The bombardier is essentially the sniper of the air, and is responsible for dropping high explosive ordinance from miles up onto targets with unerring precision. The plane also has engineers who are working tirelessly to ensure every mechanical device in the aircraft is not going out of order. The plane has men on the ground working to keep it airborne as well. Back at base, the plane's bomb load is supervised by a guy (who has most likely taken a class on engineering) called an armaments officer. His job is to make sure all the bombs are loaded into the plane correctly, as well as the belts of ammo for each one of its machine guns. The air force even has a need for meteorologists. The film ends with an inspiring monologue from Stewart, saying how america's factories are going into overdrive and building about 100 thousand planes a year so we can beat the Axis (which is just plain nonsense). Given that John Huston directed this, I'm tempted to give it a high rating since he was actually involved in ww2 (as was Stewart). However, like most other second world war shorts, this one feels done to death for me. It's decent for what it is, but if you're like me and have dozens of books on this particular conflict, you won't find much here that's unknown to you. I mostly watched this to acquaint myself with an important moment in film history, as Stewart got upwards of 150 thousand people to enlist because of this film.