Wings of the Navy (1939)

Wings of the Navy: Directed by Lloyd Bacon. With George Brent, Olivia de Havilland, John Payne, Frank McHugh. Biplanes flying in formation past the Washington Monument. A flotilla of seaplanes rising majestically off the surface of the Atlantic.

“Covering a lot of the same ground, but a year earlier than MGMu0026#39;s Flight Command, Wings Of The Navy is one of those military preparedness films that Hollywood was importuned to make by the powers that be in Washington, DC. Those folks knew that we would be in a shooting war and shortly and this was their way of getting America psychologically ready.u003cbr/u003eu003cbr/u003eGeorge Brent and John Payne play a pair of brothers who are career Navy men, Annapolis graduates and sons of a late naval hero. Dad was an early Navy pilot and Brent has followed in his footsteps. Payne would like to do the same, but heu0026#39;s in the submarine service. Nevermind, Payne gets himself a transfer much to Brentu0026#39;s displeasure because Payneu0026#39;s a competitive sort and likely to get himself killed trying to out do big brother.u003cbr/u003eu003cbr/u003eThe brothers are also rivals for Olivia DeHavilland who was once again in a thankless role of the girl who was the object. For someone of her talents, DeHavilland had precious little to do except look pretty. She was desperately trying to get roles of more substance. She would shortly in Gone With The Wind that same year of 1939.u003cbr/u003eu003cbr/u003eWings Of The Navy is a real treat for aviation buffs with the various types of planes that were the latest thing in 1939 being shown. Also some even earlier types of planes were what the Navy was training with even then. We lagged far behind Germany and Japan and even Great Britain at this point.u003cbr/u003eu003cbr/u003eAfter World War II when President Truman decided to consolidate the services into one Department of Defense, the big sticking point was Naval Aviation. The Army was willing to let their Army Air Force become a separate Air Force service, the Navy insisted on controlling its planes that were taking off and landing from carriers. The compromise was reached and both the separate Air Force and the Navy controlling its aviation service was allowed. What we see here in Wings Of The Navy is a stage in the development of Naval aviation that helped win the Pacific War.u003cbr/u003eu003cbr/u003eAnd it is to those who were in that service in that war that this film review is respectfully dedicated.”