Biplanes flying in formation past the Washington Monument. A flotilla of seaplanes rising majestically off the surface of the Atlantic.Biplanes flying in formation past the Washington Monument. A flotilla of seaplanes rising majestically off the surface of the Atlantic.Biplanes flying in formation past the Washington Monument. A flotilla of seaplanes rising majestically off the surface of the Atlantic.
Alberto Morin
- Armando Costa
- (as Albert Morin)
Donald Douglas
- Officer of the Day
- (as Don Douglas)
Max Hoffman Jr.
- Drilling Officer
- (as Max Hoffman)
- Director
- Writer
- All cast & crew
- Production, box office & more at IMDbPro
Storyline
Did you know
- TriviaThe experimental plane Cass demonstrates to the Navy is in fact a Grumman F3F fighter - the last biplane purchased by the U.S. Navy. It entered service in 1936 and was withdrawn from front-line service by the end of 1941 and transferred to training units. Only 147 were built.
- GoofsWhen testing the new plane in a dive, it appears to be making a vertical dive, but it is obvious from the cloud formations, a horizontal image was rotated 90 degrees to appear to be a vertical image.
- ConnectionsFeatured in Each Dawn I Die (1939)
- SoundtracksWings Over the Navy
(1938) (uncredited)
Music by Harry Warren
Played during the opening credits and often throughout the film
Featured review
An Aviation Buff's Delight
Covering a lot of the same ground, but a year earlier than MGM'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.
George 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 he's in the submarine service. Nevermind, Payne gets himself a transfer much to Brent's displeasure because Payne's a competitive sort and likely to get himself killed trying to out do big brother.
The 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.
Wings 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.
After 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.
And it is to those who were in that service in that war that this film review is respectfully dedicated.
George 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 he's in the submarine service. Nevermind, Payne gets himself a transfer much to Brent's displeasure because Payne's a competitive sort and likely to get himself killed trying to out do big brother.
The 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.
Wings 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.
After 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.
And it is to those who were in that service in that war that this film review is respectfully dedicated.
helpful•42
- bkoganbing
- May 23, 2009
Details
- Runtime1 hour 29 minutes
- Color
- Sound mix
- Aspect ratio
- 1.37 : 1
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