. . . is the main refrain of the theme song for THE WINGS OF EAGLES (repeated 75 or 80 times). This flick supposedly covers 20 years or so of a U.S. Naval Aviator's Real Life. The Fiftyish John Wayne is NOT very convincing portraying this "Spig" character in Spig's Early Twenties. Later, when a totally broken-down Spig hobbles into a movie director's office 10 or 15 years later, the walls are festooned with studio stills of a Young JOHN WAYNE (!) attired in cowboy gear. This may be intended as an "inside joke," but it mostly serves to make viewers wish that they were watching THAT edition of Wayne, as opposed to the boring loser who spends half an hour in the middle of this flick strapped face-down, trying to move one toe. Has Enemy Action put Spig in this predicament? No, he's apparently too drunk to get to his own bathroom in the middle of the night without falling down his own home's stairs. Spig is only shown flying once during THE WINGS OF EAGLES, and he totals the training plane that U.S. taxpayers bought him at the end of a brief joyride. Otherwise, Spig just brawls with Army guys, avoids his wife, and chain-smokes. (His alcoholic spouse has no inkling that Spig's only son is a couple minutes from a death apparently brought on by second-hand smoke!) The final outcome of World War Two will be thrown into doubt (even for History Majors!) when they see that the American Military feels a need to press Spig into service toward the end of THE WINGS OF EAGLES.

Really quite boring story that drags on. An air force guy who ignores his family and gets to drink beer and party with his mates, while having an exciting career and being appreciated (while he treats his wife like dirt and she is not appreciated at home)is the main character. Typical of the era when men just moved on when they got tired of the "little wife" complaining at home and the kids who were ignored and mainly raised by mothers. Reflective of Mr Wayne's own home life where he left his wife for a younger version and had new younger children whom he appreciated more because he was older and realized he wasn't going to live forever. Sad for the first children, but great for him and the second family (who told reporters what a wonderfully attentive father he was). Anyway, this film blows.

All the critics have called John Ford's humor "broad" and I guess this is a pretty good example of what they mean. The opening scenes involve ancient float planes, a Stutz Bearcat, people falling into water, and a crash into the swimming pool at the Admiral's tea party. (Tea party!) Subsequent scenes involve gala fist fights between matched hordes of Army and Navy pilots, led by Kenneth Toby and Wayne respectively. There are cakes smashed into faces. The whole thing could have been a silent comedy.And yet the humor, by no means ever sophisticated, is pretty funny at times, and not always slapstick either. A good example is the scene in Spig Wead's (John Wayne's) office, with Pincus (Tige Andrews) and Carson (Dan Dailey). Dailey is having difficulty trying to make a long-distance call. Andrews is sitting with his shoe off. Wayne asks what's wrong, did he stub his toe? "Ah, no," says Andrews, "ya see, I keep my money in my shoe and every time I step on it --" and he's interrupted when Admiral Moffat enters the room. Wayne, Dailey, and Andrews snap to attention and listen to the Admiral's speech. There is a brief pause after Dailey suddenly shouts into the phone, "Why don't you GET OFF THE PHONE, you dumb head!" In the sudden silence everyone stares at Dailey who then looks embarrassed and apologizes to the Admiral. When the Admiral has finished his speech to his respectful listeners he turns to leave the room and notices Pincus, a mere enlisted man, goes over to him and greets Pincus warmly. Pincus smiles easily, shakes the Admiral's hand, and inquires after his family. "How's da wife, sir? And dem lovely kiddies?" "Fine, fine. Good to see you, Pincus," says the Admiral and exits. Wayne and Dailey gape speechless at Pincus before getting back to business.I've described this scene in extenso because it could NOT have come from a silent comedy. None of the humor is physical. It's what might be called interactional humor. And Ford explains absolutely none of it. We have no idea why Dailey began shouting into the phone during the Admiral's speech, or what the hell kind of background the Admiral and the lowly Pincus share. There is no set-up for the gags whatever. They come as a shocking surprise and that's what makes them funny.There's a similar unstated quality at the climax of the film. Dailey has saved Wayne's life by taking the bullets himself. He winds up in sick bay playing poker with the other patients. Wayne visits him to thank him. The two have been lifelong friends. Ordinarily, under these conditions, a viewer expects to see a lot of sentiment, even between two plain-speaking macho loudmouths. Instead, Dailey brushes off Wayne's thanks brusquely. And later the two don't get together for Wayne's retirement from the ship and from the Navy after a heart attack, as if Wayne were leaving a drinking party for a few minutes to visit the bathroom. The sense of loss -- of almost tragic finality -- is underscored by the absence of any emotional display. And it is left unexplained by Ford, just as Dailey's phone call and Pincus's friendship with the Admiral was. This is anything but a routine scene.It's not among Ford's best films. He wanted to call it, "The Spig Wead Story," but the studio objected that no one would want to see it and they were right. Spig Wead sounds like a quarterback for Notre Dame. And the script, following Wead's real life meandering, is all over the place, switching in the middle from a service comedy to a complicated and unfocused story about a screen writer. And it doesn't tell us much about Wead's second career. "I didn't want to make it," said Ford about the movie, "but I didn't want anybody else to make it." Probably no one else would have made it.The romance between Wayne and O'Hara is handled clumsily. They're forever breaking up and getting together again -- or almost getting together. O'Hara is, as always, drop-dead gorgeous in Technicolor. And I doubt that anyone but Ford could have forced John Wayne to doff his toupee. Yet the acting itself is schematic, partly because the dialog is so burdensome. Who could possibly have made believable Wayne's lines after he has fallen down the stairs and broken his back? "Don't move me. My back. Can't feel anything. Call . . . hospital. Navy . . . hospital." Sounds like . . . comic book. At one point in the film, Ford ridicules himself ("John Dodge") instead of someone in his cast.The director was beginning to run out of steam by this time. He was over 60 and had a lot of scar tissue. Still, the movie is worth watching.

John Ford's tribute to Frank 'Spig' Wead(John Wayne) the pioneer aviator who helped develop naval air power and later turned to screen writing. The first half of the movie is played for every laugh to be had. The second half becomes sentimental and sometimes a little too dramatic in contrast with the movies earlier scenes. Well directed with top notch sets; and an all-star cast that features:Maureen O'Hara, Dan Dailey, Ken Curtis, Barry Kelley, Edmund Lowe and Ward Bond even "spoofs" Ford himself. Wayne does well running the gamut from slapstick to drama. His scenes with O'Hara always seem magical. This film is enjoyable family entertainment.