WINGS OF THE NAVY (1939)

The least of Olivia de Havilland’s five 1939 films.  No contest against GONE WITH THE WIND, THE PRIVATE LIVES OF ELIZABETH AND ESSEX; DODGE CITY and RAFFLES.*  De Havilland really has little to do in this sibling rivalry story of Navy flyboy George Brent, busy designing new experimental planes, and kid brother John Payne, hoping to transfer from submarines to the open sky.  Pop was a Naval air pioneer, and these two competitively carrying on the legacy.  Competitive on land, too, with Olivia’s affections tilting from George to John.  But when one of the brothers is seriously injured in a training flight, the only honorable thing to do is . . . well, you get the picture.  Standard doings for Warners in this not quite programmer, though it feels like one.  Not even a musical score, very unusual for wall-to-wall musical score Warners.  Just a few library music cues between the constant drone of airplane motors.  Lloyd Bacon walks thru directing chores, but cinematographer Arthur Edeson’s high contrast look is equally effective on land and in the air.  But the thing that really makes this worth the time is a rare look at all those between-the-war years planes.  Bi-planes to pontoon fighters, mighty carriers to diving death traps.  It’s Pre-WWII THE RIGHT STUFF out there, with planes that didn’t make it into mass production when war came along.  Pity they didn’t have someone like Frank ‘Spig’ Wead on the script.  He specialized in boilerplate Navy dramatics, but with Wead it was The Real Stuff Navy dramatics.  Still, points to original screenwriter Michael Fessier for a speedy, neatly turned ending.

ATTENTION MUST BE PAID:  *Three of those five in TechniColor.  Unheard of in ‘39.  (RAFFLES, Sam Goldwyn’s attempt to make David Niven his new Ronald Colman, not much better than this.)