Copyright 20 December 1944 by 20th Century-Fox Film Corp. New York opening at the Roxy: 20 December 1944. U.S. release: December 1944. U.K. release: 26 February 1945. Australian release: 28 June 1945. 15 reels. 130 minutes. Cut to 100 minutes in Australia.
NOTES: Opening on Broadway at the 44th Street Theatre (sic) on 20 November 1943 and running a sold-out 212 performances, Moss Hart's Air Corps recruiting venture traced the exploits of a group of typical young Americans from induction to graduation, and thence to combat duty in the Pacific. Brilliantly staged by its author, with an enormous cast of uniformed men and civilian colleagues, Winged Victory was one of the major theatrical events of the wartime years.
Space permits only a partial cast listing. Prominent in the company were: Edmond O'Brien, Don Taylor, Mark Daniels, Barry Nelson, Lee J. Cobb, Peter Lind Hayes, Alan Baxter, Philip Bourneuf, Dick Hogan, Rune Hultman, Red Buttons, Kevin McCarthy, Karl Malden, Danny Scholl, George Reeves, Ray Middleton, John Tyers, Whit Bissell, Ed McMahon, Gary Merrill, Anthony Ross, Martin Ritt, Don Beddoe, Michael Duane, Don Hanmer, Ray McDonald, Victor Young, Zeke Manners, Alfred Ryder, Phyllis Avery, Elisabeth Fraser, Olive Deering.
Allergic to airplanes, Moss Hart nevertheless flew thousands of miles in Air Force bombers gathering material for his play. In addition, he insisted on waiving all royalties. During its S.R.O. six-month Broadway run, Winged Victory grossed more than one million dollars for the Army Emergency Relief fund. The play was produced by the U.S. Army Air Forces. Harry Horner designed the sets, David Rose wrote the music.
COMMENT: Director George Cukor here proves that he does indeed have "the big feel" of a broad dramatic canvas. It was a mistake to fire him from Gone With The Wind. In fact, Cukor's skilled, polished direction and his spectacular handling of the action locations, are as major an asset to this tribute to the Army Air Force as is Moss Hart's restrained, naturalistic script, or Glen MacWilliams' admirably crisp photography. Cukor elicits uniformly excellent performances from his AAF cast. No expense has been spared, and production values are outstanding, with Barbara McLean's skilled film editing a treasure in itself.
NOTES: Opening on Broadway at the 44th Street Theatre (sic) on 20 November 1943 and running a sold-out 212 performances, Moss Hart's Air Corps recruiting venture traced the exploits of a group of typical young Americans from induction to graduation, and thence to combat duty in the Pacific. Brilliantly staged by its author, with an enormous cast of uniformed men and civilian colleagues, Winged Victory was one of the major theatrical events of the wartime years.
Space permits only a partial cast listing. Prominent in the company were: Edmond O'Brien, Don Taylor, Mark Daniels, Barry Nelson, Lee J. Cobb, Peter Lind Hayes, Alan Baxter, Philip Bourneuf, Dick Hogan, Rune Hultman, Red Buttons, Kevin McCarthy, Karl Malden, Danny Scholl, George Reeves, Ray Middleton, John Tyers, Whit Bissell, Ed McMahon, Gary Merrill, Anthony Ross, Martin Ritt, Don Beddoe, Michael Duane, Don Hanmer, Ray McDonald, Victor Young, Zeke Manners, Alfred Ryder, Phyllis Avery, Elisabeth Fraser, Olive Deering.
Allergic to airplanes, Moss Hart nevertheless flew thousands of miles in Air Force bombers gathering material for his play. In addition, he insisted on waiving all royalties. During its S.R.O. six-month Broadway run, Winged Victory grossed more than one million dollars for the Army Emergency Relief fund. The play was produced by the U.S. Army Air Forces. Harry Horner designed the sets, David Rose wrote the music.
COMMENT: Director George Cukor here proves that he does indeed have "the big feel" of a broad dramatic canvas. It was a mistake to fire him from Gone With The Wind. In fact, Cukor's skilled, polished direction and his spectacular handling of the action locations, are as major an asset to this tribute to the Army Air Force as is Moss Hart's restrained, naturalistic script, or Glen MacWilliams' admirably crisp photography. Cukor elicits uniformly excellent performances from his AAF cast. No expense has been spared, and production values are outstanding, with Barbara McLean's skilled film editing a treasure in itself.