The cast is a great one, Ray Milland, William Holden, Veronica Lake etc were rarely less than worth watching and all gave great performances when they hit their stride and found what they excelled most at. Mitchell Lesisen was not a consistent director but was a competent one, evident with the likes of 'Midnight', with a fair share still of worthwhile films. The idea for the film sounded great and do appreciate, if not quite love, this kind of film and have done so for a while.
'I Wanted Wings' is not one of the best representations of any of them though. It is definitely worth a look, is mildly recommended and there is a good deal to admire about it. To me though 'I Wanted Wings' was an uneven film and only slightly above mixed bag level, not the easiest of films to rate and review when contemplating on what my thoughts were after watching. Why people here find appeal in it is definitely understandable, but it is also understandable as to why it won't click with others.
Will start with 'I Wanted Wings' good things. It is beautifully shot and the scenes in the air still look impressive today. The music is both sumptuous and moody. Leisen did do better direction elsewhere, some of his most inspired direction being in 1950's 'No Man of Her Own', but once the film gets going he frames things beautifully and stylishly, has enough momentum and the interaction between the actors is great, especially in the friendship bonding where they actually look like friends.
Did find the script uneven, but enough of it is thoughtful and engaging and the story engages enough too, especially when up in the air which have tension and emotional impact. Holden does a noble job as the film's most interesting character and Lake does a lot with a thankless and not always plausible one that she portrays intensely and movingly. Her hysteria on the plane felt very real, and may well have been as apparently she was the main source of the difficult shoot. Brian Donlevy is well cast in a role well suited to him and brings a good deal of authority.
Milland doesn't look as comfortable, the character is not a particularly meaty one and he came over as a little bland. Some of the writing in the romantic moments was a bit soapy, especially in the fairly underdeveloped Milland and Constance Moore (who could have brought more personality to her plot device role) subplot, and sometimes talky in the flashback.
Also felt that 'I Wanted Wings' is brought down by some overlong padding (such as the Milland and Moore subplot) and also just didn't find the trial stuff particularly interesting and easily forgettable. If this was trimmed length-wise, the film would have tighter and felt less bloated or suffered as much from the longer than needed length. The decision of who to stay with/dump between Lake and Moore also didn't ring particularly true.
On the whole, worthwhile but uneven. 6/10
'I Wanted Wings' is not one of the best representations of any of them though. It is definitely worth a look, is mildly recommended and there is a good deal to admire about it. To me though 'I Wanted Wings' was an uneven film and only slightly above mixed bag level, not the easiest of films to rate and review when contemplating on what my thoughts were after watching. Why people here find appeal in it is definitely understandable, but it is also understandable as to why it won't click with others.
Will start with 'I Wanted Wings' good things. It is beautifully shot and the scenes in the air still look impressive today. The music is both sumptuous and moody. Leisen did do better direction elsewhere, some of his most inspired direction being in 1950's 'No Man of Her Own', but once the film gets going he frames things beautifully and stylishly, has enough momentum and the interaction between the actors is great, especially in the friendship bonding where they actually look like friends.
Did find the script uneven, but enough of it is thoughtful and engaging and the story engages enough too, especially when up in the air which have tension and emotional impact. Holden does a noble job as the film's most interesting character and Lake does a lot with a thankless and not always plausible one that she portrays intensely and movingly. Her hysteria on the plane felt very real, and may well have been as apparently she was the main source of the difficult shoot. Brian Donlevy is well cast in a role well suited to him and brings a good deal of authority.
Milland doesn't look as comfortable, the character is not a particularly meaty one and he came over as a little bland. Some of the writing in the romantic moments was a bit soapy, especially in the fairly underdeveloped Milland and Constance Moore (who could have brought more personality to her plot device role) subplot, and sometimes talky in the flashback.
Also felt that 'I Wanted Wings' is brought down by some overlong padding (such as the Milland and Moore subplot) and also just didn't find the trial stuff particularly interesting and easily forgettable. If this was trimmed length-wise, the film would have tighter and felt less bloated or suffered as much from the longer than needed length. The decision of who to stay with/dump between Lake and Moore also didn't ring particularly true.
On the whole, worthwhile but uneven. 6/10