Epic John Ford film, beautifully constructed and with its fair share of action. It's based on the life of one of America's greatest air heroes, Frank 'Spig' Wead, a kind of American equivalent to Douglas Bader. The real-life Wead, despite being crippled by a fall after some spectacular Twenties' exploits in the Schneider Cup air races, made a substantial contribution to America's war effort in the Pacific in World War Two. He also wrote plays about the war. And one of them - They Were Expendable - was filmed by Ford in 1945, ironically with Wayne in the starring role. Ward Bond, another of Ford's favourite actors, does sterling, unobtrusive work as Wead's right-hand man and Maureen O'Hara gets well into the character of Mrs Wead and grows old, as always, beautifully.


©ipc tx. Film content from TVTimes