kijii If you are interested in the aviation history (in general) or naval aviation (in particular), you might find this movie interesting. Otherwise, as a movie plot, the story is very thin indeed. George Brent and John Payne play two naval brothers. Their father was a naval aviation hero, and Brent has followed in his footsteps as an aviator and instructor at the training station in Pensacola Florida. His younger brother, who has always looked up to him, wants to transfer from submarines to aviation after seeing his brother. Filmed at the naval aviation bases in Pensacola and San Diego, there are some interesting shots of training sessions in the film. De Havilland plays Brent's fiancée who falls in love with Payne. Frank McHugh adds some humur, with that characteristic laugh of his, as one of Payne's fellow trainees.Again, any plot here is overshadowed, for better or worse, by the aviation shots, thus making this more of a recruiting film than a movie with an interesting plot.

edwagreen John Payne and George Brent play two brothers who have always been highly competitive with each other. They come from a well-known navy flier and Brent, as the older brother, has built quite a reputation through the years. This propels Payne to leave his submarine position and transfer into flying.Olivia de Havilland plays Brent's girlfriend who has the opportunity to meet the Payne character and he falls for her. Of course, as she is about to tell Brent of her new love, he meets with an accident in the air and seems to be no longer able to fly. Frank McHugh is a scene stealer and providing comic relief in this film. He looks like a sad-sack case who will easily strike out in flying only to overcome any adversity.The positive ending was a pleasure to watch.

dougandwin Having read all previous reviews, and having just watched this Movie again on TCM, it seems Warner Bros have tried very hard to make a stirring story at the same time as glorifying the US armed forces (as they were at that time). Sadly, they have failed to give any real life to what should have been more than just a run of the mill programmer. Cast-wise, George Brent is far too stodgy in a role made for a Flynn or Cagney, John Payne was fine (very early in his career), Olivia de Havilland was gorgeous but really had nothing to do and was wasted, while the usual Warner stalwarts (like McHugh and Toomey) played the same old characters they have portrayed in countless films. Photography was not bad at all, and the sound track was very good.

bkoganbing Covering a lot of the same ground, but a year earlier than MGM's Flight Command, Wings Of The Navy is one of those military preparedness films that Hollywood was importuned to make by the powers that be in Washington, DC. Those folks knew that we would be in a shooting war and shortly and this was their way of getting America psychologically ready.George Brent and John Payne play a pair of brothers who are career Navy men, Annapolis graduates and sons of a late naval hero. Dad was an early Navy pilot and Brent has followed in his footsteps. Payne would like to do the same, but he's in the submarine service. Nevermind, Payne gets himself a transfer much to Brent's displeasure because Payne's a competitive sort and likely to get himself killed trying to out do big brother.The brothers are also rivals for Olivia DeHavilland who was once again in a thankless role of the girl who was the object. For someone of her talents, DeHavilland had precious little to do except look pretty. She was desperately trying to get roles of more substance. She would shortly in Gone With The Wind that same year of 1939.Wings Of The Navy is a real treat for aviation buffs with the various types of planes that were the latest thing in 1939 being shown. Also some even earlier types of planes were what the Navy was training with even then. We lagged far behind Germany and Japan and even Great Britain at this point.After World War II when President Truman decided to consolidate the services into one Department of Defense, the big sticking point was Naval Aviation. The Army was willing to let their Army Air Force become a separate Air Force service, the Navy insisted on controlling its planes that were taking off and landing from carriers. The compromise was reached and both the separate Air Force and the Navy controlling its aviation service was allowed. What we see here in Wings Of The Navy is a stage in the development of Naval aviation that helped win the Pacific War.And it is to those who were in that service in that war that this film review is respectfully dedicated.