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Wing and a Prayer Overview:

Wing and a Prayer (1944) was a War - Drama Film directed by Henry Hathaway and produced by Walter Morosco and William A. Bacher.

Academy Awards 1944 --- Ceremony Number 17 (source: AMPAS)

AwardRecipientResult
Best WritingJerome CadyNominated
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Wing and a Prayer Facts
According to the DVD sleeve notes, this film about the Battle of Midway utilized actual combat footage. Years later another film also about "The Battle of Midway, Midway, would also utilize real combat footage, but in color.
Erskine Caldwell and Norman Reilly Raine were the screenwriters of the early period when it was known as "Torpedo Squadron 8" and was going to be an historically factual and biographical account of Torpedo Squadron 8 and Ensign George Gay. However, the studio changed the picture's direction to a more fictionalized account. As such, it is not known to what extent their work on this movie remained in the final shooting script.
Lloyd Nolan was once set to star in this movie according to 20th Century-Fox studio publicity and the 'Hollywood Reporter' of late 1943. He would be appearing in the re-conceptualized fictionalized version of the film. A December edition of the 'Hollywood Reporter' reported Nolan to be going to be playing a squadron leader. Records of the Legal Department of the UCLA Arts Special Collections Library state that Nolan was set to play the character of Benjamin K. 'Benny 'O'Neill, a role finally played by Murray Alper. Nolan did not end up appearing in this movie.
According to the 'Hollywood Reporter', Randolph Scott, Preston Foster and John Sutton were looked at for major parts in this movie when it was known under the working title of Torpedo Squadron 8.
Director Henry Hathaway and his camera crew spent several weeks shooting approximately 50,000 feet of film aboard an American aircraft carrier. This included atmospheric shots, background footage and actual combat scenes. The "Hollywood Reporter" of 12 January 1944 reported that this footage was "the first ever approved by the Navy Department or War Department of any action on one of the new post-Pearl Harbor fleet plane carriers." Whilst on the flat top, Hathaway and crew also studied US Navy procedures and technical manual elements.
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