Winning Your Wings
Encyclopedia
Winning Your Wings is a 1942 Allied propaganda film of World War II produced by the US Army Air Force First Motion Picture Unit
, starring Jimmy Stewart
. It was aimed at young men who were thinking about joining the Air Force.
The film opens with a plane landing on a tarmac and a pilot in full flight gear getting out and walking toward the camera. Once he comes near enough the audience realizes that the pilot is Stewart and he begins his narration: "I want to talk to you all today about one of my favorite subjects, the Army Air Forces." "First, are there any questions?" Then begins a series of vignettes in which young men in different social positions ask about being in the air force, such as a college student, a high school student, and a 26 year old worker with a family. Stewart assures each that they can join the air force and still be able to keep their various educational, occupational and family commitments.
Then the film takes the audience through the average mustering in process, about the medical exams, the cadet training and learning how to fly. Of interest is that there is not a single African American
depicted in the film since, in 1942, the U.S. armed forces were still heavily segregated
. Although, at the time of the film's creation, the first black aviators had already begun serving in the military (see Tuskegee Airmen
).
First Motion Picture Unit
The First Motion Picture Unit was the first unit of the United States Military to be made up entirely of motion picture personnel. It was also the title of a 1943 documentary about the unit.-Organization:...
, starring Jimmy Stewart
James Stewart (actor)
James Maitland Stewart was an American film and stage actor, known for his distinctive voice and his everyman persona. Over the course of his career, he starred in many films widely considered classics and was nominated for five Academy Awards, winning one in competition and receiving one Lifetime...
. It was aimed at young men who were thinking about joining the Air Force.
The film opens with a plane landing on a tarmac and a pilot in full flight gear getting out and walking toward the camera. Once he comes near enough the audience realizes that the pilot is Stewart and he begins his narration: "I want to talk to you all today about one of my favorite subjects, the Army Air Forces." "First, are there any questions?" Then begins a series of vignettes in which young men in different social positions ask about being in the air force, such as a college student, a high school student, and a 26 year old worker with a family. Stewart assures each that they can join the air force and still be able to keep their various educational, occupational and family commitments.
Then the film takes the audience through the average mustering in process, about the medical exams, the cadet training and learning how to fly. Of interest is that there is not a single African American
African American
African Americans are citizens or residents of the United States who have at least partial ancestry from any of the native populations of Sub-Saharan Africa and are the direct descendants of enslaved Africans within the boundaries of the present United States...
depicted in the film since, in 1942, the U.S. armed forces were still heavily segregated
Racial segregation
Racial segregation is the separation of humans into racial groups in daily life. It may apply to activities such as eating in a restaurant, drinking from a water fountain, using a public toilet, attending school, going to the movies, or in the rental or purchase of a home...
. Although, at the time of the film's creation, the first black aviators had already begun serving in the military (see Tuskegee Airmen
Tuskegee Airmen
The Tuskegee Airmen is the popular name of a group of African American pilots who fought in World War II. Formally, they were the 332nd Fighter Group and the 477th Bombardment Group of the U.S. Army Air Corps....
).