Captains of the Clouds
Captains of the Clouds ( Shadows of Their Wings) is a 1942 American war film in Technicolor, directed by Michael Curtiz and starring James Cagney. It was produced by William Cagney (Cagney's brother), with Hal B. Wallis as executive producer. The screenplay was written by Arthur T. Horman, Richard Macaulay, and Norman Reilly Raine, based on a story by Horman and Roland Gillett. The cinematography was by Wilfred M. Cline and Sol Polito and was notable in that it was the first feature-length Hollywood production filmed entirely in Canada.
Plot
Brian MacLean irritates fellow bush pilots Johnny Dutton, Tiny Murphy, Blimp Lebec, and British expatriate Scrounger Harris by outcompeting them for business in rugged Northern Ontario, Canada. In 1939, as the Second World War is beginning. Dutton, whose ambition is to start his own airline, flies by the book, but MacLean is a seat-of-the-pants kind of pilot, mirroring the differences in their personalities.
Cast
- Alan Hale
- Benny Baker
- Billy Bishop
- Brenda Marshall
- Carl Harbord
- Charles Halton
- Charles Irwin
- Clem Bevans
- Dennis Morgan
- Emmett Vogan
- Frank Wilcox
- Frederick Worlock
- Gavin Muir
- George Meeker
- George Tobias
- Gig Young
- Hardie Albright
- J. Farrell MacDonald
- J. M. Kerrigan
- James Cagney
- John Gallaudet
- John Kellogg
- Louis Jean Heydt
- Miles Mander
- Morton Lowry
- Pat Flaherty
- Patrick O'Moore
- Paul Cavanagh
- Ray Montgomery
- Ray Walker
- Reginald Denny
- Reginald Gardiner
- Roland Drew
- Russell Arms
- Tod Andrews
- Walter Brooke
- Willie Fung
More details
author | Norman Reilly Raine |
---|---|
contentLocation | Canada |
director | Michael Curtiz |
editor | George Amy |
events | aviation World War II |
keywords | abandon air force air marshal attack begin british commonwealth british commonwealth air training plan bush pilot commanding officer emergency surgery fairchild 71 ferry flying ferry pilots flight instructor fly hear injured kill land lockheed hudson married messerschmitt bf 109 noorduyn norseman northern ontario on the beach ontario canada royal canadian air force speak train warn we shall fight on the beaches winston churchill world war i |
musicBy | Max Steiner |
nomination | Academy Award for Best Art Direction, Color Academy Award for Best Cinematography, Color |
producer | Hal B. Wallis |
publisher | Warner Bros. |
recordedAt | Ottawa |
theme | northern war |