With John Wayne, John Ford, Dan Dailey, and Maureen O'Hara involved in a true life story of a friend, you expect a perfect film here. What happens though is an interesting film, but not a great one. John Wayne plays a person who is looked upon as a hero, and give the film credit, it shows that he had many flaws. This film, which followed the classic The Searchers, just does not get to that level.
There is more honesty in this one than you'd expect. Wayne actually for one of the few times in his career, works without his toupee. While the story of Wead is inspirational, he comes back from a major fall and neck injury, his life is a mix which is accurately depicted here.
Wead appears to love his wife and children, but alt of most always throws them aside for his love of aviation, the Navy, and his own writing and partying. His priorities are way out of whack, yet he somehow keeps going and then recovers in a miracle from near paralysis. Maureen O'Hara only gets a few good scenes in this one as his wife.
The interesting thing to Wead is that even after this miracle, he still does not appear to have learned any lesson about change. His priorities stay out of whack and he never seems to get a personal life with goals that make sense.
Wayne is not comfortable playing Wead, and Ford though accurate with the main character, appears not to get a lot of the fine detail work of events behind the Biopic accurate. After The Searchers, this is truly a let down.
Still, it is a movie which needed to be made because I have to admit everyone involved resisted the urge to make Wead a God to be worshiped. He obviously wasn't and you suspect after viewing it that his personal live might have gotten some white washing still. In that way, this film has a quality a lot of biopics being made in the 1950's do not. Even when he recovers and moves his left toe, they don't make it a message from God.
Dan Dailey getting to do a song is a rare bonus here. Wayne does an excellent job with showing the physical problems with Wead, even after his left toe recovers. This does stick out as a unique enough effort that it is worth a look. We only wish it were more.
There is more honesty in this one than you'd expect. Wayne actually for one of the few times in his career, works without his toupee. While the story of Wead is inspirational, he comes back from a major fall and neck injury, his life is a mix which is accurately depicted here.
Wead appears to love his wife and children, but alt of most always throws them aside for his love of aviation, the Navy, and his own writing and partying. His priorities are way out of whack, yet he somehow keeps going and then recovers in a miracle from near paralysis. Maureen O'Hara only gets a few good scenes in this one as his wife.
The interesting thing to Wead is that even after this miracle, he still does not appear to have learned any lesson about change. His priorities stay out of whack and he never seems to get a personal life with goals that make sense.
Wayne is not comfortable playing Wead, and Ford though accurate with the main character, appears not to get a lot of the fine detail work of events behind the Biopic accurate. After The Searchers, this is truly a let down.
Still, it is a movie which needed to be made because I have to admit everyone involved resisted the urge to make Wead a God to be worshiped. He obviously wasn't and you suspect after viewing it that his personal live might have gotten some white washing still. In that way, this film has a quality a lot of biopics being made in the 1950's do not. Even when he recovers and moves his left toe, they don't make it a message from God.
Dan Dailey getting to do a song is a rare bonus here. Wayne does an excellent job with showing the physical problems with Wead, even after his left toe recovers. This does stick out as a unique enough effort that it is worth a look. We only wish it were more.