Men with Wings (1938)

Drama

Reporter Nicholas Ranson is jubilant when, on 17 Dec 1903, in Kitty Hawk, North Carolina, Orville and Wilbur Wright take their first airplane flight. Back home in Underwood, Maryland, however, his uncle Hiram F. Jenkins, owner and editor of the local newspaper, refuses to print the story. Nicholas quits and continues to work on his own airplane, with the devoted help of his little daughter Peggy. Peggy is actually the first in her family to fly when her friends, Patrick Falconer and Scott Barnes, induce her to get inside a large kite they have made, and run with it in a field until she is airborne. The kite is caught in a tree, however, and Peggy gets a black eye. Later, Nicholas dies when his experimental airplane crashes, leaving his wife and children alone. By Peggy's adulthood, planes are capable of flying at an altitude of 11,000 feet, and speeds of nearly 100 m.p.h. Peggy continues her father's obsession with flight by helping Scott and Pat to build a plane.

Cast

Pat Falconer
Scott Barnes
J.A. Nolan
Young Patricia Falconer
Red Cross Man
Patricia Falconer at Age 17
Peggy Ranson
Field Employee
Joe Gibbs
Field Official
Photographer
Gen. Marlin
Mail Driver
Attendant
Hank Rinebow
Reporter
Mechanic
Photographer
Reporter
Hiram F. Jenkins
Mail Truck Driver
Photographer
Patricia Falconer at Age 6
Nick Ranson
Photographer
Martha Ranson
Telegraph Operator (uncredited)
Young Scott Barnes
Young Peggy Ranson
Young Pat Falconer

Crew

Executive Producer
Art Direction
Art Direction
Set Decoration
Costume Design
Director of Photography
Makeup Artist