I Wanted Wings is a 1941 American drama film directed by Mitchell Leisen and based on a book by Lieutenant Beirne Lay Jr. The film stars Ray Milland and William Holden. The supporting cast includes Wayne Morris, Brian Donlevy, Constance Moore and Veronica Lake. I Wanted Wings features Lake's first major film role. Her career took off shortly thereafter; the same year, she starred in Sullivan's Travels. Lake would become one of the most popular and successful actresses of the early 1940s. Plot It is 1940, prior to the American entry into World War II. After a simulated air raid against Los Angeles involving eighteen U.S. Army Air Corps Boeing B-17 Flying Fortress bombers, one of them goes down in the desert on its way back to base. Mysteriously, the dead body of a woman is found in the wreck. The pilot, Second Lieutenant Jefferson Young III, is accused of having an unauthorized civilian passenger on board and charged accordingly for disobeying orders. Before the court martial renders a verdict, they review Jeff's military background and history. The son of a wealthy Long Island businessman, Jeff joins the United States Army Air Corps. At basic training in Texas, he meets former football standout Tom Cassidy and Al Ludlow, a mechanic. Jeff and Al become close friends and support each other through training. Jeff meets singer Sally Vaughn, unaware that she used to be Al's sweetheart. Jeff, however, is already in love with photographer Carolyn Bartlett. When a pilot (Jimmy Masters) crashes while avoiding Tom, Jeff and Al are first responders to the burning airplane, but Jeff does nothing while Al rescues Masters. Afterward, Jeff is so ashamed of himself, he goes AWOL, gets drunk and goes to see Sally. He offers to take her to Mexico, but Al threatens to expose her past in order to make her persuade Jeff to go back to the base. Afterward, Jeff proposes to Carolyn; she accepts. During training at another airfield, the three friends fly dangerously low for fun, but Tom crashes fatally. Al, the senior cadet, is discharged from the Air Corps. Sally tells Al and Carolyn that she is pregnant with Jeff's child. Jeff admits to Carolyn that he secretly continued to see Sally because she threatened to destroy his reputation. Carolyn breaks up with Jeff. Al marries Sally, partly because he loves her and partly to protect Jeff. After a