Wing and a Prayer (1944)

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The meaning of the phrase "wing and a prayer", of which the film's title is a part, is a shortening of an old saying among aviators, "We're coming in on a wing and a prayer". It means that they are flying or trying to land an aircraft in poor condition. The expression can also be used as a metaphor for trying to achieve something even though one is a bit ill-prepared or ill-equipped for the task.
During the Battle of Midway, all the flyboys of Torpedo Squadron 8 were killed except for Ensign George Gay. This film's original intention was to depict their lives, especially Gay's. The Twentieth Century-Fox studio bought the rights to a 'Life' magazine story by Sidney L. James on the Battle of Midway as well as obtaining permission from both Ensign Gay and the United States Navy to film the story. The 23 September 1942 edition of the 'Hollywood Reporter' stated that "The Navy has relented in its stand against the use of the names of war heroes in film dramatizing their deeds and will not stand in the way provided the permission of the hero is obtained and the story content is satisfactory." However, the studio decided to produce a fictionalized telling of the Battle of Midway. The 'New York Times' of 6 February 1944 reported that the film script about Ensign Gay and Torpedo Squadron 8 was "entirely discarded" after "the protest of a certain high Government official that the proposed picture would carry a defeatist implication."
The air craft carrier seen in this movie was the USS Yorktown II. This flat top also featured in another of Twentieth Century-Fox production, the documentary, The Fighting Lady.
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