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.
Directed by
William A. Wellman
Written by
Robert Carson
Walter Abel
Nick Ranson
Fred MacMurray
Pat Falconer
Joan Leslie
Young Patricia Falconer
Dennis Morgan
Galton
Billy Bletcher
Red Cross Man
James Burke
J.A. Nolan
George Chandler
Cody
Chuck Hamilton
Photographer
Ray Milland
Scott Barnes
Frank Mills
Mechanic
Art Rowlands
Reporter
Donald O'Connor
Young Pat Falconer
Andy Devine
Joe Gibbs
Virginia Weidler
Young Peggy Ranson
Kitty Kelly
Martha Ranson
Evelyn Keyes
Nurse
Archie Twitchell
Nelson
Jonathan Hale
Long
Lynne Overman
Hank Rinebow
Al Hill
Mail Driver
Ethel Clayton
Woman
Edward Earle
Officer
David Newell
Photographer
John Hubbard
Attendant
Juanita Quigley
Patricia Falconer at Age 6
Ruth Rogers
Girl
Syd Saylor
Jimmy
Willard Robertson
Col. Hadley
Charles Trowbridge
Alcott
Dell Henderson
Chairman
Cheryl Walker
Nurse
Harry Woods
Baker
Lee Phelps
Photographer
Paul Kruger
Reporter
Garry Owen
Reporter
Jean Fenwick
Nurse
Claire Du Brey
Edith
Eddie Dunn
Field Employee
Porter Hall
Hiram F. Jenkins
Dolores Casey
Nurse
Russell Hicks
Gen. Marlin
Frank Clarke
Burke
James P. Burtis
Reporter
Louise Campbell
Peggy Ranson
John T. Murray
Jones
Anita Randalla Berkely
Peggy's Baby
Mary Brodel
Patricia Falconer at Age 17
Jack Chapin
Sentry
Sheila Darcy
Nurse
Jane Dewey
Nurse
Lillian Dickson
Woman
Norah Gale
Nurse
Grace Goodall
Matron
Sherry Hall
Field Official
Ralph McCullough
Reporter
Kitty McHugh
Nurse
Lucille Miller
Norma
Willy Morris
Clerk
Franklin Parker
Mail Truck Driver
Bob Perry
Waiter
Ronald R. Rondell
Mechanic
Jerome Storm
Reporter
Dorothy Tennant
Mrs. Hill
Frank Tomick
Bobby Tracy
Reporter
Ethel West
Woman
Pat West
Photographer
Dorothy White
Nurse
Joe Whitehead
Cab Driver
Charles Williams
Telegraph Operator (uncredited)
Billy Cook
Young Scott Barnes

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