"On a wing and a prayer"
La N
next short while before I hit the road, and I used the term "On a wing and a
prayer". Of course, me being me with my mild ADD, it BEGGED THE QUESTION,
"I wonder where the term "wing and a prayer" came from. And lo and behold
its origins are in WWII. Furthermore, there was a 1944 war movie of the
same name about an aircraft carrier sent on a decoy mission in the Pacific
with strict orders to avoid combat.
So, another beggar's question, has anybody here seen the movie "On A Wing
and a Prayer"?
- nilita
La N
> >
> So, another beggar's question, has anybody here seen the movie "On A
> Wing and a Prayer"?
>
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0037466/
John Szalay
news:i4ckg1$av7$1...@news.eternal-september.org:
Yes many years ago,
also think it was on TCM channel a while back. will have to check the
schedule..
there was also a song by that title.. need to check the music lists to see
who & when.. dig, dig.
John Szalay
> I recent posted something on facebook regarding all that I have to do
year artists song record company
1943 Song Spinners "Comin' In On a Wing and a Prayer" Decca 18553
Ray O'Hara
"La N" <nilita20...@yahoo.com> wrote in message
news:i4ckg1$av7$1...@news.eternal-september.org...
many a time, a classic WWII propaganda movie that avoids hate.
well worth renting.
La N
> "La N" <nilita20...@yahoo.com> wrote in
> news:i4ckg1$av7$1...@news.eternal-september.org:
>
>> I recent posted something on facebook regarding all that I have to do
>> in the next short while before I hit the road, and I used the term
>>
>>
>
>
> company 1943 Song Spinners "Comin' In On a Wing and a Prayer"
> Decca 18553
Here it is:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5IcIjKtQrWc
- nilita
La N
It seems to get lots of good reviewed. I think I will rent it.
- nilita
John Szalay
@news.eternal-september.org:
I found an Mp3 of it too.
Ray O'Hara
It has Don Ameche, Harry Morgan{Col Potter from MASH} Dana Andrews.
Peter Skelton
The phrase probably comes from the 1943 hit by Adamson & McHugh.
(My mother always sang it 'with one rudder gone', I don't know
why. She had about seven verses.)
Peter Skelton
Jack Linthicum
> On Mon, 16 Aug 2010 17:18:10 -0700, "La N"
>
The movie review implies without proof that the phrase was around
before the song.
"The film's title, Wing and a Prayer (1944) is an abbreviation of the
famous aviator slogan, "Coming in on a wing and a prayer" but in turn
is not intentionally related to the 1943 song of the same title, music
and lyrics by Harold Adamson and Jimmy McHugh."
Eugene Griessel
wrote:
I am pretty sure the phrase predates the song - perhaps even inspired
it - however I cannot currently find any concrete evidence.
Unfortunately the cite I had in mind concerns 1941 - a Blenheim
returning from France on one engine but the book was written in 1947
so may be a late attribution.
Eugene L Griessel
Aptitude tests show that you will succeed in
a business where your father is the boss.
Jack Linthicum
> On Tue, 17 Aug 2010 08:51:34 -0400, Peter Skelton <skelt...@cogeco.ca>
> wrote:
>
>
>
> >On Mon, 16 Aug 2010 17:18:10 -0700, "La N"
One version has "one rudder gone" so maybe a Lancaster?
Jack Linthicum
> wrote:
>
>
>
> >On Mon, 16 Aug 2010 17:18:10 -0700, "La N"
More than you ever wanted to know on the subject
Eugene Griessel
Other aircraft with more than one rudder - The Armstrong Witworth
Whitley, Handley Page Hampdden, Halifax even the Avro Manchester -
some of which predate the Lancaster.
Eugene L Griessel
Some people are clue-deprived, some are clue-deficient, and some are
clue-resistant. The worst are clue-repellant. You will achieve nothing by
engaging in discussion with them.
Richard Casady
>Other aircraft with more than one rudder - The Armstrong Witworth
>Whitley, Handley Page Hampdden, Halifax even the Avro Manchester -
>some of which predate the Lancaster.
>Eugene L Griessel
Not to mention the Liberator, the Mitchell, and the Twin Beech [C-45,
Beechcraft model 18]. The Constellation had three rudders.
Casady
Eugene Griessel
All of which served in the RAF in the early war years?
My list is of actual bombers used over Europe.
Peter Skelton
I'm inclined to agree, but at least one quote site doesn't
http://www.thisdayinquotes.com/2010/02/comin-in-on-wing-and-prayer.
says:
The idiom “on a wing and a prayer” is a now general way to
describe making an effort to succeed in the face of difficult, or
dangerous, circumstances — and hoping that luck, or God, will be
on your side.
During World War II, when the phrase first became part of the
English language, it was meant in a very literal way.
It referred to Allied airmen flying back to their base in damaged
planes, hoping and praying that they’d make it.
In his book Dictionary of Catch Phrases: British and American
(first published in 1977), the late, great phrase maven Eric
Partridge speculated that “a wing and a prayer” was originally
associated with the British Royal Air Force. He thought it might
have been used by RAF pilots as early as 1940.
That’s possible. But there are no newspapers or other sources I
could find online that used the phrase prior to 1943, which is
when it was made famous by an American song said to be inspired
by news stories about an American bomber crew.
On February 26, 1943, a B-17 “Flying Fortress” bomber piloted by
Hugh G. Ashcraft, Jr. of Charlotte, North Carolina was limping
back from a bombing mission in Germany to an American base in
England. The plane, dubbed The Southern Comfort by its crew, was
riddled with flak and had one engine missing.
As they approached the shores of Britain, Ashcraft reportedly
told his crew: “Those who want to, please pray.”
The Southern Comfort made it to the base, generating news in
Ashcraft’s home state of North Carolina and elsewhere about the
crew that “prayed” their plane back. Ashcraft became something of
a celebrity. And, after the war, he became the first president of
the Harris Teeter chain of supermarkets.
Peter Skelton
Jack Linthicum
> On Tue, 17 Aug 2010 15:14:02 +0200, Eugene Griessel
>
>
>
> <eug...@dynagen.co.za> wrote:
> >wrote:
>
> >>On Mon, 16 Aug 2010 17:18:10 -0700, "La N"
No mention of "wing and a prayer"
http://www.kilroywashere.org/009-Pages/Wallace/SouthernComfort.html
Peter Skelton
or of the date of the crash - I wouldn't go drawing any
conclusions from that page.
Peter Skelton
scott s.
news:ih8l66t3uk3dmgs4s...@4ax.com:
And on the naval side Martin Mariner
scott s.
.
Ray O'Hara
"scott s." <75270...@csi.xcom> wrote in message
news:Xns9DD758F00D606...@216.168.3.70...
Also Lockheed Hudson which I do believe the Brits had a few when the war
started.