Young Eagles is a 1930 American pre-Code romantic drama film directed by William A. Wellman for Paramount Pictures. It stars Charles "Buddy" Rogers, Jean Arthur, and Paul Lukas. The story is based on the stories "The One Who Was Clever" and "Sky-High", written by American aviator and war hero Elliott White Springs. The film's hero is a "heroic combat aviator of the Lafayette Escadrille".
Theatrical release poster
William Augustus Wellman was an American film director, producer, screenwriter, actor and military pilot. He was known for his work in crime, adventure, and action genre films, often focusing on aviation themes, a particular passion. He also directed several well-regarded satirical comedies. His 1927 film, Wings, was the first film to win an Academy Award for Best Picture at the 1st Academy Awards ceremony.
Wellman filming The High and the Mighty (1954)
Wellman and Celia, his Nieuport 24 fighter, c. 1917 (one of several aircraft named for his mother)
Wellman in a captured German Rumpler (image from his 1918 account Go Get Em!...)
Wellman as a flight instructor at Rockwell Field, 1919