Wings (1927)

User Rating:

7.9/10   

Director:

William A. Wellman

Writers:

John Monk Saunders (story)
Hope Loring (screenplay) ...

Release Date:

5 January 1929 (USA)

Genre:

Drama | Romance | War | Action

Tagline:

An Epic of the Air

Plot:

Two young men, one rich, one middle class, who are in love with the same woman, become fighter pilots in World War I.

Plot Keywords:

Pilot | France | Friendship | WWI | Unrequited Love

Awards:

Won 2 Oscars. Another 3 wins

Cast

Clara Bow	...	Mary Preston
Charles 'Buddy' Rogers	...	Jack Powell (as Charles Rogers)
Richard Arlen	...	David Armstrong
Jobyna Ralston	...	Sylvia Lewis
El Brendel	...	Herman Schwimpf
Richard Tucker	...	Air Commander
Gary Cooper	...	Cadet White
Gunboat Smith	...	The Sergeant
Henry B. Walthall	...	David's Father
Roscoe Karns	...	Lieutenant Cameron
Julia Swayne Gordon	...	David's Mother
Arlette Marchal	...	Celeste

Runtime:

139 min | USA:141 min

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Colour:

Black and White

Aspect Ratio:

1.33 : 1

Sound Mix:

Mono (Western Electric Sound System) (musical score and sound effects) | Silent

Certification:

UK:A | USA:TV-PG (TV rating) | Argentina:13 | Sweden:15

Filming Locations:

Bexar County, Texas, USA

Company:

Paramount Famous Lasky Corporation

Trivia:

Chocolate syrup was used as blood in the movie.

Quotes:

Mary Preston: D'you know what you can do when you see a shooting star?
John "Jack" Powell: No, what?
Mary Preston: You can kiss the girl you love.

Movie Connections:

Featured in Nuovo cinema Paradiso (1988)

Soundtrack:

A Midsummer Night's Dream

You don't have to be a fan of silent films to like this one.

*Note: before I begin my review, I must state that this film is in NO way related to the TV show of the same name. But you probably already figured that, so let's move on.

Charles "Buddy" Rogers and Richard Arlen play two young boys in pre-WWI days, with the former having a desire for car-racing and the both of them having a desire for Jobyna Ralston (who was actually Arlen's wife at the time - go figure.) Also, the "It" girl, Clara Bow, has a desire for Rogers, but he does not return the love. Unfortunately, they were just an itsy bit pre-WWI too late. So they're off to the war against Germany. Arlen and Rogers go off to fight in the war, and once they are signed up, they begin training (along with some guy who looks and acts like Danny Thomas who has trouble convincing the Air Force that he's not German. He convinces them with a tattoo on his arm of the American Flag. Yes, comic relief. Yes, we see more of him.) they both go off to the air. But after flying for only a few moments, they are attacked by a baron of some sort, who has "The Chivalry of the Sky" (i.e., he doesn't kill the heroes.) But soon, Bow is off as a nurse to save her dream boy, nearly killed by an air raid that is in turn stopped by Rogers. Later, during shore-leave in France, Bow tries to save her drunk boy wonder again by becoming a "beau" and taking him up to her room. But some Army Officers charge in, taking out Ms. Bow of the army. And it's finally time for our climactic apex, in which the entire Armed Forces engage in a very big (and immensely entertaining) segment in which our heroes dog fight over the dough boys (I believe a young Gary Cooper is in this scene), and Arlen being shot down. But he manages to escape in one of the German's planes and almost makes it back to the HQ, but Rogers ironically shoots it down, landing on a small French chapel (!) killing Arlen. But Arlen forgives him before he dies, and Arlen goes back home a hero (Hedda Hopper, Hollywood columnist, is there to greet him!) And, finally, Bow and Rogers fall in love, see a shooting star, and she finally gets to show him that she has "IT". In other words, The end.