Hell's Angels (1930)

User Rating:

7.9/10   

Director:

Howard Hughes

Writers:

Harry Behn (writer)
Howard Estabrook (writer)

Release Date:

15 November 1930 (USA)

Genre:

Drama | War

Tagline:

Howard Hughes' Thrilling Multi-Million Dollar Air Spectacle

Plot:

Two brothers attending Oxford enlist with the RAF when World War I breaks out. Roy and Monte Rutledge have very different personalities...

Plot Keywords:

Oxford | German | Munitions | Bomb | Royal Flying Corps

Awards:

Nominated for Oscar.

Cast

Ben Lyon	...	Monte Rutledge
James Hall	...	Roy Rutledge
Jean Harlow	...	Helen (as Jean Harlowe)
John Darrow	...	Karl Armstedt
Lucien Prival	...	Baron Von Kranz
Frank Clarke	...	Lt. von Bruen
Roy Wilson	...	Baldy Maloney
Douglas Gilmore	...	Capt. Redfield
Jane Winton	...	Baroness Von Kranz
Evelyn Hall	...	Lady Randolph
William B. Davidson	...	Staff Major
Wyndham Standing	...	RFC squadron commander
Lena Melana	...	Gretchen, waitress (as Lena Malena)
Marian Marsh	...	Girl selling kisses (as Marilyn Morgan)
Carl von Haartman	...	Zeppelin commander

Runtime:

127 min | Belgium:94 min

Country:

USA

Language:

English | German | French

Colour:

Black and White | Colour (Technicolor)

Aspect Ratio:

1.20 : 1

Sound Mix:

Mono (Western Electric Sound System)

Certification:

Iceland:16 | Norway:16 | Brazil:14 | UK:A (original rating) (heavily cut) | UK:PG (video rating) (2005) (uncut) | USA:PG (re-release) | USA:Passed (National Board of Review)

Filming Locations:

Hollywood Center Studios - 1040 N. Las Palmas Avenue, Hollywood, Los Angeles, California, USA

Company:

The Caddo Company

Trivia:

Stunt pilots refused to perform an aerial sequence that director Howard Hughes wanted. Hughes, a noted aviator himself, did his own flying. He got the shot, but he also crashed the plane.

Quotes:

Helen: I wanna be free. I wanna be gay and have fun. Life's short. And I wanna live while I'm alive.

Movie Connections:

Featured in Harlow: The Blonde Bombshell (1993) (TV)

Soundtrack:

Symphony No. 5 Opus 64: 2nd movement

The First Great Action Epic of the Talking Era

With the release of "The Aviator" there will be renewed, and well deserved, interest in this classic. Hell's Angels holds together surprisingly well for a 75 year old film. Sure there is the over-emoting one would expect from a film that bridges the era between silents and talkies, but the character development is good, the flight scenes are amazing and the story holds the attention from beginning to end. And we haven't even talked about Jean Harlow!! There can be no doubt that Howard Hughes was a genius, a perfectionist, and that he set out to, and did, produce of of the greatest movies of all time. The most expensive film of it's day, and worth every penny.