Movie – Wings

Wings (1927) – Two young men, in love with the same woman, become fighter pilots during World War I.

Directed by William Wellman  Starring – Clara Bow, Charles “Buddy” Rogers, Richard Arlen and Gary Cooper

This is a landmark silent movie.  “Wings” won the Best Picture Oscar at the very first Academy Awards.  “The Jazz Singer” would launch the age of feature film talkies in October of 1927 so “Wings” is one of only two silent movies to win the award.  (The other was “The Artist” in 2012) It’s also the movie that made Gary Cooper a star.

What is really astounding about the movie are the combat scenes.  This is a movie about the aerial warfare of the first World War.  What you see on the screen isn’t models or special effects.  It’s real planes flying, twisting, turning and chasing one another among the clouds.  Wellman knew that action intimately.  He was a decorated pilot in the war.  Look for him during the training scenes early on.  One instructor walks with a cane and a limp.  Both are real.  That’s William Wellman.

In order to achieve that both male leads had to be pilots (one already was, the other learned).  They had to take off, fly, start the camera and then make sure that their plane was in the proper position in relation to the planes behind them to capture on film.  And not crash.  The result is astounding.  When you add in the hand tinted colors on flames from dying aircraft (the only color in the film) the result are scenes that rivet your attention.

A quick word on the “It Girl”, Clara Bow.  She was entering the high point of her career.  Over the next four years she was a sure thing at the box office and a big star.  Within five years or so she would walk away from the movies.  There is a natural sexiness to her.  She’s not trying to be sexy, she simply is.  As much a part of her as her smile and her big, big eyes.  Since the movie appeared several years before the Hollywood Production Code, she was a little racy.  There is brief flash of frontal nudity in this movie!  There are a variety of other actresses in the movie.  You will have to think to remember anyone other than Bow.

Why I Liked It – The spectacle of the aerial scenes.

Why You Will Like It – Clara Bow is more fun to watch than either of the male leads.  Cooper’s grim faced two minutes on screen.  And oh those dogfights.

Rating – **** Recommended