Wings (1927)

November 8, 2022 7:51 AM

With World War I afoot, David Armstrong (Richard Arlen) and Jack Powell (Charles "Buddy" Rogers) join the military with an eye toward flying American fighter planes. They leave behind Mary Preston (Clara Bow), a local girl who's in love with David but committed to Jack. Dispatched to France as newly minted pilots, the men take to the skies in one of the war's climactic air battles, and as frantic Mary longs for the safe return of both men, one pays the ultimate price for his bravery.

Also starring Gary Cooper and Hedda Hopper.

Directed by William A. Wellman. Titles by Julian Johnson. Screenplay by Hope Loring, Louis D. Lighton. Story by John Monk Saunders.

93% fresh on Rotten Tomatoes.

Currently streaming in the US on Kanopy. Also available for digital rental on multiple outlets. JustWatch listing.

posted by DirtyOldTown (2 comments total)

A lot of the earliest Oscar winners are real stinkers, but this one holds up pretty well. Clara Bow is so charismatic that it actually turns out to be a good thing they rewrote the entire movie just to shoehorn her in. The action scenes are strikingly well-done for the time and even look kinda cool now. Not essential and not an all-timer for me among silent films, but far, far better than most of the garbage the Academy was all about in its early years.
posted by DirtyOldTown at 8:39 AM on November 8, 2022

This tracking shot is amazing, even by 2022 standards.
posted by DirtyOldTown at 8:52 AM on November 14, 2022