Wings

Longtime readers of this blog will recall when I worked my way through the films that have won the Best Picture Oscar (at 1957, I started, once a year, to go through all the nominees for Best Picture). I had to skip the very first film that won the honor, Wings, because it was not on DVD. That has changed, and the film has been released on a startling pristine disc.

I did see Wings once before, years ago on Turner Classic Movies, but I was glad to see it again. For an 84-year-old film, it really holds up well, and is a smashing entertainment. Sure, some of the acting is of the silent, melodramatic style, but that has to be taken in context. Director William Wellman, who would go on to make many great films over the next thirty years, gave Wings a look that has transcended time.

The story is a tribute to the World War I flying aces. The war was still fresh in everyone's minds, though no film had been made about the war in the air. Logistics was a major problem--usually miniatures were used. Wellman, who was a flying ace, did something that today (mostly due to insurance problems) couldn't or wouldn't be done--he bolted cameras to the planes and had his lead actors fly those planes, thus giving the viewer a thrilling sense of being in the air.

The plot itself is kind of hoary, even for 1927. Two young men from the same small town enlist in the Air Corps. Jack (Charles "Buddy" Rogers) and Dave (Richard Arlen) are from different sides of the tracks. Rogers is a working class kid, who builds hot rods, while Arlen is a rich kid. They are both in love with Sylvia (Jobyna Ralston), though she is in love with Dave. Rogers' next door neighbor, Mary Preston (Clara Bow), is in love with Jack, though he sees her as only a friend.

The boys both go off to war, and Wings is at its best during the dogfight scenes. The film was shot near San Antonio, Texas, and the U.S. Army donated about 15 million dollars worth of men and equipment to the making of the film. Wellman would wait for days for the sky to be cloudy, realizing that without the clouds there was no perspective. Watching those plays circle through the clouds is pretty amazing, even today (of course it would all be CGI today). There were a few "special effects"--flames hand-tinted (in color) were added to the film negative.

Rogers and Arlen are at first rivals, but bond to become great friends. Bow goes over as a nurse, and there's a long scene where she tries to get a drunken Rogers away from a French floozy so he won't be arrested for failing to end his leave. As this was pre-code, there's kind of a racy scene when Bow undresses behind a screen. Bow, at the time, was by far the biggest female star in the world--the original "It" girl.

The film's tragic ending, while melodramatic (and a shade homoerotic, given today's standards) is nail-bitingingly exciting. Wellman, over the course of his career, would use the closeup to great effect, and he certainly does so here, especially when one friend sees the other, lying in a bloody heap. There are also some other nifty shots: when Arlen and Robson are on a swing, Wellman has mounted a camera on the swing, so the viewer goes back and forth a few times (and could get vertigo). There's also a great shot that zooms in on a dolly on Rogers in the Parisian nightclub, which goes over several tables until it's close on his face.

The photography was done by Harry Perry. He is responsible for about 90 percent of the aerial stuff, though several cameramen were used. Yeoman work was also turned in by the stunt pilots. There are some spectacular crashes, including when a Fokker slams into a house. Seen in a film today that would mean nothing, as one would assume it's all computer generated, but back then it was an actual plane and an actual house.

A few other notes of trivia--early in the film look for a short scene featuring a very young Gary Cooper. Also, Wings is the only silent film to win Best Picture, although that may end in a matter of weeks if The Artist wins. Of course, The Artist is not a true silent picture, as it does have a soundtrack.

I highly recommend film lovers check out this disc--it's also in Blu-Ray. It's a great part of cinema history, and also a damn fine film.