| Wings | |
|---|---|
 Early film poster |
|
| Directed by | William A. Wellman |
| Produced by | Lucien Hubbard |
| Written by | Story: John Monk Saunders Screenplay: Hope Loring Louis D. Lighton Titles: Julian Johnson |
| Starring | Clara Bow Charles 'Buddy' Rogers Richard Arlen Gary Cooper Jobyna Ralston El Brendel Richard Tucker |
| Music by | Uncredited: J.S. Zamecnik |
| Cinematography | Harry Perry |
| Editing by | E. Lloyd Sheldon Uncredited: Lucien Hubard |
| Distributed by | Paramount Pictures |
| Release date(s) | August 12, 1927 |
| Running time | 141 min |
| Country |  United States |
| Language | Silent film English intertitles |
| Budget | US$ 2,000,000 |
| All Movie Guide profile | |
| IMDb profile | |
Wings is a 1927 silent movie about World War I fighter pilots produced and released by Paramount Pictures. Jack Powell (Charles "Buddy" Rogers) and David Armstrong (Richard Arlen) are rivals in the same small American town, both vying for the attentions of pretty Sylvia Lewis (Jobyna Ralston). But what Jack fails to realize is that "the girl next door," Mary Preston (played by the top-billed Clara Bow), is secretly in love with him. The two young men both sign up to become combat pilots, go through a rigorous training period, and are ultimately shipped off to France, where they go from being rivals on the ground to best friends and faithful comrades in the air, especially during air battles with the Germans. Jack and David are briefly reunited with their hometown friend, Mary, when she is stationed near Paris after joining the war effort by becoming an ambulance driver. The climax of the story comes with the epic Battle of Saint-Mihiel. The film, completed with a then unheard-of budget of $2 million, was the first film to win the Academy Award for Best Picture (then called "Best Picture, Production") for the film year 1927/28, and won a second Academy Award for Engineering Effects. The film was written by John Monk Saunders (story), Louis D. Lighton and Hope Loring, and was directed by William A. Wellman, with an original orchestral score by John Stepan Zamecnik (J S Zamecnik), which was uncredited. It is the first known film to feature a male-on-male kiss -- a fraternal one -- between the two main characters played by Rogers and Arlen. Also, it is one of the first widely released films to have shown nudity. Clara Bow's breasts can be seen for a quick second during the Paris bedroom scene (army men open the door and she is caught changing). In 1997, Wings was selected for preservation in the United States National Film Registry by the Library of Congress as being "culturally, historically, or aesthetically significant". In 2006, director William A. Wellman's son, William Wellman Jr., authored a book about the film and his father's participation in the making of it, titled The Man and His Wings: William A. Wellman and the Making of the First Best Picture.
Awards
Academy Award Wins (1927/28)
- Best Effects, Engineering Effects - Roy Pomeroy
- Best Picture - Production
References
- William Wellman, Jr. (2006). The Man And His Wings: William A. Wellman and the Making of the First Best Picture. Praeger Publishers. ISBN 0-275-98541-5.
External links
| Awards | ||
|---|---|---|
| Preceded by New Award |
Academy Award for Best Picture 1927-28 with Sunrise |
Succeeded by The Broadway Melody |
|
|
|---|
|
1927–28: Wings, Sunrise · 1928–29: The Broadway Melody · 1929–30: All Quiet on the Western Front · 1930–31: Cimarron · 1931–32: Grand Hotel · 1932–33: Cavalcade · 1934: It Happened One Night · 1935: Mutiny on the Bounty · 1936: The Great Ziegfeld · 1937: The Life of Emile Zola · 1938: You Can't Take It with You · 1939: Gone with the Wind · 1940: Rebecca †From 1927 to 1933, the Academy Awards did not follow a calendar year. Complete List · Winners (1941–1960) · Winners (1961–1980) · Winners (1981–2000) · Winners (2001– ) |
|
|
|
|---|---|
| 1920s | Second Hand Love • The Man Who Won • Big Dan • Cupid's Fireman • Not a Drum Was Heard • The Vagabond Trail • The Circus Cowboy • When Husbands Flirt • The Boob • You Never Know Women • The Cat's Pajamas • Wings • The Legion of the Condemned • Ladies of the Mob • Beggars of Life • Chinatown Nights • The Man I Love • Woman Trap |
| 1930s | Dangerous Paradise • Young Eagles • Maybe It's Love • Other Men's Women • The Public Enemy • Night Nurse • The Star Witness • Safe in Hell • The Hatchet Man • So Big! • Love Is a Racket • The Purchase Price • The Conquerors • Frisco Jenny • Central Airport • Lilly Turner • Heroes for Sale • Midnight Mary • Wild Boys of the Road • College Coach • Looking for Trouble • Stingaree • The President Vanishes • The Call of the Wild • The Robin Hood of El Dorado • Small Town Girl • A Star Is Born • Nothing Sacred • Men With Wings • Beau Geste • The Light that Failed |
| 1940s | Reaching for the Sun • Roxie Hart • The Great Man's Lady • Thunder Birds • Lady of Burlesque • The Ox-Bow Incident • Buffalo Bill • This Man's Navy • The Story of G.I. Joe • Gallant Journey • Magic Town • The Iron Curtain • Yellow Sky • Battleground |
| 1950s | The Next Voice You Hear... • The Happy Years • Across the Wide Missouri • It's a Big Country • Westward the Women • My Man and I • Island in the Sky • The High and the Mighty • Track of the Cat • Blood Alley • Good-bye, My Lady • Darby's Rangers • Lafayette Escadrille |
| Television | Light's Diamond Jubilee (with Alan Handley), Christian Nyby, Roy Rowland, Norman Taurog, King Vidor and Bud Yorkin) (1954) |
