Wings (1927)

Wings
Directed by William Wellman
Written by John Monk Saunders, Hope Loring, and Louis D. Lighton
1927/US
Paramount Famous Lasky Corporation
IMDb page
First viewing/Amazon Instant

Mary Preston: Remember – I saw the war, too, Jack! And I can’t blame – anyone – for anything! What happens from now on is all that matters, isn’t it, dear?

Can’t believe it took me this long to get to the first Best Picture Oscar winner.  And I was not disappointed.

The setting is WWI. David Armstrong (Richard Arlen) is a son of the richest family in the small town in which he lives.  Everybody, including the principals, expects him to marry the rich and lovely Sylvia Lewis.  All-American middle class boy Jack Powell (Charles ‘Buddy’ Rogers) is in love with her too.  Jack is oblivious to the fact that Mary Preston (Clara Bow) is crazy about him.  Both men enlist as combat pilots and go off to France.  They become flying aces and eventually best friends.  Mary enlists as a motor pool driver and catches up with them in France.

Most of the film is devoted to spectacular aerial footage of combat. So we get action, adventure, comedy, tragedy, romance and male bonding.  Gary Cooper’s two-minute scene in this film set him on the road to stardom.

Two and a half hours of war movie didn’t exactly sound like a load of fun but I loved this.  It was charming when it needed to be, touching when it needed to be, and, wow, those flight scenes were unbelievable.  Amazon had the restored print with colorized flames coming out of planes that are shot down.