Wings

"Youth, hitting the clouds! Laughing at danger! Fighting, loving, dodging death! That's "WINGS""

1927 2h 24m EN

👍

7.2

SOLID

★7.2TMDB · 348

DramaActionWarRomance

Synopsis

Spoiler shield

Two young men, one rich, one middle class, both in love with the same woman, become US Air Corps fighter pilots and, eventually, heroic flying aces during World War I. Devoted best friends, their mutual love of the girl eventually threatens their bond. Meanwhile, a hometown girl who's the lovestruck lifelong next door neighbor of one of them pines away.

“Youth, hitting the clouds! Laughing at danger! Fighting, loving, dodging death! That's "WINGS"”

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Cast

Clara Bow
Mary Preston
Charles 'Buddy' Rogers
Jack Powell
Richard Arlen
David Armstrong
Jobyna Ralston
Sylvia Lewis
El Brendel
Herman Schwimpf
Richard Tucker
Air Commander
Gary Cooper
Cadet White
Gunboat Smith
The Sergeant

Credits

Behind the camera

Director: William A. Wellman
Writers: John Monk Saunders, Hope Loring, Louis D. Lighton
Languages: No Language
Countries: United States of America

Want more? Switch to Cinephile mode in the header for DP, composer, budget, box office, production companies, keywords, and release history.

Did you know?

Fun facts 🍿

1 / 7

MONEY

Did you know

Shot for just $2.0M — micro-budget by Hollywood standards.

MoodPlayr · trivia#01

2 / 7

ERA

Did you know

99 years old — a genuine piece of film history.

MoodPlayr · trivia#02

3 / 7

DIRECTOR

Did you know

Directed by William A. Wellman, shot by Harry Perry. Note their partnership — DPs and directors often return to each other across a career.

MoodPlayr · trivia#03

4 / 7

DIRECTOR

Did you know

Editor E. Lloyd Sheldon shaped the rhythm. On an edit-heavy film, the editor does more to control your pulse than the director.

MoodPlayr · trivia#04

5 / 7

CAST

Did you know

Clara Bow and Charles 'Buddy' Rogers and Richard Arlen carry the top of the cast.

MoodPlayr · trivia#05

6 / 7

FACT

Did you know

Marketing tagline: "Youth, hitting the clouds! Laughing at danger! Fighting, loving, dodging death! That's "WINGS"".

MoodPlayr · trivia#06

7 / 7

WILD

Did you know

IMDB entry: tt0018578 — still the authoritative cross-reference for credits and trivia.

MoodPlayr · trivia#07

Cinephile deep dive

The take

William A. Wellman directs. Harry Perry behind the camera. E. Lloyd Sheldon cuts. Profitable at the box office. Produced in United States of America. Dialogue in No Language.

Trivia

Things worth knowing

1Shot for just $2.0M — micro-budget by Hollywood standards.
299 years old — a genuine piece of film history.
3Directed by William A. Wellman, shot by Harry Perry. Note their partnership — DPs and directors often return to each other across a career.
4Editor E. Lloyd Sheldon shaped the rhythm. On an edit-heavy film, the editor does more to control your pulse than the director.
5Clara Bow and Charles 'Buddy' Rogers and Richard Arlen carry the top of the cast.
6Marketing tagline: "Youth, hitting the clouds! Laughing at danger! Fighting, loving, dodging death! That's "WINGS"".
7IMDB entry: tt0018578 — still the authoritative cross-reference for credits and trivia.
8Classified under 13 themes, including "friendship", "paris, france", "love triangle", "world war i".

The technical file

Cinematography: Harry Perry
Editing: E. Lloyd Sheldon
Costume design: Travis Banton
Runtime: 144 min · 2h 24m
Aspect ratio (typical): 1.37:1 (Academy)
Status: Released
Budget: $2,000,000
Box office: $3,600,000
Return: 180% of budget
Original language: EN
Certification (US): PG-13
IMDB: Wings (1927)

Awards

Academy Award for Best Engineering Effects
Academy Award for Best Picture

Individual records documented via Wikidata; the summary above may count more.

Also by

William A. Wellman

Stills · wallpapers

Selected frames

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Wallpaper

Trailers & featurettes

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Community reviews

What people are saying

CinemaSerf2023-06-18
★ 7/10
OK, so the initial story is all a bit of well trammelled soap. "Jack" (Buddy Rogers) and "David" (Richard Arlen) come from different sides of the streets - but they both fall in love with "Sylvia" (Jobyna Ralston). She probably prefers the latter, wealthier man, but plays both along whilst the former's neighbour "Mary" is deeply enamoured with him even if her affections go unreturned. Things change tack rather, though, when the US Army Air Service needs their flying skills during the Great war in France so off they go to face the legendary fighter aces of the Bosch. There's no love lost between those two romantic rivals but gradually the constant dangers and streams of bullets whizzing by their heads each day, wear down this antipathy and soon the two are firm friends. Meantime, "Mary" has decided that she has to do her bit for the cause (and "Jack") too - so she joins up too as a driver, but will her beloved even notice? The acting is all fine, Bow flutters her eyes and smiles whilst the gents exude a camaraderie that's suitably uplifting. It's really the photography that sets this apart. The aerial combat scenes - the dogfights - are superbly presented with a surprisingly effective degree of authenticity. Not just with the visuals, but William Wellman makes sure the story delivers a realism - and some humour - to it too. It's war and tragedy happens - sometimes very close to home for these two men. An early appearance from a rather gangly Gary Cooper might catch your eye, but not so much as the imagery which is captivating at times. You can just imagine audiences back in 1927 believing that this is what wartime France was like.

Production companies