1. Wings - 'C'est la guerre!'

Poster Advertising Wings

The winner of the very first Academy Award for Best Picture in 1928 was Wings. Ironically, until 2012 it was the only silent movie to win the award. Wings was an interesting first challenge for me. It was corny, overwrought, frustrating at times, and had really, really long dogfight scenes. However, at the same time, it was quite a moving film. I got choked up twice during the film - something I did not expect to happen.

I found the story to be interesting at its core. Two guys who both like the same girl, another girl who likes one of them, World War I, dogfights, and a tragic case of mistaken identity combine to create a compelling tale. In the course of watching the movie, I realized that to truly understand and enjoy it I had to leave behind the 2013 me and pretend that I was seeing it back in 1929. Once I did that, many things that I would normally find to be silly or uninteresting  proved fascinating and new.

SPOILER ALERT. 

The rest of the post will include details that you might not want to know if you haven't seen the film.

Gary Cooper in Wings

While the movie starts on a happy note, it leaves the 'blush of youth' quickly behind. The two main characters, Jack and David, become aviators to fight in World War I. I was quite moved by the scene where David leaves his Mother and Father, taking a stuffed teddy bear from his youth with him. However, I didn’t realize that we were truly in a tragedy until Gary Cooper bit the bullet soon after we meet him at the front. He’s the ‘elder’ flier who’s been there for quite awhile. Before he leaves on a mission, he forebodingly says, “Lots of fellows carry something for luck. But I never have. Luck or no luck, when your time comes, you’re going to get it!” Sadly, he never returns and the two stars of the show have to pack his belongings to send to his parents. The half-eaten candy bar he had left behind on his bed was, to me, quite poignant.

Clara Bow, one of the biggest silent film stars in the history of cinema, was the main actress in the movie. But even though she is in love with Jack, it is not their love story that takes center stage in the movie. Instead, this honor goes to the bonds of friendship between Jack and David.  

The film's ending was tragic. However, once David stepped into the German plane to try to get back to American lines, I felt the writing was on the wall. I just didn’t expect it to be quite as tragic as it ended up being. (Trying not to give the ENTIRE plot away here).  

                                                                                 

Jack Powell (Charles "Buddy" Rogers), Mary Preston (Clara Bow),
and David Armstrong (Richard Arlen) in Wings

Things that surprised me: 

• How free men were at showing affection with each other. Growing up in a world where men are afraid to do much more than a ‘man hug’, these men walked with their arms around each other and showed true affection towards each other. There was no question about their sexuality – it all felt quite natural and kind.
• The strong portrayal of violence. I grew up watching ‘old’ movies from the forties and fifties where when people got shot they simply held their chest and fell over. Therefore, when I saw a man in a biplane get shot and blood stream out of his mouth, I was shocked. Also, when one of the characters dies, the response of the French officer who witnessed it is to simply shrug his shoulders and say, 'C'est la guerre!' (This is war!)
• The dogfight scenes. While they quite drawn out and in my opinion could have been cut in half, just watching the way that they were shot and considering the real danger those early fliers were in was amazing. I found, however, that keeping the good guys from the bad was difficult in black and white and with no sound.
• The animation and stunts. I’m sure this can just be chalked up to my ignorance, but I was fascinated by the ‘bubbles’ in the scene where Jack gets drunk and by the portrayal of the crashes and deaths. Also, there were some cool sequences, like when David and Sylvia at the very beginning are on a swing while she plays an instrument and sings. I almost felt sick from the movement of the camera.

Things that I found silly:

• The overwrought symbolism. Two examples: when the allies had finally won, the word VICTORY was flashed on the screen over a young German’s dead body lying on a huge iron cross. Then later, Jack stands on top of a cloth iron cross.



Jack sees 'bubbles' when he gets drunk in Wings.

• The need for comic relief. In what was a very tragic drama, they included a stock ‘German’ who wants to fight for the allies. He’s more silly than serious. When he is at the Aviation Examining Station, he’s questioned about why they should let a German in the war. He takes off his shirt like he’s gonna fight, but instead shows a Stars and Stripes Forever Tattoo which he wiggles around. Everyone laughs, and he's accepted.
• The stereotypical portrayal of the Brit. In one scene, Jack is shot down near a trench and is helped to safety by a British soldier who says, “Hello, Yank. Welcome to a very merry little war!” And this is in the middle of heavy artillery fire during trench warfare. He continues, “ – and now how about a wee drop for the King and Uncle Sam?”
• The ‘Bubbles’ scene. Yes, I know. I put this in as something that surprised me. However, the actual premise of the scene was silly. For a man to get so drunk that he sees bubbles everywhere is a little corny.
• A few of the death scenes. While some of them were fine, a few were over the top. Near the end, a man who has just been shot with a machine gun as he is storming the trench sees a plane destroy the machine gun and says, “Attaboy, them buzzards are good after all.” Then he drops his head and dies. Cringeworthy. 

Things that frustrated  me:

• The length of the dogfights. I know that at the time Charles Lindbergh was being hailed as a hero for his solo crossing of the Atlantic and flying was the national craze. However, the dogfights went on for so long and there were so many of them. I think this was compounded by the fact that since the sky was so bright and the planes were hard to make out, it was difficult for me to see who was who.
• Not enough title cards. I got frustrated when the actors would speak for quite a long time without cards telling what was said. While it was sometimes obvious what they were emoting, there were times that I would have loved to gotten a little more of the ‘dialogue’.

Overall, the movie made me think which, to me, is the sign of a good flick. It made me think more deeply about the realities of World War I pilots and trench warfare. Also, the scene where Jack returns home to a hero’s welcome while David’s Mother and Father sit behind the star in their window was quite moving and thought provoking. What must it have been like for parents of the fallen to watch other children return home?

Would I suggest this movie to a friend? Probably. But I would warn them about the length of the dogfights and its corniness. It’s a great movie to watch and compare to modern movies. 

See my next post for my attempt at the Beat Sheet for this movie.