USA 121m Dir: Howard Hawks Key Cast: Cary Grant and Jean Arthur
Only Angels Have Wings is a hard film to fit neatly into a genre. The posters depict it as a romance but that's a fairly minor part of the plot and it generally classified as an adventure film but given that large portions of the film are people sat talking that doesn't feel quite right either.
Geoff Carter (Cary Grant) is the head pilot and manager of an ailing air freight company in South America. With a high Andes pass to negotiate and poor weather including fog and storms it's a really hard place to fly. Entertainer Bonnie (Jean Arthur) becomes infatuated with Geoff and stays in the town despite Geoff's objections. Things become more complicated when pilot Bat MacPherson arrives- he once bailed out leaving his mechanic, the brother of Geoff's best friend, to die and he is married to Judy (Rita Hayworth), Geoff's old flame.
One thing that this probably can be defined as is a character study. Though the focus varies throughout the film it's usually Geoff who is at the centre. He has a fatalistic approach to flying and is a fantastic manager of the other pilots. We are introduced to him through the eyes of Bonnie which works really well and Cary Grant does a great job at making him a convincing and likeable character.
In other ways the film feels a bit like a soap opera in the sense there's a cast of characters who interact with each in different ways and most have their own plotlines to one degree or other. Kid is a really likeable guy and it's devastating to see him grounded due to his bad eyesight. Rita Hayworth first found fame in this film and it's easy to see why as you can't look away from her whenever she is on screen, such is the power of her performance.
I was astounded at the plane sequences in this film which just look stunning. Just flying planes in this era wasn't that straightforward given that they were only invented less than forty years previously. The stunt work here is just stunning and still stands up really well and it's impressive how well it's all shot too. Everybody involved with these sequences did a superb job.
A really interesting film in so many ways and exceptionally well made.
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