"Wings" is not one of the best silent movies ever made, but it's still a thoroughly enjoyable picture. Actually, it's two movies in one.
One is a film about WWI and the combat pilots who fought in it. The scenes of the dogfights are still thrilling, and the land combat scenes bring home the nasty, brutish, hand to hand fighting that made it the most horrible of modern wars. Perhaps because of the lack of modern special effects, the war scenes have a documentary look that's very powerful (in fact, some actual war footage was used in the movie, according to some sources).
Sadly, the war scenes are wrapped in a plot that was hackneyed even by 1927 standards. It's a formula buddy picture, with Richard Arless and Charles Rogers in love with the same woman, who inexplicably is not the delightful, sexy and vivacious Clara Bow. Instead they both love Jobyna Ralston, who displays almost no personality during her brief screen time (perhaps to convey that she was tailor-made for the mostly wooden Arless).
In any event, the plot reinforces stereotypes of silent movie melodrama, especially in the ludicrous nightclub scene. Rogers overacts drunkenness in a way that's almost painful to watch. Combined with the downright silly plot developments going on in this piece of the film, the only redeeming feature is a bit of brief nudity from Bow.
For all its faults, "Wings" remains an entertaining movie. The aerial scenes, which are plentiful, have likely not been matched even today. Bow shows her starpower to full effect, and the pace of the movie helps make up for some of the cliched plot. It may not be a great movie, but it's not boring.
"Wings" should be required viewing for silent film fans, war movie buffs and Oscar completists. The plot may be laughable, but the power and spectacle of the war scenes remain as powerful as ever.
One is a film about WWI and the combat pilots who fought in it. The scenes of the dogfights are still thrilling, and the land combat scenes bring home the nasty, brutish, hand to hand fighting that made it the most horrible of modern wars. Perhaps because of the lack of modern special effects, the war scenes have a documentary look that's very powerful (in fact, some actual war footage was used in the movie, according to some sources).
Sadly, the war scenes are wrapped in a plot that was hackneyed even by 1927 standards. It's a formula buddy picture, with Richard Arless and Charles Rogers in love with the same woman, who inexplicably is not the delightful, sexy and vivacious Clara Bow. Instead they both love Jobyna Ralston, who displays almost no personality during her brief screen time (perhaps to convey that she was tailor-made for the mostly wooden Arless).
In any event, the plot reinforces stereotypes of silent movie melodrama, especially in the ludicrous nightclub scene. Rogers overacts drunkenness in a way that's almost painful to watch. Combined with the downright silly plot developments going on in this piece of the film, the only redeeming feature is a bit of brief nudity from Bow.
For all its faults, "Wings" remains an entertaining movie. The aerial scenes, which are plentiful, have likely not been matched even today. Bow shows her starpower to full effect, and the pace of the movie helps make up for some of the cliched plot. It may not be a great movie, but it's not boring.
"Wings" should be required viewing for silent film fans, war movie buffs and Oscar completists. The plot may be laughable, but the power and spectacle of the war scenes remain as powerful as ever.