Only Angels Have Wings | |
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![]() Theatrical release poster | |
Directed by | Howard Hawks |
Screenplay by | Jules Furthman |
Story by | Howard Hawks |
Starring | |
Cinematography | Joseph Walker |
Edited by | Viola Lawrence |
Music by | Dimitri Tiomkin |
Production company | |
Distributed by | Columbia Pictures |
Release date |
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Running time | 121 minutes |
Country | United States |
Language | English |
Box office | $1 million |
Only Angels Have Wings is a 1939 American adventure romantic drama film directed by Howard Hawks, starring Cary Grant and Jean Arthur, and is based on a story written by Hawks.
Its plot follows the manager of an air freight company in a remote South American port town who is forced to risk his pilots' lives while vying for a major contract.
It features supporting performances from Thomas Mitchell, Richard Barthelmess, Noah Beery Jr., and Rita Hayworth in her first major role. [1]
Released by Columbia Pictures in May 1939, the film is generally regarded as being among Hawks' finest films, particularly in its portrayal of the professionalism of the pilots of the film, its atmosphere, and the flying sequences.
In 2017, the film was selected for preservation in the United States National Film Registry by the Library of Congress as being "culturally, historically, or aesthetically significant". [2]
Geoff Carter is the chief pilot and manager of Barranca Airways, a small, barely solvent company owned by "Dutchy" Van Ruyter carrying airmail from the fictional South American port town of Barranca through a high pass in the Andes Mountains. Bonnie Lee, a piano-playing entertainer, arrives on a banana boat one day. After making her acquaintance, Joe Souther crashes and dies trying to land in fog later that day. Bonnie becomes infatuated with Geoff, despite his fatalistic attitude about the dangerous flying, and stays on in Barranca (not at his invitation, as he insists on telling her).
The situation is complicated by the arrival of pilot Bat MacPherson and his wife (who is Geoff's old flame), Judy. MacPherson cannot find work in the United States because he once bailed out of an airplane, leaving his mechanic—the brother of "Kid" Dabb, Carter's best friend—to die in the ensuing crash. When Geoff is forced to ground the Kid because of failing eyesight, he hires MacPherson with the understanding that he will get the most dangerous assignments.
Dutchy will secure a lucrative government contract if he can provide reliable mail service during a six-month trial. On the last day of the probation period, bad weather closes the mountain pass. Geoff decides to try to fly a new Ford Trimotor over the mountains instead. The Kid asks to go with him as co-pilot. Geoff refuses, but then lets the Kid toss a coin to decide the matter. When it lands on the floor, Geoff discovers that the coin has two heads. Geoff still agrees to take him along. Just before leaving, Bonnie tries to talk Geoff out of going. She takes his gun out of his holster and points it at him. When she realizes that she cannot stop him, she drops the gun on the table, but it accidentally fires, hitting Geoff in the shoulder.
Unable to fly, Geoff lets MacPherson take his place. However, MacPherson and the Kid are unable to climb high enough; the plane stalls and drops thousands of feet before leveling off. Geoff tells them to turn around, but they decide to try to fly through the fogged-in pass. In the pass, they encounter a flock of condors. There is a bird strike; one crashes through the windshield, paralyzing the Kid; and another hits the No. 1 engine, setting it on fire. Later the No. 2 engine also catches fire. The Kid tells MacPherson to bail out, but he refuses. He turns around and returns to Barranca, managing to crash-land the burning Trimotor on the field. The Kid dies from a broken neck, but not before telling Geoff what MacPherson did. As a result, MacPherson is finally accepted by the other pilots.
Bonnie is torn between leaving and staying, and confronts Geoff in the hope he will ask her to stay. However, with mere hours to spare on the trial period, the weather clears and Geoff has to rush off to secure the all-important contract. Before he goes, he offers to toss a coin to decide: heads, Bonnie stays; tails, she leaves. The coin comes up heads, but Bonnie despairs that this is the result of chance, not love. Geoff leaves her with the coin. She then realizes that it is the Kid's trick double-headed coin, Geoff's way of saying he loves her. She watches as Geoff and another pilot who have just two good arms between them lift a Travel Air high-wing monoplane off the soggy runway to deliver the mail across the Andes, knowing she will be there when they return.
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The film's original script outline was written by Anne Wigton; the working title originally was Plane No. 4. Howard Hawks re-wrote the film's scenario himself, based on a story that he wrote in 1938 titled Plane from Barranca. [3] While he was scouting locations several years earlier, for the filming of Viva Villa! , Hawks had been especially inspired by the stoic aviation personnel that he had met in Mexico. [4] The film's final script was written and re-written throughout the film's production, mostly by Hawks and Jules Furthman, but also with contributions by Eleanore Griffin and William Rankin. [5]
Hawks had previously worked with Cary Grant the year before on Bringing Up Baby and this was the second of five collaborations between the director and star. [6]
He cast Jean Arthur in the leading role of Bonnie Lee after appraising her acting in several films directed by Frank Capra. [7]
Hawks then hired silent film star Richard Barthelmess for the role of Bat MacPherson. Barthelmess's career had gradually diminished since sound films became popular in the late 1920s, and he was a controversial choice, mainly because he had recently had a botched plastic surgery operation on the skin under his eyes that resulted in permanent X-shaped scars under both of his eyes. Barthelmess usually wore heavy make-up to hide the scars, but Hawks wanted to use the scars for the character. [8]
Hawks had originally cast Dorothy Comingore in the role of Judy MacPherson, but studio head Harry Cohn had been grooming a young starlet that would be advanced for the role. With backing from Cohn, her agent then insisted that Hawks give Rita Hayworth a screen test, which eventually resulted in Hayworth being cast in the role. [9] [N 1]
Shooting of Only Angels Have Wings began on December 19, 1938, at the Columbia Studio Ranch [9] and Hawks shot the film in chronological sequence whenever possible. [10] Hawks and Arthur initially found working together difficult and Arthur would often argue with Hawks on set. [1] Hawks was attempting to coach Arthur to play a variation of the classical "Hawksian Woman Archetype", but Arthur often felt uncomfortable with his direction. [11] Eventually, she unhappily agreed to play the role as he directed her. Years later after Arthur saw Lauren Bacall's performance in To Have and Have Not , Arthur apologized to Hawks and told him that she finally understood what he had wanted from her (epitomized in Bacall's repetition and emphasis on the paradoxical line "I'm hard to get ... all you have to do is ask me.") Hawks later said that he considered Arthur to have been good in the film. [10]
Initial shooting was completed on March 24, 1939, 31 days over its shooting schedule. This was followed with several weeks of second unit shooting of aircraft flying in various locations in the western United States. A few re-takes were shot in April with Cary Grant and Victor Kilian. Two days of re-shoots with Rita Hayworth were also shot, but were directed by Charles Vidor. [12]
In a 1972 interview, Arthur revealed, "I loved sinking my head into Cary Grant's chest". [13]
The "cast" also starred a Ford Trimotor as well as a Hamilton H-47 Metalplane, and Travel Air 6000 single engine monoplanes. All of these types accurately represented the types of aircraft flying in the period depicted by the film. The Metalplane was the airplane Joe Souther crashes while trying to land in heavy fog, and was only used for ground shots. In 2007, one of the prop models used in the simulated flying scenes for the Hamilton aircraft surfaced on an episode of the U.S. version of Antiques Roadshow; its owner had been able to screen match it, confirming its authenticity. [14] The Travel Air was used in the exciting mine rescue flying scene, while the Ford Trimotor was featured in another dramatic landing that ends in a fiery crash. Midway through the film, Paul Mantz flew a Boeing Model 40 biplane in a spirited aerobatic performance, reprising his earlier scene in Flight from Glory . Only Angels Have Wings has become very popular among enthusiasts of the aircraft of the golden age of aviation. [15]
Twelve days after the film's final re-shoots were completed, Only Angels Have Wings premiered in Los Angeles at the Pantages Theater on May 10, 1939. Its official world premiere occurred the next day at Radio City Music Hall. It was heavily promoted by Columbia Studios and ended up making $143,000 on its initial two-week run at radio City Music Hall, and earned over one million dollars overall. It was the third-highest-grossing film of 1939. The film was also Rita Hayworth's breakout role and helped make her a major Hollywood star, with Hayworth appearing on the cover of Look magazine after the film's success. [16]
Only Angels Have Wings received good reviews on its release, with Abel Green of Variety comparing it favorably to Flight From Glory and praised Barthelmess's performance. Frank S. Nugent in his review for The New York Times focused on the excitement found in the aerial scenes, also recognizing the talents of the star-studded cast, "Mr. Hawks has staged his flying sequences brilliantly ... He has made proper use of the amiable performing talents of Mr. Grant, Miss Arthur, Thomas Mitchell, Mr. Barthelmess, Sig Rumann and the rest." [17]
Only Angels Have Wings was later selected as one of 12 films representing the U.S. at the first Cannes Film Festival. However, the festival was canceled in light of events leading up to World War II. [16]
On Metacritic, the film holds a score of 86 out of 100, based on 10 critics, indicating "universal acclaim". [18]
Two weeks after the film's premiere, Only Angels Have Wings was adapted as a one-hour radio play for the May 29, 1939 broadcast of Lux Radio Theatre . The film's principal actors, Cary Grant, Jean Arthur, Rita Hayworth, Richard Barthelmess and Thomas Mitchell all reprised their roles. [19] Orson Welles headlined a radio adaptation on The Campbell Playhouse on February 25, 1940, that starred Welles and Joan Blondell. [20]
Roy Davidson and Edwin C. Hahn were nominated for the first-time Best Effects, Special Effects. [21]
Only Angels Have Wings has become thought of as one of Hawks's best films, with Dave Kehr calling it the "equilibrium point" of Hawks's career, bridging themes developed in his early films of the 1930s to some of his darker films of the 1940s and 1950s. Film critics at Cahiers du Cinéma also praised the film in the 1950s as a quintessential support of the auteur theory. [22]
American film critic Mike D'Angelo has cited Only Angels Have Wings as his favorite film of all time, gifting a rare 100/100 rating and describing the film as "a tour de force of shifting dynamics." [23]
Howard Winchester Hawks was an American film director, producer, and screenwriter of the classic Hollywood era. Critic Leonard Maltin called him "the greatest American director who is not a household name." Roger Ebert called Hawks "one of the greatest American directors of pure movies, and a hero of auteur critics because he found his own laconic values in so many different kinds of genre material." He was nominated for the Academy Award for Best Director for Sergeant York (1941) and earned the Honorary Academy Award in 1974.
Cary Grant was an English-American actor. He was known for his Mid-Atlantic accent, debonair demeanor, lighthearted approach to acting, and sense of comic timing. He was one of classic Hollywood's definitive leading men. He was nominated twice for the Academy Award, received an Academy Honorary Award in 1970, and received the Kennedy Center Honor in 1981. He was named the second greatest male star of the Golden Age of Hollywood by the American Film Institute in 1999.
Richard Semler Barthelmess was an American film actor, principally of the Hollywood silent era. He starred opposite Lillian Gish in D. W. Griffith's Broken Blossoms (1919) and Way Down East (1920) and was among the founders of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences in 1927. The following year, he was nominated for the Academy Award for Best Actor for two films: The Patent Leather Kid and The Noose.
Bringing Up Baby is a 1938 American screwball comedy film directed by Howard Hawks, and starring Katharine Hepburn and Cary Grant. It was released by RKO Radio Pictures. The film tells the story of a paleontologist in a number of predicaments involving a scatterbrained heiress and a leopard named Baby. The screenplay was adapted by Dudley Nichols and Hagar Wilde from a short story by Wilde which originally appeared in Collier's Weekly magazine on April 10, 1937.
His Girl Friday is a 1940 American screwball comedy film directed by Howard Hawks, starring Cary Grant and Rosalind Russell and featuring Ralph Bellamy and Gene Lockhart. It was released by Columbia Pictures. The plot centers on a newspaper editor named Walter Burns who is about to lose his ace reporter and ex-wife, Hildy Johnson, newly engaged to another man. Burns suggests they cover one more story together, getting themselves entangled in the case of murderer Earl Williams as Burns desperately tries to win back his wife. The screenplay was adapted from the 1928 play The Front Page by Ben Hecht and Charles MacArthur. This was the second time the play had been adapted for the screen, the first occasion being the 1931 film which kept the original title The Front Page.
The Talk of the Town is a 1942 American comedy-drama film directed by George Stevens and starring Cary Grant, Jean Arthur, and Ronald Colman, with a supporting cast featuring Edgar Buchanan and Glenda Farrell. The screenplay was written by Irwin Shaw and Sidney Buchman from a story by Sidney Harmon. The picture was released by Columbia Pictures. This was the second time that Grant and Arthur were paired in a film, after Only Angels Have Wings (1939).
The year 1939 in film is widely considered the greatest year in film history. The ten Best Picture-nominated films that year include classics in multiple genres.
Jean Arthur was an American Broadway and film actress whose career began in silent films in the early 1920s and lasted until the early 1950s.
Rita Hayworth was an American actress. She achieved fame in the 1940s as one of the top stars of the Golden Age of Hollywood, and appeared in 61 films in total over 37 years. The press coined the term "The Love Goddess" to describe Hayworth after she had become the most glamorous screen idol of the 1940s. She was the top pin-up girl for GIs during World War II.
To Have and Have Not is a 1944 American romantic war adventure film directed by Howard Hawks, loosely based on Ernest Hemingway's 1937 novel of the same name. It stars Humphrey Bogart, Walter Brennan and Lauren Bacall; it also features Dolores Moran, Hoagy Carmichael, Sheldon Leonard, Dan Seymour, and Marcel Dalio. The plot, centered on the romance between a freelancing fisherman in Martinique and a beautiful American drifter, is complicated by the growing French resistance in Vichy France.
William Finlay Currie was a Scottish actor of stage, screen, and television. He received great acclaim for his roles as Abel Magwitch in the British film Great Expectations (1946) and as Balthazar in the American film Ben-Hur (1959).
Barranca, may refer to:
Family Classics is a Chicago television series which began in 1962 when Frazier Thomas was added to another program at WGN-TV. Thomas not only hosted classic films, but also selected the titles and personally edited them to remove those scenes which he thought were not fit for family viewing. After Thomas' death in 1985, Roy Leonard took over the program. The series continued sporadically until its initial cancellation in 2000.
Only Angels Have Wings is a 1939 film starring Cary Grant and Jean Arthur.
Vinton Hayworth, also known as Jack Arnold and Vincent Haworth, was an American actor, playwright and screenwriter who began in weaselly and milquetoast roles and aged into dignified character parts. He appeared in over 90 films during his career, as well as on numerous television shows. Later audiences will recognize him from his final role as General Winfield Schaeffer in the fourth and fifth seasons of the sitcom I Dream of Jeannie. He was the uncle of Rita Hayworth, as well as being the uncle of Ginger Rogers.
Budd Nathan Fine was an American character actor of the silent and sound film eras. Born Budd Nathan Fine on September 10, 1894, in Hartford Connecticut, Fine served in the US Army during World War I, during which he was awarded a Purple Heart.
Richard Edward Botiller was an American character actor of the 1930s and 1940s. While most of his roles were un-credited, many of them nameless as well, he was given more substantial roles occasionally.
John F. Kelly was an American actor whose career spanned the very end of the silent film era through the 1940s. While most of his parts were smaller, often-uncredited roles, he was occasionally given a more substantial supporting or even featured role.
Henry C. Rogers was an American publicist in the entertainment industry. He worked with notable actors and singers, such as Rita Hayworth, Joan Crawford, Frank Sinatra, Shirley MacLaine, Dean Martin, Audrey Hepburn, Paul Newman, Steve McQueen, Paul McCartney, and many others. Rogers wrote four books, titled Walking the Tightrope: the private confessions of a public relations man, Rogers' Rules for Success, The One-Hat Solution: Rogers' Strategy for Creative Middle Management, and Rogers' Rules for Businesswomen: How to Start a Career and Move Up the Ladder.
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