Wings (1927)

Enough contemplation! It’s time to get down to business! The Academy Awards were first presented in 1927, though Best Original Screenplay did not come into being until the 1940s.

For the first Academy Awards, Seventh Heaven was the most nominated film with five nominations. It tied with Sunrise: A Song of Two Humans for most wins, with three each. However, the award for Best Picture went to Wings, directed by William A. Wellman and starring Clara Bow, Buddy Rogers, Richard Arlen, and Gary Cooper. 

In the film, Jack Powell and David Armstrong are rivals in the same small American town, both vying for the attentions of pretty Sylvia Lewis. However, Jack’s does not realize that his next door neighbor, Mary Preston is in love with him. The two eventually enlist to become combat pilots in World War I. When they leave for training camp, Jack thinks Sylvia prefers him when she actually prefers David. She lets him know about her feelings, but is too kindhearted to turn down Jack's affection.

Jack and David share a tent with a Cadet White, who is killed in an air crash soon after meeting them. During their training, they become friends and are eventually shipped to France to fight the Germans.

Meanwhile, Mary becomes an ambulance driver, learning of Jack’s reputation as an ace and searches for him while on leave in Paris. She finds him, but he is too drunk to recognize her. When putting him to bed, two Military Police come in while she is changing from a dress she previously borrowed back into her uniform. She is forced to resign and returns to America.

During the Battle of Saint-Mihiel, David is shot down and though he is thought dead, he survives and steals a German plane. While heading for the allied lines, Jack sees the plane and attacks in an effort to avenge his friend. Jack is successful and when he lands, the owner of the land where the plane crash urges him to come to the dying man’s side. Realizing that he shot down his own friend, David forgives him before he dies.

Jack returns home at the end of the war a hero. He visits David’s parents and begs their forgiveness for causing David’s death. Mrs. Armstrong consoles Jack, saying the war was responsible for his death, not him. At the end of the film, Jack and Mary reunite with Jack realizing he loves her.

Unfortunately the film has more negative aspects than positive. While the story is good, it just seems to drag on forever. It could have greatly benefited by being shorter by 45 minutes to an hour. It also seems that Mary is the only likeable character in the film, yet she barely gets any screen time and is a subplot at best. Jack and David are supposed to be our protagonists, but most of the time, Jack comes off as a hot headed jerk and David is about as interesting as a block of wood. Also, when David stole the German plane, the ending became downright predictable.

Since it was a previously lost silent film, it didn’t have much going for it in terms of sound. I like organ music, but two complete hours gets old after a while.

I feel mixed on the visuals. For being a previously lost black and white film, it looks good. Any scene that involved a flying plane looks amazing for a 20s film as well, which is probably why it also won the award for Best Engineering Effects. However, the visuals suffer with the narration cards. The dialogue cards I understand. People need to know what the characters are saying, but nearly every 15 minutes, a card coming up to explain the next scene? I feel the story suffers.

I can see why Wings earned best picture. Charles Lindbergh had just accomplished his trans-Atlantic flight and most moviegoers probably still remembered The Great War. It seems only natural that the (very) young academy would choose a film that resonates with the public about aviation as well as one that honors the veterans.

Final Call: The film was fine with a good story and great airplane effects, but suffered through a lack of enticing characters, narration cards that interrupted the story, sluggish pacing and a terribly predictable ending. It won’t be making my top 10. Instead, it'll have to go to my #11 spot since that's last at this point.