Wings (1927)
Wings (1927)
Plot.
Where to Watch.
Currently Wings is available for streaming online, rent, buy or watch for free on: Apple TV, Google Play Movies, Amazon Video, YouTube, Tubi TV, Microsoft Store, Fandango At Home, Kanopy, Hoopla
Streaming in:πΊπΈ United States
Cast & Crew.
Clara Bow
Mary Preston
Charles "Buddy" Rogers
Jack Powell
Richard Arlen
David Armstrong
Jobyna Ralston
Sylvia Lewis
El Brendel
Herman Schwimpf
Richard Tucker
Air Commander
Gary Cooper
Cadet White
Gunboat Smith
The Sergeant
Roscoe Karns
Lieutenant Cameron
Julia Swayne Gordon
Mrs. Armstrong
Henry B. Walthall
Mr. Armstrong
Arlette Marchal
Celeste
Nigel De Brulier
Peasant (uncredited)
Hedda Hopper
Mrs. Powell (uncredited)
George Irving
Mr. Powell (uncredited)
William A. Wellman
Doughboy (uncredited) / Director
Rod Rogers
Aviator / Stunts
Charles Barton
Soldier Flirting with Mary (uncredited) / Assistant Director
Thomas Carr
Aviator (uncredited)
Thomas Carrigan
Undetermined role (uncredited)
Margery Chapin
Peasant Woman (uncredited)
Andy Clark
Undetermined role (uncredited)
Hal George
Undetermined role (uncredited) / Stunts
Dick Grace
Aviator (uncredited) / Stunts
Douglas Haig
(uncredited)
William Hickey
Charlton Blanchard (uncredited)
Sgt. Jiggs
(uncredited)
Jane Laurell
Undetermined role (uncredited)
Robert Livingston
Recruit in Examination Office (uncredited)
James Pierce
Army MP (uncredited)
Evelyn Selbie
Dressing Room Attendant (uncredited)
Frank Tomick
Undetermined role (uncredited) / Stunts
Carl von Haartman
German Officer (uncredited)
Gloria Wellman
Peasant Child (uncredited)
Percy Williams
Armstrong Butler (uncredited)
Zalla Zarana
Undetermined role (uncredited)
Harry Perry
Director of Photography
J.S. Zamecnik
Original Music Composer
Edith Head
Costume Design
Byron Morgan
Story
Pierce L. Butler
Stunts
Julian Johnson
Writer
Lucien Hubbard
Editor / Producer
E.K. Merritt
Assistant Director
Hans Dreier
Art Direction
Travis Banton
Costume Design
Bill Taylor
Stunts
John Monk Saunders
Story
Richard Johnston
Assistant Director
James Ewens
Assistant Director
Frank Clarke
Stunts
Denis Kavanagh
Stunts
Hoyt Vandenberg
Stunts
Norman Z. McLeod
Assistant Director
Sterling R. Stribling
Stunts
Clarence Irvine
Stunts
Cherie May
Stunt Double
Earle E. Partridge
Stunts
Earl H. Robinson
Stunts
Frank Andrews
Stunts
Eugene Richee
Still Photographer
Otto Dyar
Still Photographer
Hope Loring
Screenplay
Louis D. Lighton
Screenplay
Benjamin P. Schulberg
Producer
E. Lloyd Sheldon
Editor
Media.
Details.
Release DateAugust 12, 1927
StatusReleased
Running Time2h 24m
Budget$2,000,000
Box Office$3,600,000
Genres
Last updated:
This Movie Is About.
Wiki.
Wings is a 1927 American silent and synchronized sound film known for winning the first Academy Award for Best Picture. Due to the general public's apathy towards silent films, the film was quickly re-released in 1928 with synchronized sound. While the sound version of the film has no audible dialogue, it was released with a synchronized musical score with sound effects. The original soundtrack to the sound version is preserved at UCLA.
The film stars Clara Bow, Charles "Buddy" Rogers, and Richard Arlen. Rogers and Arlen portray World War I combat pilots in a romantic rivalry over a woman. It was produced by Lucien Hubbard, directed by William A. Wellman, and released by Paramount Famous Lasky Corporation. Gary Cooper appears in a small role, which helped launch his career in Hollywood.
The film, a romantic action-war picture, was rewritten by scriptwriters Hope Loring and Louis D. Lighton from a story by John Monk Saunders to accommodate Bow, Paramount's biggest star at the time. Wellman was hired, as he was the only director in Hollywood at the time who had World War I combat pilot experience, although Richard Arlen and John Monk Saunders had also served in the war as military aviators. The film was shot on location on a budget of $2 million (equivalent to $34.42 million in 2023) at Kelly Field in San Antonio, between September 7, 1926, and April 7, 1927. Hundreds of extras and some 300 pilots were involved in the filming, including pilots and planes of the United States Army Air Corps which were brought in for the filming and to provide assistance and supervision. Wellman extensively rehearsed the scenes for the Battle of Saint-Mihiel over ten days with some 3,500 infantrymen on a battlefield made for the production on location. Although the cast and crew had much spare time during the filming because of weather delays, shooting conditions were intense, and Wellman frequently conflicted with the military officers brought in to supervise the picture.
Acclaimed for its technical prowess and realism upon release, the film became the yardstick against which future aviation films were measured, mainly because of its realistic air-combat sequences. It went on to win the inaugural Academy Award for Outstanding Picture at the first Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences award ceremony in 1929, the only fully silent film to do so. It also won the Academy Award for Best Engineering Effects (Roy Pomeroy). Wings was one of the first widely released films to show nudity. In 1997, Wings was selected for preservation in the United States National Film Registry by the Library of Congress as being "culturally, historically, or aesthetically significant", and the film was re-released to Cinemark theaters to coincide with the 85th anniversary for a limited run in May 2012. The film was re-released again for its 90th anniversary in 2017. The Academy Film Archive preserved Wings in 2002.
The film entered the public domain in the United States in 2023.