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Summary: Neal E.
Review: Simply one of the best films ever, and displays why Howard Hawks is one of the all time masters of the medium.
Rating:
Summary: Who's Joe?
Review: There's nothing mysterious about the "closed society" of this film if one has any knowledge of American history, literature or film of the 1930's and 1940's. In short, this is a terrific, romantic adventure story whose stoic characters cannot hide the emotions bonding them together, no matter how hard they may try. A quintessential American classic.
Rating: 
Summary: Still flys high six decades later
Review: This is yet another great movie from the remarkable year, 1939. I've always been curious as to what plateau the movies would have wound up on had it not been for the devastating chain of events called WWII, which had begun the year before in Europe and China. Jean Arthur, one of Hollywood's great comedic actresses, plays a show biz type who, for reasons never made clear, has sailed into a backwater South American port. There she meets a bunch of guys who work for a rickety airline that needs to get a big mail delivery contract in order to survive. Cary Grant plays the leader of this group. He's been burned by women in the past, and, though attracted to Arthur, acts the tough guy who only cares about his job and his buddies. It doesn't take long for Arthur to decide that he's the one for her, but she's worldly enough to know that this is one catch that will be hard to reel in. Meanwhile, Grant and company have enough to keep them busy, as they battle wind, rain, fog, old airplanes, big birds and some very tall mountains in order to get said mail to its destination. One thing I love about this movie is the way is never seems to take itself seriously. I don't know what the filmmakers intended, but much of it seems almost a satire of macho action pictures. Why else would they cast two such wonderfully funny stars in the leads? Also of note is way the script addresse some tricky issues in the Arthur-Grant relationship by giving the movie a hopeful, rather than happy, ending. It leaves it up to the viewer to decide if this odd couple will make it or not. The movie won an Oscar for Best Special Effects. Some of these are remarkable even today, while others are now laughably crude. But the special effects are just icing on the cake. Only Angels Have Wings is very much story driven. Nearly half of it takes place on one set, but the characters have so much going on that you hardly noctice the static setting. Great supporting perfomances by Thomas Mitchell, Richard Bathelmess and a very young, inexperienced Riat Hayworth. All in all, an endearing, highly entertaining movie.
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Summary: In context this is a very impressive movie.
Review: This movie could serve as material for at least 10 hours of debate in a movie appreciation course. There are so many things to analize here. First of all, there's a huge amount of stereotypes that have their source in the 30's and 40's movies. The tragic fate of heroes, the tormented "girl" in love with him, the "exotic" latins, the loyal sidekicks and so. This is basically a matinée movie. The plot was made for people that didn't even know or cared about the cultural differences between each southamerican country, they were audiences that needed to flee from serious topics such as WWII. Moreover, this story could have been set in Africa or Phillipines, it wouldn't have mattered. What's important about this movie is that it's intended for fun and it's highlights deal with heroism, and besides all that, it's still very entertaining. The special fx seem dated now, but they must have looked great then. Regarding the performances, Jean Arthur steals the show, even though she was 40 at the time, she looks young, energetic and skillful. Watching Rita Hayworth at 21 is a treat and Cary Grant, even though poorly casted, does his best to bring something to the party (Check his armpit-high trousers). All the cast goes along with this improbable story and Hawks puts together this nonsense nicely pouring his instinct for adventure every minute. The dvd quality is great. Loosen up and enjoy this movie placing yourselves in it's context.
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Summary: A rousing and entertaining adventure film
Review: This was the second dvd I bought ever and one of my favorites along with "Arsenic and Old Lace", also starring Cary Grant, but a whole different stuff. This entertaining movie keeps your attention all the time, Cary Grant and Jean Arthur are in top form and are a great couple, they do have chemistry. Richard Barthelmess, a very good actor, does a fine job in the role of the bitter guy with-a-past-that-won't-let-him-go. Rita Hayworth, in one of her first important roles, is pretty and effective as Grant's old flame. Thomas Mitchell's excellent as always, giving another great performance in a year (1939) in which he gave us such classic performances as Doc in "Stagecoach", Scarlett O'Hara's father in "GWTW", Clopin in "The Hunchback of Notre Dame" and Diz in "Mr. Smith Goes to Washington". By the way, Can you think of another year in which such an amount of classic films were released than 1939!! And this one's from that year!
Rating:
Summary: A rousing and entertaining adventure film
Review: This was the second dvd I bought ever and one of my favorites along with "Arsenic and Old Lace", also starring Cary Grant, but a whole different stuff. This entertaining movie keeps your attention all the time, Cary Grant and Jean Arthur are in top form and are a great couple, they do have chemistry. Richard Barthelmess, a very good actor, does a fine job in the role of the bitter guy with-a-past-that-won't-let-him-go. Rita Hayworth, in one of her first important roles, is pretty and effective as Grant's old flame. Thomas Mitchell's excellent as always, giving another great performance in a year (1939) in which he gave us such classic performances as Doc in "Stagecoach", Scarlett O'Hara's father in "GWTW", Clopin in "The Hunchback of Notre Dame" and Diz in "Mr. Smith Goes to Washington". By the way, Can you think of another year in which such an amount of classic films were released than 1939!! And this one's from that year!
Rating:
Summary: A PERENNIAL 1939 CLASSIC.
Review: What??? Yet another classic from 1939? Yes, and a darn good one, too! One of Hollywood's most perennial delights, this is a great film any which way you slice it. When showgirl Bonnie Lee (Arthur) is docked via her ship in the banana republic of Barranca, she's delighted to met two American flyers: Joe Souther and Les Peters (Noah Beery, Jr. & Allyn Joslyn). They fly for a cut-rate airline owned by softhearted Dutchy (Sig Rumann). The airline is run by hard-boiled Geoff (Grant) who, despite hazardous weather conditions, must maintain a regular flight performance in order to obtain the mail subsidy. Geoff is rather misogynistic because of a previously sour romance with another gal: Geoff's best friend Kid (Thomas Mitchell) tells Bonnie to keep away from him.....There's obviously much more to this exhilerating Columbia film which was originally entitled PLANE NO. 4. Based upon a story fragment in which director Howard Hawks wrote in 1938 entitled PLANE FROM BARRANCA. Hawks said that he conceived the idea for the story while he was flying with a Mexican bush pilot around Mexico. Lightweight leading man Robert Sterling made his motion picture debut here.
Rating:
Summary: A PERENNIAL 1939 CLASSIC.
Review: What??? Yet another classic from 1939? Yes, and a darn good one, too! One of Hollywood's most perennial delights, this is a great film any which way you slice it. When showgirl Bonnie Lee (Arthur) is docked via her ship in the banana republic of Barranca, she's delighted to met two American flyers: Joe Souther and Les Peters (Noah Beery, Jr. & Allyn Joslyn). They fly for a cut-rate airline owned by softhearted Dutchy (Sig Rumann). The airline is run by hard-boiled Geoff (Grant) who, despite hazardous weather conditions, must maintain a regular flight performance in order to obtain the mail subsidy. Geoff is rather misogynistic because of a previously sour romance with another gal: Geoff's best friend Kid (Thomas Mitchell) tells Bonnie to keep away from him.....There's obviously much more to this exhilerating Columbia film which was originally entitled PLANE NO. 4. Based upon a story fragment in which director Howard Hawks wrote in 1938 entitled PLANE FROM BARRANCA. Hawks said that he conceived the idea for the story while he was flying with a Mexican bush pilot around Mexico. Lightweight leading man Robert Sterling made his motion picture debut here.
Rating:
Summary: It's a Man's World
Review: When we shuffle off to that fabled desert island I'll let you take CASABLANCA or CITIZEN KANE or any other Greatest American Film you care to name - I'll take ONLY ANGELS HAVE WINGS and count myself the lucky one.
We're in the tiny port of call Barranca on the coast of Ecuador. Bonnie Lee (Jean Arthur), a 'specialty' entertainer, is getting off the boat. A couple of fly-boys pick her up and treat her to a dinner at the hotel/restaurant/bar and headquarters of Barranca Airlines. Geoff Carter (Cary Grant) enters and sends one of the fly-boys off into a nasty spell of weather - the mail has to be delivered.
The plane crashes and the pilot is killed. The rest of the pilots, led by Carter, respond with indifference and some forced gaiety. Bonnie is shocked by the callousness of it all:
Bonnie: Haven't you any feelings? Don't you realize he's dead?
Geoff: Who's dead? Who's Joe?
One face slap later Geoff lays it out for her. "And all the weeping and wailing in the world won't make him any deader 20 years from now. If you feel like bawling, how do you think we feel?"
End of lesson one. Bonnie is intrigued enough to miss her connecting boat and stays in Barranca for an action packed week. Geoff may be her ideal man, if she can just crack The Code.
ONLY ANGELS HAVE WINGS is less plot driven than most. Rather, it is a slow accumulation of scenes dealing with themes director Howard Hawks would return to again and again - male camaraderie, stoic indifference to danger, courage and devotion to duty. It also asks how women fit into this testosterone loaded environment. As usual, he assembles a competent ensemble cast and explores these issues from a number of angles.
For instance, take Bat MacPherson (Richard Bathelmess), a good pilot who has a black mark against him. Prior to arriving in Barranca he bailed out of a plane and allowed his co-pilot to die in the crash. That type of cowardice offends The Code, and MacPherson is ostracized and given the worst and most dangerous assignments - if he dies the group's indifference won't be feigned. By coincidence MacPherson arrives with his beautiful wife Judy (Rita Hayworth), the 'somebody' Bonnie earlier tells Geoff "must've given you an awful beating once." Judy couldn't conform to The Code with Geoff, and as luck will have it she's saddled with another confounding male - she doesn't understand why the other pilots shun her husband, and The Code doesn't allow anyone to explain it to her.
Everyone is on top of their game in this one (this was Rita Hayworth's breakout movie). As an unexpected and bonus the print is almost immaculate. The dvd also contains a number of movie posters, biographies of the director and the major stars and a trailers for HIS GIRL FRIDAY and GILDA.
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