Wings, 9/9/12, Most Outstanding Production, Best Effects – Engineering Effects 1927/1928
I have seen little snippets of silent movies over the years, usually the more comedic ones, Charlie Chaplin, Harold Lloyd, Keystone Cops, etc., or the really melodramatic, exaggerated drama – doe-eyed women hoping Dudley Doright will rescue her. I wasn’t sure what to expect with Wings, but I really thought it was important to see this movie (and others from this early period) sooner than later. It was awarded the award for 'Most Outstanding Production' (now known as 'Best Picture'). I was a history major, after all. And after watching The Artist, I wanted to see what an original silent movie was like. I have to say that watching many of these movies has been a wonderful experience. Again, my complaint has more to do with the length of the movie, really 141 minutes? Ugh. It would have been shorter if they cut out the relationship silliness with Clara Bow (she might have agreed as she acknowledged this was a man’s film). I listened to Wings with a newer score that was put together (I think for the most recent release in 2012). That really helped capture the mood and feeling of the action, and I honestly didn’t miss the dialog once I got into the story. There were intertitles to convey some of the interactions, but if you pay attention, you know what is happening. The story is basically about two young men heading off to fight in World War I in Europe as aviators. They start off as rivals, coming from the same hometown and loving the same girl, but become the best of friends. There are some wonderful flying scenes, and I don’t know how they did that over 80 years ago, no CGI, less sophisticated technology, but they did and it’s awesome. I have watched a lot of war movies and seen many combat scenes, and I think these scenes definitely hold their own. If this wasn’t World War I, it could have been World War II, Korea, Iraq; in this instance, it’s not the geography that is as important as the relationship between David and Jack. The end of the movie, or maybe it’s really the penultimate sequence (there’s more love story stuff at the very end) has a dramatic twist that was well-done. Clara Bow was the original ‘It’ girl and was quite the star in her day. I don’t know if she’s in any more of the movies on my list, but I think she is worth checking out; Richard Arlen (David) was originally from St. Paul, Minnesota, he was wonderfully understated in his role, and I could easily see Steve McQueen or William Holden playing that part; Buddy Rogers (Jack) was fun to watch, and you could see him grow up from a young adult to a man (although the very obvious grey around his temples was a little much). If you like The Artist, I would totally recommend this movie; if you didn’t like The Artist, I still recommend it, but understand if you’re a little leery of a movie that’s almost two and a half hours long with only a soundtrack to move it along.
