Post by Coopsgirl on Aug 30, 2011 19:12:30 GMT -6
Here's the review of WINGS from the October 15, 1927 issue of Liberty. I found this at the Nitrateville website.
WINGS, WAR, AND A WOMAN
The Screen Story of Battles in the Air
A film review by Frederick James Smith
Another war spectacle -- and yet one that possesses a genuine thrill in its panorama of combat in the skies -- is WINGS, the long-delayed film spectacle which took some two years in its filming, cutting, and editing. A fortune was spent on WINGS. In fact, the sky was the limit.
Hollywood would seem to have exhausted the celluloid possibilities of the World War, but WINGS has its aerial battle sequences. These have been splendidly photographed. The shots of air maneuvers, of battles to the finish, are all neatly done, with a good semblance of authenticity.
The producers got these by utilizing electrically operated cameras lashed to the planes, by skillful shooting from other aircraft, by deft photographic trickery, and by occasionally hiring a stunt man to break up his plane. Of course, experienced fliers were at the controls when our heroes appear to be flying against desperate odds, but you will never guess it from the shrewdly calculated shots.
The rest of WINGS is not so good. It is typical of Hollywood to spend a million or more for a production and forget the story. WINGS is just the tale of two boys who think they love the same girl. One of them falls behind the German lines, steals an enemy plane, and when he attempts to escape back to his aerodrome, is shot down -- and killed -- by his buddy and friendly rival.
The 12 reels of WINGS are given over largely to the air sequences, which occasionally become monotonous by repetition, and to the usual trench war combat. They were done near San Antonio, where the French terrain of St. Mihiel was duplicated, 21 cameramen ground out the celluloid, 120 airplanes were employed, and a small army participated in the combat, while a host of military experts looked on. Still, the endless screen war stuff grows tedious.
WINGS brings forward two young players who enact the rival aviators fairly effectively. One of them, Charles (Buddy) Rogers, is 23. His father is publisher of the Olathe Mirror of Olathe, Kansas. Buddy was a junior at the University of Kansas, taking a journalistic course, when Famous Players opened its first and only school of screen acting. Buddy is the only member to emerge with flying colors. Right now he is acting opposite Mary Pickford in THE SHOP GIRL.
Richard Arlen, playing the airman who meets a tragic fate, is 27. His real name is Richard Van Mattemore. He was born in Charlottesville, Virginia. Arlen went to prep school in St. Thomas' in St. Paul, Minnesota, and entered the University of Pennsylvania. He was just beginning to distinguish himself in athletics when the World War came along. Arlen left college and enlisted in the Royal Flying Corps, becoming a second lieutenant. At the close of the war, he went back to St. Paul and entered the brokerage business, finding spare time to play on the St. Paul Athletic Club hockey team. A theatrical stock company engagement led Arlen to try Hollywood. Although he landed a small but regular weekly salary from Famous Players, the going was not easy. Arlen was just an extra in OLD IRONSIDES.
You will find a real thrill in the glimpses of air duels -- sending planes, maimed and flaming, hurtling to earth like wounded birds.
. . . But WINGS has its weaknesses. One of them is the sad miscasting of Clara Bow, the IT girl, as the sweet and meek little kid next door. Or perhaps it is because Miss Bow has gone ahead and acquired her peppy personality while the producers have been dallying with the cutting.
Gary Cooper makes his bit of an ill-fated aviator stand out. And, incidentally, Jobyna Ralston, who plays the girl beloved by both boys, is now Mrs. Richard Arlen. Their romance developed during the making of WINGS.
WINGS, WAR, AND A WOMAN
The Screen Story of Battles in the Air
A film review by Frederick James Smith
Another war spectacle -- and yet one that possesses a genuine thrill in its panorama of combat in the skies -- is WINGS, the long-delayed film spectacle which took some two years in its filming, cutting, and editing. A fortune was spent on WINGS. In fact, the sky was the limit.
Hollywood would seem to have exhausted the celluloid possibilities of the World War, but WINGS has its aerial battle sequences. These have been splendidly photographed. The shots of air maneuvers, of battles to the finish, are all neatly done, with a good semblance of authenticity.
The producers got these by utilizing electrically operated cameras lashed to the planes, by skillful shooting from other aircraft, by deft photographic trickery, and by occasionally hiring a stunt man to break up his plane. Of course, experienced fliers were at the controls when our heroes appear to be flying against desperate odds, but you will never guess it from the shrewdly calculated shots.
The rest of WINGS is not so good. It is typical of Hollywood to spend a million or more for a production and forget the story. WINGS is just the tale of two boys who think they love the same girl. One of them falls behind the German lines, steals an enemy plane, and when he attempts to escape back to his aerodrome, is shot down -- and killed -- by his buddy and friendly rival.
The 12 reels of WINGS are given over largely to the air sequences, which occasionally become monotonous by repetition, and to the usual trench war combat. They were done near San Antonio, where the French terrain of St. Mihiel was duplicated, 21 cameramen ground out the celluloid, 120 airplanes were employed, and a small army participated in the combat, while a host of military experts looked on. Still, the endless screen war stuff grows tedious.
WINGS brings forward two young players who enact the rival aviators fairly effectively. One of them, Charles (Buddy) Rogers, is 23. His father is publisher of the Olathe Mirror of Olathe, Kansas. Buddy was a junior at the University of Kansas, taking a journalistic course, when Famous Players opened its first and only school of screen acting. Buddy is the only member to emerge with flying colors. Right now he is acting opposite Mary Pickford in THE SHOP GIRL.
Richard Arlen, playing the airman who meets a tragic fate, is 27. His real name is Richard Van Mattemore. He was born in Charlottesville, Virginia. Arlen went to prep school in St. Thomas' in St. Paul, Minnesota, and entered the University of Pennsylvania. He was just beginning to distinguish himself in athletics when the World War came along. Arlen left college and enlisted in the Royal Flying Corps, becoming a second lieutenant. At the close of the war, he went back to St. Paul and entered the brokerage business, finding spare time to play on the St. Paul Athletic Club hockey team. A theatrical stock company engagement led Arlen to try Hollywood. Although he landed a small but regular weekly salary from Famous Players, the going was not easy. Arlen was just an extra in OLD IRONSIDES.
You will find a real thrill in the glimpses of air duels -- sending planes, maimed and flaming, hurtling to earth like wounded birds.
. . . But WINGS has its weaknesses. One of them is the sad miscasting of Clara Bow, the IT girl, as the sweet and meek little kid next door. Or perhaps it is because Miss Bow has gone ahead and acquired her peppy personality while the producers have been dallying with the cutting.
Gary Cooper makes his bit of an ill-fated aviator stand out. And, incidentally, Jobyna Ralston, who plays the girl beloved by both boys, is now Mrs. Richard Arlen. Their romance developed during the making of WINGS.
...eventually it found its way outside all by itself 
, the balcony door was open, looking at me as if to say: Feed Me! They know I do but apparently it wasn't enough. :
Some people collect shoes, others collect memorabilia. Some people believe in the paranormal, others refuse to talk about it..Think we'll make it to Alpha Centauri any time soon? 