Wings

Wings
Wings, the first movie to win an Academy Award for Best Picture and the only silent film to win, is still remarkably enjoyable to watch. The story is a fairly conventional one--two flyboys, both in love with the same girl, go off to fight World War I, and male bonding and heartbreak ensue. It's a perfectly serviceable plot, except for the key logical flaw that both young men have inexplicably fallen in love with the boring girl down the street and have somehow failed to notice that Clara Bow is the girl next door. Both male leads really flew their airplanes, and the dogfight footage is still spectacular. The main reason to watch Wings, though, is to see the difference between an actor and a movie star. There are many actors in the film, but only two movie stars. Clara Bow is a treat to watch every minute she's on screen, and young Gary Cooper in a tiny role nearly walks away with the movie, mostly by standing there and looking dreamy. It's well worth sitting through a little cheesy organ music for a movie this much fun. --Ali Davis
Customer Review: If only there were Clara Bows around nowadays ..
A film that hits just about every human emotion in the repertoire and does so surprisingly well, although there is some overeagerness amongst the callow youth. The biggest surprise of all, however, is just how enchanting Clara Bow is as the very sexy girl next door. While obviously men's tastes in women differ, it is still rather difficult to believe that Charles Rogers wasn't at least infatuated with his next door neighbor. Clara's personality is just as attractive as her looks. Watching her is by far the most pleasant part of the film. If only women were around like her these days...
Customer Review: During the aerial dogfights....
one has to keep reminding oneself that this is REAL flying, not something pasted together to make it look like pilots of one-man planes are actually flying them. The ground really IS thousands of feet below, and Charles "Buddy" Rodgers and Richard Arlen--though they don't do all of the flying, do fly their own planes, and, unlike the director, Wellman, had never flown a plane before they started preparing for this movie! Clara Bow, whom I had never seen before, is cute as a button, and it's very unfortunate that she made so few talkies (I'm told that she had emotional problems which kept her out of them). She plays the perfect "girl next door," even though she's quite beautiful. Isn't it odd that Jack is so self-centered at the beginning of the film that he never notices that she's in love with him, but realizes it immediately when he gets home. What do you suppose causes that, Jack? In spite of the length of the film, I never get bored. For one thing, there are various diversions, like Jack getting so drunk he sees bubbles coming out of everything (including Clara Bow, who, as a Women's Motor Transport driver, has been asked to round up all the soldiers whooping it up in Paris because the big push is about to start), the "gallent German" captain, Kellerman, the training scenes, the mistaken identity... Another reason I never get bored is that I'm waiting for...MY FAVORITE LOVE SCENE, FROM ANY MOVIE, FROM ANYWHERE, FROM ANY TIME. (It doesn't hurt that the director's beautiful wife is standing in the doorway watching it--it's the only movie she ever appeared in.) So there.