Wings - 1st Best Picture Winner

1927

#26

Starring:
Clara Bow

Charles "Buddy" Rogers

Richard Arlen

Gary Cooper

Directed By:

William A Wellman

1927-28 Academy Awards
Winner:
Outstanding Picture
Best Engineering Effects

Other Films Nominated:
The Racket
Seventh Heaven

The first ceremonies where held in 1929 and all films produced in 1927 and 1928 were eligible. The film industry was still young. Films like The Jazz Singer, (released in 1927) one of the most famous of the first "talkies" would eventually become more widely produced (which by today's standards would.be considered racist because of the use of black face, which at the time wasn't considered bad) But the market was still full of silent films, which in place of spoken dialouge that you could hear, used "cards", that one had to read, every so often so that the audience knew what was happening, thought the actors still acted their parts on screen as if they could be heard. The cards also allowed scene changes to be explained.

Now I've seen parts of a number of silent films over the years but I've never actually sat and watched one on purpose by myself, so this would be he first.

I admit that as a movie viewer in current society, I'm not particularly used to having to always pay attention to the screen. We have become so used to multitasking that even when we sit in the theater, our attention is not always focused on the movie in front of us. We have distractions, be it our popcorn and M&Ms, our phones, or other people with us. Movie going was different when this film was produced. While going to the theater can be costly these days, its fairly common place, from the time we are small children. When this film was made, movie going was a luxury. An event. One went to a large, single screen theater, likely only to be found in a city. It was an event for adults. Going to a picture show was an experience.

This being a silent flim, I needed to pay attention so as to be able to understand what was happening. I will admit that it was hard for me to do. Even as I was first writing this post, I was watching a movie, granted one I've seen more than a few times, and I wasn't always watching the screen. I was also texting. Another issue was needing to be able to see the screen clearly. I watched this on a dvd player while in bed but having to read the screen meant my glasses need to be on.

The film felt long. I've sat thru plently of movies hat clocked in at the 2hrs 21min of this film but having to read the cards made it seem longer than it really was. That and the traditional Intermission in the film. Most films of this era include one, because going to a picture show was considered to be like going to a play or a show and audiences expected it. It was a theater going experience like any other, just a motion picture show. While watching this, I ended up needing to take an intermission of my own, as I began to fall asleep. I don't consider that a mark on he film though. I was simply tired.

Our story is about 2 men and the women in love with them. They are both sent off to war, in this case World War 1.

Jack is in love with Sylvia. His best friend, Mary, is in love with him but he doesn't realize it and also doesnt see that Sylvia is in love with his rival, David. When both men leave for war, Jack misakenly believes he's got Sylvia's heart as she gave him a token, but the locket with her picture in it was really meant for David.

The men eventually settle their differences and become part of a flying ace squad in Europe fighting the Germans. Jack still doesn't know that Sylvia and David are in love, but David is too kind to say anything, though we do see a letter between he and Sylvia where they speakc of Jack. Meanwhile, Mary gets a job with the war effort in Paris, driving an ambulance. She meets Jack at a club one night when he is quite drunk and has to save him from trouble when everyone is recalled to the front., but he never knows this.

Later, during a flying run while in battle, David's plane is shot down (Jack thinks because David didn't have his lucky token with him, a tiny teddy bear from him mother) and he finds himself behind enemy lines. He is presumed killed in action. However, he eludes the Germans and manages to steal a plane from them but as he gets closer to Allied territory his plane is seen as the enemy. Jack goes up in his plane to take down the enemy, and he severely injures David who is piloting it. When Jack sets down, he cuts the German colors off the plane as a trophy but then discovers it was really his buddy and then mourns for him. With help, he returns David's body to the Allied forces where he is buried. When Jack returns home from the war he goes to David's parents and returns the bear and tells of his bravery. He realizes that he is really in love with Mary, not Sylvia.

The scenario of misplaced affections is an old story but the Oscar worthy part of this film is the action. There are long shots of planes in the air and even some minor "effects" of weapons fire shown which while by today's computer generated effects is laughable but was at the time hard to do because the process involved marking the physical film. There are also battle scenes which required the work of a large extra cast and that felt very realistic. One feels as if they are in the middle of the fighting. The picture as a whole is a grand undertaking and even now one can see why it was judged the best of its time.