NFR Project: 'Only Angels Have Wings' (1939)

 

NFR Project: ‘Only Angels Have Wings’

Dir: Howard Hawks

Scr: Jules Furthman, Howard Hawks

Pho: Joseph Walker

Ed: Viola Lawrence

Premiere: May 15, 1939

121 min.

This film, one of cinema’s great adventure dramas, is considered the epitome of the Howard Hawks style. Director Hawks left a distinctive fingerprint on many of his films – so much so that this particular kind of film is regularly referred to as “Hawksian.”

The Hawksian world is inhabited by cynical, tough-talking men. They face danger bravely and with a dismissive humor. A man is what he does, or in the worst case, what he cannot do. The Hawksian woman is independent, tough-talking, gifted with the ability to trade wisecracks with the guys. Together they create a miniature society of daredevils, people who inhabit the dangerous margins of life to fulfill tasks that ordinary people would balk at.

In this case, the scene is set in an imaginary South American country, in the town of Barranca. Here Geoff Carter (Cary Grant) leads a ragtag bunch of flyers whose job it is to fly mail and supplies up and over an intimidating range of Andean mountains inland. The company must make its deliveries in order to win a lucrative contract, despite hazards such as fog, storm, and bird strikes.

Into this milieu falls Bonnie Lee (perky Jean Arthur), an entertainer off the boat with a minimum of baggage and a maximum of curiosity. Naturally, she falls for Geoff, but Geoff was spurned by a woman over his risk-taking, so he’s sour on the idea of women, and emotion in general.

Onto the scene steps MacPherson (the great silent star Richard Barthlemess), a flyer with a checkered past who wants to get back into the game. It turns out that he bailed out of a burning plane, leaving his mechanic to die. That mechanic was the brother of The Kid (Thomas Mitchell), Geoff’s right-hand man. Despite everyone’s prejudice against him, Geoff takes him on.

It also turns out that MacPherson is married to Judy (Rita Hayworth, in her star-making turn) – the woman who broke Geoff’s heart. Their reconnection is bitter.

The Kid’s eyesight is failing, so Geoff must ban him from flying. Another dangerous mission comes up, and Geoff is all set to fly it when Bonnie accidentally shoots him. MacPherson must go, and the Kid volunteers to go with him in a new plane designed to fly over the high peaks.

The plane stalls out in the thin atmosphere, and the flying duo are forced to turn back. They run into a flock of buzzards, some of which crash through the windscreen, crippling the Kid and setting the engines on fire. MacPherson, struggling mightily, brings the plane back safely.

The Kid dies of his injuries. MacPherson, having redeemed himself, is welcomed by the other pilots. Geoff finally lets Bonnie know that he wants her to stay. Can she stand the uncertainty of not knowing whether he’ll come back alive from his job or not? The answer is a pretty confident yes.

The movie is filled with distinct characters, all cracking wise. Sig Rumann, who normally played pompous leaders or villains, actually gets a sympathetic part here and plays it well. The film, crowded with action, moves along at a dizzying pace. Add plenty of flying shots, supplemented by some good model work, and you have a strikingly engaging story on your hands.

Paradoxically, the gruff gents who work for the ragtag airline are actually sentimental fools. Their feelings of loss when one of their number crashes and dies are palpable. There are guys who care deeply about each other, and about their mission. It is their determination to be tough that makes them seem so abrasive, callous even. Hawks is careful to show us this aspect of their emotional lives, sublimated into anger and alcohol abuse.

Joseph Walker’s cinematography is top-notch; the settings are shrouded in fog and most of the action takes place at night. The noirish cast of the images perfectly suits the story of men gambling with their lives.

The NFR is one writer’s attempt to review all the films listed in the National Film Registry in chronological order. Next time: The City.

NFR Project: 'Under Western Stars' (1938)

 

NFR Project: ‘Under Western Stars’

Dir: Joseph Kane

Scr: Dorrell McGowan, Stuart E. McGowan, Betty Burbridge

Pho: Jack Marta

Ed: Lester Orlebeck

Premiere: April 20, 1938

65 min.

It is a dicey proposition to think that this Western musical earned its way into the National Film Registry. It is significant only in that it marks the first starring role of Roy Rogers (1911-1998), soon to become known as the “King of the Cowboys.”

Cowboy singing star Gene Autry (1907-1998) was responsible for Roy Rogers’ success. It seems that he was p.o.ed with Republic Pictures head Herbert Yates, who felt that he was solely responsible for Autry’s fame. 

Autry grew up the son of a preacher in Texas. He was a young man who worked as a telegrapher for a railroad, and sang and accompanied himself on guitar to pass the time away.

He finally won a recording contract, and in 1932 hit with his first big song, “That Silver-Haired Daddy of Mine”. He made it big in the movies in 1935 with his starring role in the bizarre Western/musical/sci-fi serial The Phantom Empire. He made 44 films in five years, and was everyone’s favorite singing cowboy, who could fight and shoot and ride adequately.

At this point in their association, Yates felt that he should get a cut of all of Autry's revenue. Autry, to put it mildly, disagreed.

Yates, feeling he could create another screen cowboy hero out of whole cloth, did so. He picked out a handsome, tuneful young man named Leonard Slye, who was part of the successful, original singing group the Son of the Pioneers. Yates changed his name to Roy Rogers, and stuck him in this film, which Autry was supposedly to play.

The story covers the election of Roy to Congress, where he works to ease the grip the local water company has on his constituents. That’s it. There is little to none of the chases, fights, or shootouts common to the Western B-movie to this point in time. There is a heck of a lack of water, and Rogers exposes other politicaians to the drought to make his point about releasing the life-giving water to his friends and neighbors. Roy is pleasant, winning, and sings like a bird. Even gifted with Autry’s old comic sidekick Smiley Burnette, the results are, shall we say, stultifying.

Well, it was a huge hit, and fostered Rogers’ career in film, on television, and via recordings through the rest of his life. For many, he is the personification of the happy singing cowpoke. He certainly was pleasant, and is attractive here – but he made better films (he racked up 125 before he was done).

The NFR is one writer’s attempt to review all the films listed in the National Film Registry in chronological order. Next time: Only Angels Have Wings.

NFR Project: 'The River' (1938)

 

NFR Project: ‘The River’

Dir: Pare Lorentz

Scr: Pare Lorentz

Pho: Floyd Crosby, Willard Van Dyke, Stacy Woodard

Ed: Lloyd Nosler, Leo Zochling

Premiere: Feb. 4, 1938

31 min.

Pare Lorentz made a name for himself as a documentary filmmaker with The Plow that Broke the Plains in 1936. This examination of the Dust Bowl and plans for its mitigation was lauded by many, but abhorred by some as it appeared to them to be government propaganda. I wrote about it here.

For his second great documentary, Lorentz chose to cover the Mississippi River, that great avenue of commerce and travel. Once again, there was a didactic side to the film – Lorentz brings up deforestation and overfarming, and posits the dam construction work of FDR’s Tennessee Valley Authority as the solution to flood control and recovery of farmland and forest.

Lorentz chose a lyrical, poetic approach to the subject. He invokes the might of the river, and reels off a list of its tributaries in Whitmanesque style. He covers the river’s past, giving us shots of abandoned Southern mansions and including a quote from Robert E. Lee. Then he turns to the present, outlining the region’s problems with water and advocating government interventions to fix it.

The film does not deal in concrete specifics – the images are generic, and are chosen for their aesthetic beauty. Men and mules are silhouetted against the sky; water drips, meanders, and rushes. The Virgil Thomson score is outstanding, providing depth and weight to the scenes that are edited together. This time, Lorentz followed a filming schedule and created a budget, allowing him to work efficiently and with more assured focus.

Once again, there was some trouble with viewers and critics, who found it to be pushing the government’s agenda, which it certainly is. But Lorentz’s strong sense of imagery, backed up by an equally strong poetic narration (which was nominated for the Pulitzer Prize in poetry), transcends the programmatic aspect of the film, giving us a stirring portrait of natural and man-made forces at work.

The NFR is one writer’s attempt to review all the films listed in the National Film Registry in chronological order. Next time: Under Western Stars.