[8]

Director William Wellman took a full year to shoot it and was nearly fired for his perfectionism, but the gamble paid off. Wings was a huge success at the box office and became the first ever Oscar-winning Best Picture. At two-and-a-half hours, it runs a little too long, but it’s well paced and very well acted. The spectacular aerial battle sequences are what the film is most famous for, but there’s plenty of character pathos to sink your teeth into.

The story follows two World War I aviators (Richard Arlen and Charles “Buddy” Rogers) through basic training and romantic entanglements, all the way to dogfights in the skies over France. For a silent movie you need great faces, and Rogers and Arlen would be heartthrobs in any generation. Future superstar Gary Cooper also makes a brief but memorable appearance, while silent screen queen Clara Bow plays Rogers’ long-pining lover.

Despite the persistence of Bow’s character and the men’s quarreling over another (Jobyna Ralston), the romantic relationships are relegated to the sidelines in Wings. The film ultimately focuses on the relationship between the two men. Through a tragic turn of events, these guys end up in a touching death bed scene, where they profess their friendship’s importance in their lives. Wings is the first major film to feature two men kissing. It speaks to the homosocial comfort I believe most people, including straight people, need. Few movies seriously explore intimate male relationships outside the extremes of one-dimensional banter or gay love. War movies tend to be the one sub-genre, at least in the first several decades of American film, where characters can be both men and fully human.

Academy Awards: Best Picture (Production), Best Effects (Engineering Effects)