The POP-EXPOSE ‘Wings’ By Mitchell Smith!

Wings is a 1927 film about WWI. It is the first movie to win Best Picture at the first annual academy awards back in 1929. Directed by William Wellman who was himself a WWI combat pilot vet and selected to direct the film because of it. Wings is a silent movie and follows 2 young pilots Jack and David, played by actors Charles Rogers and Richard Arlen, through training and combat. It also features Clara Bow one of the most famous actresses at the time and actor Gary Cooper who had a small roll which help launch his successful Hollywood career. The movie gave a look at the hard fought trench war of WWI and also the daring pilots in MB-3s the old open cockpit biplanes. I started watching the movie and my wife laughed at me and said what are you watching? This is boring. Although the lack of people talking may seem boring this film was exciting and very interesting to me. 

There were plenty of sound effects and although the film may seem cheese compared to a modern movie, I think the effects of the movie still hold a good stick to what we are accustomed to today. It would have been my great-great grandparents that would have gone to the theater to watch this film. My mind transported me back to a simpler time, one I tried to imagine how my relatives may have lived and what they may have thought of this film in 1927. This was probably cutting edge effects for the time hence why the film also won an award for Best engineering effects. I enjoy history and this is a great way to enjoy history by watching a film like this. I think it would be interesting to see this in a small theater to get the full effect of how 1927 may have been. This is truly a gem and its worth taking a look at and remembering a war that was hard fought by our ancestors and remember those who helped shape the film industry and the world as we know it today.

Will you be checking out ‘Wings‘ or have you seen it? Sound off AFTER THE JUMP and let us know!