Only Angels Have Wings

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For other uses, see Only Angels Have Wings (disambiguation).
Only Angels Have Wings

Only Angels Have Wings DVD cover
Directed by Howard Hawks
Produced by Howard Hawks
Written by Howard Hawks (story)
Jules Furthman
Starring Cary Grant
Jean Arthur
Music by Dimitri Tiomkin
Cinematography Joseph Walker
Editing by Viola Lawrence
Distributed by Columbia Pictures
Release date(s) May 15, 1939 (US)
Running time 121 minutes
Language English
Spanish
IMDb profile

Only Angels Have Wings (1939) is a movie directed by Howard Hawks, starring Cary Grant and Jean Arthur. It is generally regarded as being among Hawks' finest films, particularly in its portrayal of the professionalism of the pilots, its atmosphere, and the flying sequences.

The film was nominated for two Academy Awards: Joseph Walker for Best Cinematography, Black-and-white, Roy Davidson and Edwin C. Hahn for the first-time Best Effects, Special Effects.

It inspired the 1983 television series Tales of the Gold Monkey.

Contents

[edit] Plot

Geoff Carter (Cary Grant) is a pilot and the manager of a small, barely-solvent air service owned by "Dutchy" Van Reiter (Sig Ruman) carrying mail from the port town of Barranca (short for Barrancabermeja) in Colombia over the Andes Mountains. Bonnie Lee (Jean Arthur), a piano-playing entertainer, arrives one day and becomes infatuated with Carter, despite his fatalistic attitude about the dangerous mountain flying, and stays on in Barranca (not at Carter's invitation, as he insists on telling her).

The situation is complicated by the appearance of Bat Kilgallen (Richard Barthelmess) and his wife Judy (Rita Hayworth). Kilgallen is a pilot shunned by other fliers because he once bailed out of a plane, allowing his mechanic -- the brother of 'Kid' Dabb (Thomas Mitchell), Carter's best friend -- to be killed in the resulting crash. Carter refuses to hire Bat until Judy, Carter's former lover, pleads for a chance for her husband. Carter gives in, provided Bat takes the most dangerous jobs.

Dutchy can obtain a lucrative government mail contract if he can provide reliable service over a certain trial period. On the last day of the trial, bad weather forces Bat and Kid to try flying over the mountains rather than through a pass. However, they are unable to climb high enough. On the way back, birds crash into the airplane, paralyzing Kid. Bat refuses to bail out and manages to land the burning plane. Kid dies, but not before telling Geoff of Bat's heroism.

Bonnie finally gives up on Geoff and bids him goodbye. He offers to toss a coin to decide: heads, she stays; tails, she leaves. Then the weather clears; Geoff rushes out to secure the all-important contract. Bonnie is unwilling to decide her life so haphazardly, until she sees that the coin has heads on both sides.

[edit] Cast

[edit] See also

[edit] External links

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Films directed by Howard Hawks
1920s
The Road to Glory • Fig Leaves • The Cradle Snatchers • Paid to Love • A Girl in Every Port • Fazil • The Air Circus • Trent's Last Case
1930s
The Dawn Patrol • The Criminal Code • La Foule hurle • Scarface • The Crowd Roars • Tiger Shark • Today We Live • The Prizefighter and the Lady • Viva Villa! • Twentieth Century • Barbary Coast • Ceiling Zero • Sutter's Gold • The Road to Glory • Come and Get It • Bringing Up Baby • Only Angels Have Wings
1940s
1950s
1960s-1970s
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