Only Angels Have Wings

UPC: 043396094697

Studio: Columbia TriStar

MPAA Rating: NR   Contains:[Suitable for Children]

Summary: Virtually a textbook example of Howard Hawks' "macho" mode, Only Angels Have Wings takes place high in the Peruvian Andes. Cary Grant heads a ramshackle airmail and freight service, forced to fly in the most perilous of weather conditions to the most treacherous of destinations. Facing death on a near-hourly basis, Grant and his flyers have adopted a casual, all-in-day's-work attitude towards mortality. If a pilot cracks up and dies, it's simply because he didn't have what it took, and that's that. Stranded showgirl Jean Arthur can't stand this cavalier attitude at first, but before long she becomes, in true Hawksian fashion, "one of the guys". Complicating the story is the presence of Richard Barthelmess, who has been persona non grata with the other pilots ever since his carelessness cost the life of one of their number. In addition to a surfeit of guilt, Barthelmess is saddled with a faithless wife, played by Rita Hayworth in her first important A-picture role. Hayworth makes a play for Grant, but he spurns her, finally realizing that, in spite of himself, he's in love with Arthur. Grant himself is riddled with guilt when near-blind pilot Thomas Mitchell insists upon taking on one final flight. Having lost his best friend, Grant drops his hard-bitten shell, and for the first time opens himself up emotionally to Arthur-which of course leads to a nail-biting climax wherein Arthur suffers mightily as Grant faces certain death. Scripted by Jules Furthman from a story by Hawks, Only Angels Have Wings is a treasure trove of terse, pithy dialogue: our favorite scene occurs when, upon discovering that he's about to die, Thomas Mitchell says he's often wondered how he'd react to imminent death-and, now that death is but a few moments away, he'd rather that no one else be around to witness his reaction. Though sometimes laid low by obvious miniatures, the aerial scenes in Only Angels Have Wings are by and large first-rate, earning a first-ever "best special effects" Oscar nomination for Roy Davidson and Edwin C. Hahn. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi

Category: Adventure

Awards: Best Black and White Cinematography – Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences Best Special Effects – Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences Best Special Effects – Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences

Features: ccInteractive menus
Language: English
Subtitles: English, Spanish, Portuguese, Chinese, Korean, Thai
Talent & filmographies
Vintage advertising
Bonus trailers
Scene selections

Only Angels Have Wings

Format: Digital Video Disc (DVD)

Release Date: 08/31/1999

Aspect Ratio: 1.33:1 Pre-1954 Standard

Audio: 2 PCM stereo

Runtime: 120 Minutes

Sides: 1

Number of Discs: 1

Language(s) English

Subtitles: English,Spanish,Portuguese

Region: USA & territories, Canada

Chapters: Side #1 --
1. Start [1:58]
2. Talent Scouts [4:17]
3. Buying Bonnie a Drink [3:56]
4. Geoff Carter [3:05]
5. Not Good Enough [8:56]
6. Running an Airline [4:06]
7. "Who's Joe?" [4:09]
8. Specialty Act [2:39]
9. Goodbyes [8:06]
10. All Ashore [5:52]
11. Bat MacPherson [3:36]
12. The Kid Meets Bat [1:16]
13. Mrs. MacPherson [1:03]
14. Bat's Chance [2:54]
15. Grounded [5:17]
16. Air Rescue [4:33]
17. Torch Burns Brighter [6:55]
18. Smashed-plane Test [5:23]
19. Gent Is Through [1:25]
20. Nitro Flight [5:42]
21. Dousing the Flame [1:57]
22. In Geoff's Room [4:43]
23. Two-headed Coin Trick [2:56]
24. Shot! [4:11]
25. Last Flight [9:48]
26. "Your Neck's Broken" [8:04]
27. "You're Crying." [1:13]
28. "Heads You Stay" [2:44]

Brendon Hanley

Only Angels Have Wings exemplifies the complex, taciturn male bravado common to the films of Howard Hawks. Unfairly lumped into the genre of the airborne drama, it is one of Hawks' more neglected films. An experienced pilot himself, Hawks based Angels on real people and events from his time spent on the airfields; his brother was killed in a plane crash. Cary Grant plays the courageous, fatalistic lead, and Jean Arthur is the typical Hawksian heroine, strong with a subversive, gender-bending edge. Supporting player Rita Hayworth became a major Hollywood star after Angels. The film would receive a wartime update as 1942's The Flying Tigers. ~ Brendon Hanley, Rovi

Cast and Crew: Dick Botiller  Actor 
Budd Fine  Actor 
Charles Moore  Actor 
Al Rhein  Actor 
Vernon Dent  Actor 
Victor Kilian  Actor 
Rafael Storm  Actor 
Francisco Maran  Actor 
Eddie Foster  Actor 
Inez Palange  Actor 
Bud Wolfe  Actor 
Jack Lowe  Actor 
Don "Red" Barry  Actor 
Harry A. Bailey  Actor 
Enrique Acosta  Actor 
Stanley Brown  Actor 
Victor Travers  Actor 
Wilson Benge  Actor 
Curley Dresden  Actor 
James Millican  Actor 
Sammee Tong  Actor 
Ed Randolph  Actor 
Harry Bailey  Actor 
Candy Candido  Actor 
Ky Robinson  Actor 
Rafael Corio  Actor 
Lou Davis  Actor 
Jules Furthman  Screenwriter 
Howard Hawks  Director 
Howard Hawks  Producer 
Morris W. Stoloff  Composer (Music Score) 
Dimitri Tiomkin  Composer (Music Score) 
Manuel Maciste  Composer (Music Score) 
Cary Grant  Actor 
Jean Arthur  Actor 
Richard Barthelmess  Actor 
Rita Hayworth  Actor 
Thomas Mitchell  Actor 
Sig Rumann  Actor 
John Carroll  Actor 
Allyn Joslyn  Actor 
Noah Beery, Jr.  Actor 
Melissa Sierra  Actor 
Lucio Villegas  Actor 
Forbes Murray  Actor 
Cecilia Callejo  Actor 
Pat Flaherty  Actor 
Pedro Regas  Actor 
Pat West  Actor 
Manuel Maciste  Actor 

Country: USA