Only Angels Have Wings Overview:

Only Angels Have Wings (1939) was a Drama - Adventure Film directed by Howard Hawks and produced by Howard Hawks.

SYNOPSIS

A sparkling cast, well directed, highlights a film that represented the comeback of Barthelmess, a major leading man of the silent era. Grant plays the flinty director of a trans-Andes air courier operation. He is the eye of a hurricane of women who want him, Barthelmess, who may be responsible for the death of Mitchell's brother, and the nearly blind Mitchell himself, who dies on a dangerous mission while trying to spare Grant the risk. When the storm clears we glimpse a humanized Grant with Arthur on his arm.

(Source: available at Amazon AMC Classic Movie Companion).

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Academy Awards 1939 --- Ceremony Number 12 (source: AMPAS)

AwardRecipientResult
Best CinematographyJoseph WalkerNominated
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Only Angels Have Wings BlogHub Articles:

Only Angels Have Wings (1939): Hawks’ Greatest Adventure Movie

By 4 Star Film Fan on Aug 6, 2019 From 4 Star Films

Howard Hawks always had a knack for creating worlds and subsequently building camaraderie between his characters simply by stringing scenes together one after the other. Only Angels Have Wings?sets?up a?premise — revolving around?a South American outpost —?then?settles in on two flyers. ... Read full article


Watching 1939: Only Angels Have Wings (1939)

on Jul 4, 2019 From Comet Over Hollywood

In 2011, I announced I was trying to see every film released in 1939. This new series chronicles films released in 1939 as I watch them.?As we start out this blog feature, this section may become more concrete as I search for a common thread that runs throughout each film of the year. Right now, tha... Read full article


Only Angels Have Wings (1939, Howard Hawks)

By Andrew Wickliffe on Oct 17, 2018 From The Stop Button

The first forty-five minutes of Only Angels Have Wings is mostly continual present action. Jean Arthur arrives in a South American port town, looking around?followed by two possible ne?er-do-wells (Allyn Joslyn and Noah Beery Jr.)?and the film tracks her experience. Great direction from Hawks, beaut... Read full article


CCU37: Only Angels Have Wings (1939)

By Aaron West on May 15, 2016 From Criterion Blues

May 15 Posted by aaronwest Mark and Aaron fly back to 1939 to discuss Howard Hawks’ classic Only Angels Have Wings. We evaluate the special effects, how the film built suspense, the context of aviation in the late 1930s, and later films that embody a similar masculinity. We also reveal the wi... Read full article


CCU37: Only Angels Have Wings (1939)

By Aaron West on May 15, 2016 From Criterion Blues

May 15 Posted by aaronwest Mark and Aaron fly back to 1939 to discuss Howard Hawks’ classic Only Angels Have Wings. We evaluate the special effects, how the film built suspense, the context of aviation in the late 1930s, and later films that embody a similar masculinity. We also reveal the wi... Read full article


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Quotes from Only Angels Have Wings

Geoff Carter: You'd better be good!
Bonnie Lee: I won't be as corny as you.


Geoff Carter: Wait a minute, you little fool, why don't you use your ...
[sees that she's crying]
Geoff Carter: Oh, come on. Stop it.
Bonnie Lee: I don't know how you can act like this when that poor kid, he's ...
Geoff Carter: [coldly] Yeah, I know, he's dead.
Bonnie Lee: Yes, he's dead!
Geoff Carter: That's right. And he's been dead about 20 minutes, and all the weeping and wailing in the world won't make him any deader 20 years from now. If you feel like bawling, how do you think we feel?
Bonnie Lee: Oh, I'm sorry...
Geoff Carter: Oh, come on. Go outside and walk around - and stay there until you put all that together!


Geoff Carter: How about a light?
Bonnie Lee: [giving him matches] Isn't it about time you started carrying some of those?


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Facts about Only Angels Have Wings

Richard Barthelmess had deep scars that resulted from an infection due to plastic surgery. The only way to cover them up was with heavy make-up, but Howard Hawks convinced him to leave them the way they were because "those scars tell the story and are important to your character." Hawks also removed planks to make Barthelmess appear taller, to reflect his character's inferiority among his fellow pilots.
Dutchy's statements about flying, "Include me out," is a quote from Samuel Goldwyn. It is one of many malapropisms attributed to him.
When Rita Hayworth couldn't play her drunk scene well enough, Hawks told Cary Grant to throw a bucket of water on her head, dry her hair, and to only say his lines.
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