When William Wellman filmed his classic Wings (1927), he demanded the two main actors learn to fly. While many of the other airmen were real-life stunt pilots, actors Buddy Rogers and Richard Arlen piloted their own planes in some of the most harrowing (and for the actors, truly dangerous) flight sequences ever captured on film, turning what might have been an average (and, at times, goofy) romantic film into an action-adventure classic.
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| Harry Perry, director of photography |
Director Wellman had cameras mounted on the front and rear ends of the World War I-era biplanes, capturing not only the looping aerobatics of his stunt pilots, but also, in close up, the in-air reactions of the pilots themselves.
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| Richard Arlen attempts to evade an attacking plane |
Wings' technological achievements and stunning visual effects would go on to greatly influence the look of later films, including Top Gun (1986), whose technical crew patterned its action sequences after Wellman's carefully choreographed fight scenes.
And Wings is memorable for another reason: its overwhelming box office success skyrocketed the career of a struggling bit part actor with a memorable cameo in the film: Gary Cooper.
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| Gary Cooper, as "Cadet White" |
Wings won the very first Academy Award for Best Picture (then called "Best Production"); the award was presented to female lead Clara Bow by a founding member of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences: Douglas Fairbanks, Sr.
This month, the Conyers-Rockdale Library celebrates the remarkable achievements and lasting influence of the silent screen.
See the library's display featuring Wings and other classics of the silent era next to New Books, and check out a little movie history.
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