August 12, 1927 (New York City, premiere)
January 15, 1928 (Los Angeles)
January 5, 1929 (United States)
Wings is a 1927 American silent and synchronized sound film known for winning the first Academy Award for Best Picture. Due to the general public's apathy towards silent films, the film was quickly re-released in 1928 with synchronized sound. While the sound version of the film has no audible dialogue, it was released with a synchronized musical score with sound effects. The original soundtrack to the sound version is preserved at UCLA.
The film stars Clara Bow, Charles "Buddy" Rogers, and Richard Arlen. Rogers and Arlen portray World War I combat pilots in a romantic rivalry over a woman. It was produced by Lucien Hubbard, directed by William A. Wellman, and released by Paramount Famous Lasky Corporation. Gary Cooper appears in a small role, which helped launch his career in Hollywood.
The film, a romantic action-war picture, was rewritten by scriptwriters Hope Loring and Louis D. Lighton from a story by John Monk Saunders to accommodate Bow, Paramount's biggest star at the time. Wellman was hired, as he was the only director in Hollywood at the time who had World War I combat pilot experience, although Richard Arlen and John Monk Saunders had also served in the war as military aviators. The film was shot on location on a budget of $2 million (equivalent to $34.42 million in 2023) at Kelly Field in San Antonio, between September 7, 1926, and April 7, 1927. Hundreds of extras and some 300 pilots were involved in the filming, including pilots and planes of the United States Army Air Corps which were brought in for the filming and to provide assistance and supervision. Wellman extensively rehearsed the scenes for the Battle of Saint-Mihiel over ten days with some 3,500 infantrymen on a battlefield made for the production on location. Although the cast and crew had much spare time during the filming because of weather delays, shooting conditions were intense, and Wellman frequently conflicted with the military officers brought in to supervise the picture.
Acclaimed for its technical prowess and realism upon release, the film became the yardstick against which future aviation films were measured, mainly because of its realistic air-combat sequences. It went on to win the inaugural Academy Award for Outstanding Picture at the first Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences award ceremony in 1929, the only fully silent film to do so. It also won the Academy Award for Best Engineering Effects (Roy Pomeroy). Wings was one of the first widely released films to show nudity. In 1997, Wings was selected for preservation in the United States National Film Registry by the Library of Congress as being "culturally, historically, or aesthetically significant", and the film was re-released to Cinemark theaters to coincide with the 85th anniversary for a limited run in May 2012. The film was re-released again for its 90th anniversary in 2017. The Academy Film Archive preserved Wings in 2002.
The film entered the public domain in the United States in 2023.
Storyline[]
Two young men, one rich, one middle class, who are in love with the same woman, become fighter pilots in World War I.
Sound Effects Used[]
The sound effects, in which Ben Burtt of Skywalker Sound provided the sound design, only apply to the 2012 version.
- Ben Burtt Punching Sounds
- COMEDY - RICOCHET ACCENT FOR MOVEMENT 19 (only half of the sound is heard)
- Gateway Records, Dog-Fight - Airplane
- H-B EXPLOSION - LARGE EXPLOSION 07 (minus debris)
- Looney Tunes Explosion Sound 1 (low quality)
- Looney Tunes Explosion Sound 3
- RICOCHET - LONG WARBLY FALLING RICCO
- RICOCHET - RICCO AND WHINE 05 (in slightly lower quality)
- SKYWALKER, AIRPLANE - AIRPLANE FAST PASS BY 01
- SKYWALKER, AIRPLANE - AIRPLANE FAST PASS BY 02
- SKYWALKER, AIRPLANE - DOGFIGHT, WWII AIRCRAFT, GUNFIRE
- SKYWALKER EXPLOSION 01
- SKYWALKER EXPLOSION 07
- SKYWALKER, EXPLOSION - MEDIUM SET-OFF WITH WHISTLE (Heard once in low volume.)
- SKYWALKER, WHISTLE - MORTAR WHINES
- SKYWALKER, WHOOSH - ARTILLERY FALL 01
- SoundDogs, Guns Military, Battles - Small - Unusual Explosions - Use For Land Mines, Phosphorus Bombs Or Electrical Explosions.
- Sound Ideas, CARTOON, AIRPLANE - PROP PLANE DIVE AND SWOOP BY (Heard occasionally in a slightly lower pitch.)
- Sound Ideas, GUN, RIFLE - SEVERAL SHOTS, WITH RICOCHET (select riccos in low quality)
- Sound Ideas, EXPLOSION - HOWITZER EXPLOSION
- Sound Ideas, EXPLOSION - LARGE EXPLOSION 01 (H-B)
- Sound Ideas, EXPLOSION - LARGE EXPLOSION 03 (H-B) (in a deeper pitch)
- Sound Ideas, RICOCHET - CARTOON RICCO 03
- Sound Ideas, RICOCHET - CARTOON RICCO 06
- Sound Ideas, RICOCHET - RICCO AND WHINE 04
- WB FALL, BODY - BODYFALL WITH GRUNT 01
- WB FIRE HISS/WHOOSH SOUND (Heard for some fire trailing from biplanes.)
- WB SIREN - STUKA SIREN HOWL (including various processed variants)