Wings (1927)

There are films you watch for an evening's entertainment, and there are films you watch because cinema history more or less demands it. Wings, released in 1927 by Paramount Famous Lasky Corporation, falls squarely into the second category. Set during the First World War, it follows two young American men from the same small town, one wealthy, one from more modest means, who both enlist in the Air Corps and rise to become fighter aces. They are also, somewhat inconveniently, rivals in love, though the friendship that forms between them in the skies above France becomes the emotional spine of the whole picture. A girl back home, quietly devoted to one of the men, waits in the wings (if you'll forgive the expression). It is, in other words, a war film, a romance, and a bromance, all running at the same time across a substantial 144 minutes. The scale of the production was remarkable for the period: real aircraft, real pilots used as extras and stunt performers, and location shooting that gave the aerial sequences a raw, documentary quality that studio-bound war pictures simply could not match. For a sense of where silent cinema was heading technically in those final years before the talkies arrived, it makes for a fascinating companion piece to other ambitious productions of the era, such as The General and The Docks of New York.

William A. Wellman directed, and it is worth pausing on that name. Wellman was himself a First World War aviator who had flown with the Lafayette Flying Corps, which gives the aerial sequences a credibility that goes beyond technical bravado. He knew what air combat looked and felt like, and that knowledge is evident in the way the dogfights are staged and photographed. He would go on to have a long and varied Hollywood career, including the tense, morally serious western The Ox-Bow Incident, but Wings remains the work most closely associated with his name. The production was backed by Paramount with genuine ambition: the set pieces, particularly the ground battle sequence at Cambrai, involved thousands of extras and military co-operation that would be essentially impossible to replicate today on a comparable budget. It is one of those productions where the sheer logistical effort is visible on screen, and that visibility is part of what makes it so striking.

The cast is led by Clara Bow, at that point one of the most recognisable faces in American cinema, alongside Charles "Buddy" Rogers and Richard Arlen as the two pilots at the centre of the story. Bow, in a supporting role relative to the running time she occupies, brings a lightness and natural warmth to her character that prevents the film from becoming purely a vehicle for spectacle. Rogers and Arlen, meanwhile, were both required to actually learn to fly for the production, which added a genuine physicality to their performances in the cockpit. Jobyna Ralston and El Brendel round out the principal cast in roles that serve more functional narrative purposes. It is a polished but ensemble-driven production, and none of the performances are what you come to Wings for, though several of them reward closer attention than the film's reputation as a technical landmark might suggest.

Wings (1927), the first film ever awarded Best Picture at the Oscars, is a monumental achievement in silent cinema, and watching it nearly 100 years later, you can feel the weight of its legacy. It’s an epic war drama packed with jaw-dropping aerial combat sequences that were revolutionary for their time: real planes, real stunts, and death-defying dogfights shot with astonishing clarity and scale. For 1927, it was pure spectacle, and even today, those flying scenes are thrilling, visceral, and impressively choreographed. As a silent film, it’s also one of the most technically advanced I’ve seen from the era. The cinematography is bold (sweeping shots, dramatic lighting, creative camera angles) and the performances, while broad by modern standards, carry real emotion when they need to. Clara Bow brings charisma and warmth, and the central friendship between two young pilots feels genuine, especially in its quieter, more intimate moments. That said… yeah, it’s tough to watch now. Over two hours with no dialogue, just title cards and a repetitive musical score looping in the background. My brain, spoiled by sound, colour, and rapid editing, started to rebel. The pacing drags, the melodrama feels overwrought, and without the context of the time, some scenes land flat. And let’s be honest, modern audiences aren’t built for this kind of endurance test. But judging it against talkies would be unfair. On its own terms, as a silent film, Wings is absolutely one of the best, the pinnacle of what the form could achieve just before sound changed everything. I'm going to have to give it a fair average. Not because it’s great by today’s standards, but because it was greatness in its moment. A landmark film, historically vital, visually impressive, and emotionally resonant in flashes. Watch it not for fun, but for respect.

I'll admit that going in, I had prepared myself for something more of an obligation than a pleasure, and the reality landed somewhere between the two, which feels about right. The aerial sequences genuinely held me in a way I hadn't expected from a film this old, and there's a craft on display that makes you think differently about what directors and cinematographers were capable of before synchronised sound complicated everything. If you've been working your way through the classics of the silent period, this belongs on the list, though perhaps pace yourself rather than tackling all 144 minutes in a single sitting after a long day. For the more casual viewer, a little background reading beforehand goes a long way. It's a film that rewards the effort you put in before you press play, even if it occasionally tests your patience while you're watching it. History rarely makes things easy on you, but it's usually worth it in the end.

Rating: ★★½  | Year: 1927  | Watched: 2025-11-10

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Trailer

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Related on Movies With Macca

More from William A. Wellman: The Ox-Bow Incident (1943)
More from the 1920s: The Eagle (1925) · The General (1926) · The Docks of New York (1928) · A Throw of Dice (1929)
More drama: Viy (1967) · Wonder (2017) · A Better Tomorrow (1986) · Beautiful Boy (2018)
More action: A Better Tomorrow (1986) · The General (1926) · Hand of Death (1976) · Daredevil (2003)