Wings
The film’s reputation often rests on being the first Best Picture winner, but that undersells its real strengths. What keeps Wings airborne are the flying sequences: aerial stunts and combat scenes choreographed with precision and filmed with a clarity still striking today.
Around that spectacle, the film mixes melodrama, romance, and broad comedy. At its core are Richard Arlen and Charles Rogers as small-town youths turned celebrated airmen in France. Their relationship, played with tenderness and intensity, carries a homoerotic charge that makes it more than just another war buddy tale.
Clara Bow, Paramount’s biggest star, provides the sparkle—spirited, earthy, first glimpsed brushing aside a pair of knickers before reappearing in Paris as an ambulance driver, even in a brief nude scene. Yet for all her charisma, the true centre remains the bond between Arlen and Rogers. The melodrama shows its age, but the flying and the friendships still hold the film steady.
Around that spectacle, the film mixes melodrama, romance, and broad comedy. At its core are Richard Arlen and Charles Rogers as small-town youths turned celebrated airmen in France. Their relationship, played with tenderness and intensity, carries a homoerotic charge that makes it more than just another war buddy tale.
Clara Bow, Paramount’s biggest star, provides the sparkle—spirited, earthy, first glimpsed brushing aside a pair of knickers before reappearing in Paris as an ambulance driver, even in a brief nude scene. Yet for all her charisma, the true centre remains the bond between Arlen and Rogers. The melodrama shows its age, but the flying and the friendships still hold the film steady.
Mini Review: Best known as the first Best Picture winner, Wings still soars thanks to its flying sequences—dizzying stunts shot with striking clarity. Around them swirl melodrama, romance, and broad comedy. Clara Bow sparkles, but the heart lies with Richard Arlen and Charles Rogers, whose tender, homoerotic bond gives the film weight. The melodrama shows its age, yet the planes and friendships hold it steady.