Only Angels Have Wings on DVD (1939)

Disapponting

Darren Oliver from London , 04/10/2005

I'd heard a lot of positive things about Only Angels Have Wings and have to say I was midly disappointed with the film.

Cary Grant plays a civil aviator whose job is to deliver the mail through the treachorous Andes. He meets Jean Arthur who is passing through and both are instantly attracted to each other, played out with sharp dialogue and good acting. However, I thought the film dragged in the middle section and lacked some of the trademark Howard Hawks flair and imagination despite some excellent camera work in the aviation sequences.

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Coming to terms with death

Zamy from London [Highly rated reviewer] , 07/04/2006

This is one of the themes of this fascinating film. So it is kinda like a philosophy film dressed up as an action movie. In particular it looks at how a group of people deal with their mortality; in this case in the admittedly dangerous business of flying mail through the Andes in rickety 1930's planes. If you are looking for an action movie you may be disappointed since what you get is a lot of conversation on studio sets and action scenes done mainly with models and backdrops (the backdrop actually moves a fraction in one of the early scenes). This lack of sophistication was OK for audiences in 1939, not for today's audience in the digital age. For me this is still a marvellous film as Cary Grant (so very good here) pursues his dangerous work with stoical rigour always prepared for the worst to happen as it certainly will in these early days of flight. And he pulls the whole team along with him. Hawks was a great director and never better than here at getting wonderful performances. Special mention here for Jean Arthur, Thomas Mitchell, and Richard Barthelmass. A lot is down to the extremely sharp script from James Furthman, wonderful black and white cinematography, beautifully lit and great design from the art department. OK we always know it's a studio set but the artificial atmosphere just seems to heighten the focus on the intimate action on screen. A word about this dvd transfer - it is simply marvelous and looks like a movie made yesterday.

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Cary Grant is Cool, Sharp and Likeable

Kathleen from Bournemouth , 08/02/2007

The best bit of “Only Angels Have Wings” is probably the very last scene where Cary Grant, the boss of an air-freight company, says goodbye to Bonnie (played by Jean Arthur). As a flyer who survives the precarious job of transporting mail over the South American Andes he is reluctant to commit to a woman nor ask anyone to commit to him. However his life’s philosophy is challenged when Bonnie unexpectedly arrives on his doorstep as a stop-over boat passenger at the South American port on her way to an entertaining job in Panama. During her stay in Baranca she witnesses the highs and lows of the flyers’ work and surprisingly Grant’s character reveals the self-driven determination of a flying entrepreneur trying to maintain an air-freight company in a highly hostile environment, regardless of the cost. Rita Hayworth makes an appearance as Grant’s ex-girlfriend now married to a disgraced flyer who, due to his past, Grant gives the really difficult jobs to as the expendable one. This old 1939 film leaves one with the feel good factor so reminiscent of films of that era. Grant’s acting is as cool, sharp and likeable as ever seen in his more famous films, particularly at the end.

Kathleen Mortimer

210 Words.

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Quite good movie

A customer from West Midlands , 18/03/2005

Its not action movie but good acting made it quite interesting.Cary Grant very handsome and Rita Hayworth before plastic surgery but pretty.Good acting.

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Disapponting

Darren Oliver from London , 04/10/2005

I'd heard a lot of positive things about Only Angels Have Wings and have to say I was midly disappointed with the film.

Cary Grant plays a civil aviator whose job is to deliver the mail through the treachorous Andes. He meets Jean Arthur who is passing through and both are instantly attracted to each other, played out with sharp dialogue and good acting. However, I thought the film dragged in the middle section and lacked some of the trademark Howard Hawks flair and imagination despite some excellent camera work in the aviation sequences.

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The inspiration

A customer from Kent, England , 02/02/2007

This film was the inspiration for the eighties series Tales of the Gold Monkey.

It's a cracking movie!

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