| ~Wings~ 1927 |
| ~Cast~ Clara Bow ... Mary Preston Charles 'Buddy' Rogers ... Jack Powell Richard Arlen ... David Armstrong Jobyna Ralston ... Sylvia Lewis El Brendel ... Herman Schwimpf Richard Tucker ... Air Commander Gary Cooper ... Cadet White Gunboat Smith ... The Sergeant Henry B. Walthall ... David's Father Roscoe Karns ... Lieutenant Cameron Julia Swayne Gordon ... David's Mother Arlette Marchal ... Celeste Charles Barton ... Soldier Flirting with Mary (uncredited) Thomas Carrigan ... Undetermined Role (uncredited) Thomas Carr ... Aviator (uncredited) Margery Chapin ... Peasant Woman (uncredited) Andy Clark ... Undetermined Role (uncredited) Nigel De Brulier ... Peasant (uncredited) Hal George ... Undetermined Role (uncredited) Dick Grace ... Aviator (uncredited) William Hickey ... Charlton Blanchard (uncredited) Hedda Hopper ... Mrs. Powell (uncredited) George Irving ... Mr. Powell (uncredited) Robert Livingston ... Recruit in Examination Office (uncredited) James Pierce ... Army MP (uncredited) Rod Rogers ... Aviator (uncredited) Frank Tomick ... Undetermined Role (uncredited) Carl von Haartman ... German Officer (uncredited) Gloria Wellman ... Peasant Child (uncredited) William A. Wellman ... Doughboy (uncredited) Zalla Zarana ... Undetermined Role (uncredited) |
| Directed by: William A. Wellman Harry d'Abbadie d'Arrast (uncredited) Written by: John Monk Saunders - story Hope Loring - screenplay Louis D. Lighton - screenplay Julian Johnson - titles Byron Morgan - story ideas (uncredited) |
In 1917, in a small American town, Jack Powell tinkers on a car, while daydreaming about airplanes.
When the car is roadworthy, Jack names it "Shooting Star" and Mary Preston, the girl next door
who helped him, paints a star on the side of the vehicle. Oblivious to the infatuated Mary’s feelings
for him, Jack invites a more sophisticated city girl, Sylvia Lewis, to accompany him on the first
drive. Sylvia rides with Jack, but she is in love with David Armstrong, the son of the town’s
wealthiest family. Later, when the United States enters World War I, Jack and David enlist and
apply to aviation school. Before they leave, Sylvia signs a picture of herself and puts it in a locket for
David, but when Jack sees it and thinks it is meant for him, she does not have the heart to
contradict him. David, who returns Sylvia’s affection, is hurt, but she takes him aside and explains
that, although Jack has her picture, David has her heart. Jack almost forgets to say goodbye to
Mary, but then runs back to shake her hand and give her permission to use the car. While saying his
farewells to his mother and wheelchair-bound father, David finds a favorite old toy, a tiny bear,
which he decides to take with him for good luck. During basic training, an antagonism develops
between Jack and David, which is finally resolved in boxing class when they are paired off in a
heated practice bout of boxing and become fast friends. After Jack and David complete ground
school, they are bunked with Cadet White, an affable and experienced young flier. Upon seeing
David’s bear, White comments that many fliers have mascots, although he does not, as he believes,
“when your time comes, you’re going to get it.” He then leaves for flight practice during which he
dies in a plane crash. Later, when Jack and David are sent to France, Jack paints a star-shaped logo
on his plane like the one on his car. During their first patrol, the fliers encounter Capt. Kellermann,
a famous German ace and leader of the “Flying Circus.” At 10,000 feet in the air, a dogfight ensues,
during which both German and Allied planes are lost. David’s machine gun jams as he is singled out
for an attack, but his opponent chivalrously spares his life. Jack becomes separated from his
formation and is attacked by two German Fokkers, forcing him to crash-land and abandon his
plane. He survives, and takes refuge with entrenched British ground soldiers. Meanwhile, Mary,
who has learned to drive the Shooting Star and has joined the Women’s Motor Corps of America, is
sent overseas to transport medical supplies. She is driving toward flu-stricken Mervale, where
billeted regiments crowd the little village, when a Gotha, the mightiest of German bomber planes,
attacks. Jack, David and their colleagues come to the rescue during an aerial battle, and shoot down
the Gotha and its two escort planes, thereby saving the village. As they fly away, someone points out
to Mary the shooting star on the side of one of the planes and Mary realizes that Jack had been
there. For their accomplishments, the pilots are decorated as heroes and given a furlough in Paris.
To escape the horrors of war, Jack carouses with a Folies Bergère performer. Mary, who is also in
Paris, finds Jack at the Folies too drunk to comprehend when all leave is cancelled in preparation
for the Allies' “big push” against the Germans. Mary tries to tell him about the change in his orders,
but in his inebriated state, Jack sees only her uniform and sends her away. While the rejected Mary
is in the ladies’ room crying, a sympathetic attendant advises her to “catch the fly" with "sugar, not
vinegar,” then takes her backstage. Later, provocatively attired in a show girl’s costume, Mary
seduces Jack away from his female companion and takes him to his hotel room, where he falls
asleep on the bed before she can get him sober. While she is changing back into her uniform,
military police rounding up the men walk in and conclude that she has been moonlighting as a
prostitute. Jack is returned to his unit with little memory of his night of revelry, and Mary is
arrested and sent home in disgrace. Back at the base, while waiting for orders, David has a
premonition that he will not return home. Upon reading in the newspaper that Mary has resigned
from the corps, Jack expresses surprise that Mary would quit. When fellow pilot Lt. Walter
Cameron suggests that she was fired for sexual misconduct, Jack takes offense and David watches
as Jack hotly defends her reputation. Having received numerous love letters from Sylvia, David
hopes that Jack’s affection has turned to Mary until Jack shows him Sylvia’s locket. Believing that
Sylvia shares his feelings, Jack says that her picture is his good luck charm. When the picture falls
from the locket, David reads the inscription on the back dedicated to him, which Jack has never
seen. Unable to put it back without Jack seeing it, David is ready to fight his friend for the photo,
rather than let him be hurt by the truth, but they are interrupted by orders to board their planes.
They take off without resolving their quarrel and without their respective good luck charms, as
David’s bear has also fallen from his pocket. The pilots are sent to protect ground troops who are
under attack from German fliers. David hurls himself into danger to protect Jack from attack and
later crashes near the Mad River in German-occupied territory. After successfully evading the
Germans that night, near dawn Jack steals a Fokker from an airfield, hoping he can fly it back to his
base. Meanwhile, presuming that David is dead, Jack vows to avenge him. After daybreak, he and
his comrades fly out to assist the advancing Allied ground soldiers as the war is waged both in the
air and on the ground. When David flies to the scene, Jack spots his plane, but sees only the
German cross on the fusilage and does not recognize his friend. Although David tries to call out to
Jack and evade his single-minded assaults, Jack shoots down his plane, which crashes into a
church. Feeling victorious, Jack lands, but discovers to his great shame and grief that he has fatally
wounded David, who forgives him before dying. After the war, Jack is welcomed home as a hero
with parades and other festivities, but must carry out one more war-related task. Ashamed and
grieving, he returns David’s medal and little bear to the Armstrongs and receives forgiveness. Later,
Mary comes to sit with Jack near his car and they talk for hours. By evening, when they see a
shooting star in the sky, Jack realizes that he loves Mary.
Plot Synopsis from afi.com
When the car is roadworthy, Jack names it "Shooting Star" and Mary Preston, the girl next door
who helped him, paints a star on the side of the vehicle. Oblivious to the infatuated Mary’s feelings
for him, Jack invites a more sophisticated city girl, Sylvia Lewis, to accompany him on the first
drive. Sylvia rides with Jack, but she is in love with David Armstrong, the son of the town’s
wealthiest family. Later, when the United States enters World War I, Jack and David enlist and
apply to aviation school. Before they leave, Sylvia signs a picture of herself and puts it in a locket for
David, but when Jack sees it and thinks it is meant for him, she does not have the heart to
contradict him. David, who returns Sylvia’s affection, is hurt, but she takes him aside and explains
that, although Jack has her picture, David has her heart. Jack almost forgets to say goodbye to
Mary, but then runs back to shake her hand and give her permission to use the car. While saying his
farewells to his mother and wheelchair-bound father, David finds a favorite old toy, a tiny bear,
which he decides to take with him for good luck. During basic training, an antagonism develops
between Jack and David, which is finally resolved in boxing class when they are paired off in a
heated practice bout of boxing and become fast friends. After Jack and David complete ground
school, they are bunked with Cadet White, an affable and experienced young flier. Upon seeing
David’s bear, White comments that many fliers have mascots, although he does not, as he believes,
“when your time comes, you’re going to get it.” He then leaves for flight practice during which he
dies in a plane crash. Later, when Jack and David are sent to France, Jack paints a star-shaped logo
on his plane like the one on his car. During their first patrol, the fliers encounter Capt. Kellermann,
a famous German ace and leader of the “Flying Circus.” At 10,000 feet in the air, a dogfight ensues,
during which both German and Allied planes are lost. David’s machine gun jams as he is singled out
for an attack, but his opponent chivalrously spares his life. Jack becomes separated from his
formation and is attacked by two German Fokkers, forcing him to crash-land and abandon his
plane. He survives, and takes refuge with entrenched British ground soldiers. Meanwhile, Mary,
who has learned to drive the Shooting Star and has joined the Women’s Motor Corps of America, is
sent overseas to transport medical supplies. She is driving toward flu-stricken Mervale, where
billeted regiments crowd the little village, when a Gotha, the mightiest of German bomber planes,
attacks. Jack, David and their colleagues come to the rescue during an aerial battle, and shoot down
the Gotha and its two escort planes, thereby saving the village. As they fly away, someone points out
to Mary the shooting star on the side of one of the planes and Mary realizes that Jack had been
there. For their accomplishments, the pilots are decorated as heroes and given a furlough in Paris.
To escape the horrors of war, Jack carouses with a Folies Bergère performer. Mary, who is also in
Paris, finds Jack at the Folies too drunk to comprehend when all leave is cancelled in preparation
for the Allies' “big push” against the Germans. Mary tries to tell him about the change in his orders,
but in his inebriated state, Jack sees only her uniform and sends her away. While the rejected Mary
is in the ladies’ room crying, a sympathetic attendant advises her to “catch the fly" with "sugar, not
vinegar,” then takes her backstage. Later, provocatively attired in a show girl’s costume, Mary
seduces Jack away from his female companion and takes him to his hotel room, where he falls
asleep on the bed before she can get him sober. While she is changing back into her uniform,
military police rounding up the men walk in and conclude that she has been moonlighting as a
prostitute. Jack is returned to his unit with little memory of his night of revelry, and Mary is
arrested and sent home in disgrace. Back at the base, while waiting for orders, David has a
premonition that he will not return home. Upon reading in the newspaper that Mary has resigned
from the corps, Jack expresses surprise that Mary would quit. When fellow pilot Lt. Walter
Cameron suggests that she was fired for sexual misconduct, Jack takes offense and David watches
as Jack hotly defends her reputation. Having received numerous love letters from Sylvia, David
hopes that Jack’s affection has turned to Mary until Jack shows him Sylvia’s locket. Believing that
Sylvia shares his feelings, Jack says that her picture is his good luck charm. When the picture falls
from the locket, David reads the inscription on the back dedicated to him, which Jack has never
seen. Unable to put it back without Jack seeing it, David is ready to fight his friend for the photo,
rather than let him be hurt by the truth, but they are interrupted by orders to board their planes.
They take off without resolving their quarrel and without their respective good luck charms, as
David’s bear has also fallen from his pocket. The pilots are sent to protect ground troops who are
under attack from German fliers. David hurls himself into danger to protect Jack from attack and
later crashes near the Mad River in German-occupied territory. After successfully evading the
Germans that night, near dawn Jack steals a Fokker from an airfield, hoping he can fly it back to his
base. Meanwhile, presuming that David is dead, Jack vows to avenge him. After daybreak, he and
his comrades fly out to assist the advancing Allied ground soldiers as the war is waged both in the
air and on the ground. When David flies to the scene, Jack spots his plane, but sees only the
German cross on the fusilage and does not recognize his friend. Although David tries to call out to
Jack and evade his single-minded assaults, Jack shoots down his plane, which crashes into a
church. Feeling victorious, Jack lands, but discovers to his great shame and grief that he has fatally
wounded David, who forgives him before dying. After the war, Jack is welcomed home as a hero
with parades and other festivities, but must carry out one more war-related task. Ashamed and
grieving, he returns David’s medal and little bear to the Armstrongs and receives forgiveness. Later,
Mary comes to sit with Jack near his car and they talk for hours. By evening, when they see a
shooting star in the sky, Jack realizes that he loves Mary.
Plot Synopsis from afi.com
| ~Plot Synopsis~ |
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| ~The Crew, including Director William Wellman~ ~Photograph courtesy of Kevin Brownlow~ |
| ~Remaining Credits~ Production Company: Paramount Famous Lasky Corporation Distribution Company: Paramount Pictures Associate Producer: B.P. Schulberg Producer: Lucien Hubbard Original Musical Score: J.S. Zamecnik Cinematography by: Harry Perry Film Editing by: E. Lloyd Sheldon Editor-in-Chief: Lucien Hubbard Art Direction by: Hans Dreier Costume Design by: Travis Banton & Edith Head Production Manager: Frank M. Blount Production Supervisor: Lucien Hubbard Assistant Director: Charles Barton Assistant Director: James Ewens Assistant Director: Richard Johnston Assistant Director: Norman Z. McLeod Assistant Director: E.K. Merritt Property Master: Charles Barton Construction of Camp Stanley: Paul B. Malone Engineering Effects: Roy Pomeroy Special Effects Assistant: Barney Wolff Stunt Pilots: Frank Andrews, Pierce L. Butler, Frank Clarke, Hal George, Clarence Irvine, Denis Kavanagh, Earle E. Partridge, E. H. Robinson, Rod Rogers, Sterling R. Stribling, Bill Taylor, Frank Tomick & Hoyt Vandenberg Aerial Stunts: Dick Grace Additional Photographers: L.B. Abbott, E.F. Adams, Guy Bennett, Cliff Blackstone & Russell Harland, Albert Myers, Gene O'Donnell, Paul Perry, William Rand, Herman Schopp, E. Burton Steene, George Stevens, Sergeant Ward & Al Williams Camera Operator: Bert Baldridge, William H. Clothier, Frank Cotner, Faxon M. Dean, Art Lane, Ernest Laszlo, Harry Mason, Herbert Morris, Ray Olsen, Charles W. Riley, Harry Schapp & L. Guy Wilky Still Photographers: Otto Dyar & Eugene Richee Assistant Camera: Cliff Shirpser Aerial Camera Operator: Al Williams Cutters: Carl Pierson & Mildred Richter Presenters: Jesse L. Lasky & Adolph Zukor Commander of Military Pilots: F.M. Andrews Technical Consultant: Hap Arnold Supervisor of Flying Sequences: S.C. Campbell Technical Director of Flight Sequences: Sterling Campbell Communications Supervisor: Walter Ellis Supervisor of Flying Sequences: James A. Healy & Carl von Haartman Supervisor of Ground Troop Maneuvers: A.M. Jones Supervisor of Trench System Reproduction: E.P. Ketchum Business Managers: Arthur Kocks, Norman Kohn & Rodger Manning Commander of Military Pilots: F.P. Lahm Ordnance Supervisor: Robert Mortimer Double for Buddy Rogers (Parisian hotel scene): Edward Norris Supervisor for flying sequences: Ted Parson Airplane Preparation: Harry Reynolds & Bill Taylor Length: 13 Reels Runtime: 141 Minutes Released: January 1927 |
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afi.com - general
imdb.com - general information (data base form)
allmovie.com - plot synopsis
tcm.com - general information also including plot synopsis
afi.com - general
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