Only Angels Have Wings

Howard Hawks on familiar territory with this aeroplane adventure/drama.

Geoff Carter is the head of a small run down air freight company in Barranca, one of his best pilots (and friend) is killed, but this is merely only one of the problems he has to deal with as ex flames, potential new sweethearts, and dissension in the camp, all fuse together to test him to the limit.

Howard Hawks was the perfect man for this film because of his aviation background, the result is a very well crafted character study set in a very small locale. Looking at it from the outside you would think that the film was lining up to be a soft soap romantic fable, but here the emotion is channelled into a sort of character bravado that is flawed - yet something t...

Holy Smokes.

And they do smoke a lot in this film.

Geoff as the prototypical "man's man" who runs a struggling air freight company near a difficult to pass mountain. I don't want to give too much away, but between a handful of airplane crashes and a new beau and ex lover showing up there is a lot going on.

I can't remember the last time I teared up from pure joy from a film. But this movie has about a perfect an ending I've ever seen.

Jean Arthur gets off to a flying start here as the no-nonsense "Bonnie" who arrives in a remote village in South America. It's a small but lively location where "Carter" (Cary Grant) runs an air-freight business from a runway with more holes and puddles than actual ground upon which to land! The business is being backed by the engaging bar owner "Dutchy" (Sig Ruman) and they are approaching the critical point of their trial period with the mail service - a contract that they need to keep if they are to stay in the air. Problems, like buses, do tend to come along at once and quite quickly "Carter" finds himself employing a new pilot "Bat" (Richard Bathelmess) who comes with a great deal of baggage, a baggage that irks his best pal "Kid" (Tho...