Rating summary

Movie		4.0
Video		4.0
Audio		4.0
Extras		2.5
Overall		4.0

Only Angels Have Wings Blu-ray Movie Review

Only Hawks have (has?) airmail.

Reviewed by Jeffrey Kauffman November 26, 2014

Only Angels Have Wings has (apocryphally) been credited with the line that impersonators used for decades to “do” Cary Grant, namely “Judy, Judy, Judy,” though in fact Grant, as ace airman Geoff Carter, actually only calls after Rita Hayworth’s character twice, and not in the manic singsong voice that tended to typify impersonations forever afterward. There’s another moment in Only Angels Have Wings which might be ripe for parody, but it would have to include dressing up. Grant’s entrance in the film has the suave actor clad in an absolutely ridiculous all white “Gaucho” outfit, replete with oversized sombrero. It’s obviously meant to evoke a South American flavor (the film is set in the fictional South American port of Barranca, which is somehow magically right next to an insanely high pass in the Andes), but it’s one of the more bizarre costumes Grant wore in his long film career, perhaps second only to his complete drag get up in I Was a Male War Bride or the fluffy white housecoat he dons in his previous film with director Howard Hawks, Bringing Up Baby. Those films were played for laughs, however, while Only Angels Have Wings is resolutely dramatic, albeit with a typically Howard Hawksian witty subtext running through it and a couple of moments of physical shtick just for good measure. Often listed at or at least near the top of Hawks’ legendary oeuvre, the film is an interesting combination of daring do and incipient romance, with nascent hints of the overlapping dialogue style that Hawks would go on to exploit in such films as His Girl Friday.

Air mail is such a commonplace occurrence nowadays that few really stop to ever think about the rigors of current delivery systems. In 1939, air mail was probably a bit more exotic than it seems now, but Only Angels Have Wings ups that exoticism due to its locale and the fact that the gaggle of fearless aviators in the film have to penetrate the iffy weather of the Andes and that insanely high pass in order to get the mail to its destination. This particular “post office” is run from a kind of saloon run by the affable Dutchy Van Ruyter (Sig Ruman). Two of the pilots, Les Peters (Allyn Joslyn) and Joe Souther (Noah Beery, Jr.) are tooling about the less than luxurious streets of Barranca when they spy pretty nightclub performer Bonnie Lee (Jean Arthur) stepping off a cruise ship which has docked in Barranca for a night. As in many of Hawks' films, females are a rare commodity, and Les and Joe immediately go on the prowl after her. Bonnie initially thinks she’s being stalked by some nefarious foreigners, but once she figures out the guys are Americans, the three become quick friends and Bonnie is escorted into Dutchy’s establishment for a drink.

It’s here, while she’s being wined and dined by Joe and Les, that Geoff makes his sombrero laden entrance. The weather has cleared momentarily, making a dangerous flight only slightly less dangerous, but the fog and rain are unpredictable, meaning someone needs to take off immediately. Les and Joe are each trying to outmaneuver the other for Bonnie’s attentions, but one of them comes up with the short end of the stick, ultimately leaving on a death defying mission. It’s not too much of a spoiler to state that one character isn’t quite able to completely defy the grim reaper, leading to Bonnie’s shocked realization of just how desperate the stakes are in this line of work, and how oddly sanguine Geoff is when the inevitable occurs.

Geoff’s somewhat nonplussed reaction to events leaves Bonnie feeling conflicted. She’s obviously attracted to Geoff, despite his somewhat brusque demeanor, but she can’t quite fathom why he does what he does and why he’s something of a martinet toward the fliers under his charge. Things grow even more convoluted when a couple shows up in Barranca, each with a tie to another character’s past. Bat McPherson (Richard Barthelmess) is a once famous flyer who is hated by Geoff’s right hand man, Kid Dabb (Thomas Mitchell), since Kid feels Bat was responsible for the death of Kid’s little brother in a horrifying air disaster years previously. Even more problematic is the fact that Judy (Rita Hayworth), Bat’s wife, is Geoff’s ex.

There’s no denying that Hawks, who provided many of the film’s vignettes from his own aviation and wartime experience, constructs the film out of fairly rote melodramatic elements, and yet against considerable odds, Only Angels Have Wings works like a finely tuned airplane engine most of the time. Grant, playing a bit against type as a sort of gruff, demanding presence, is nonetheless able to make Geoff appealing, if problematic. There’s been quite a bit written about apparent conflicts between Arthur and Hawks on set, and while her natural ebullience does shine through in the film (as well as her penchant for physical comedy in a couple of moments), she’s a bit awkward detailing Bonnie’s balancing act of attraction and repulsion vis a vis Geoff. Interestingly, there’s a brief mention in a letter in the Frances Farmer Archive I manage that seems to hint that Hawks may have inquired about Farmer’s availability for this role. Hawks, who called Farmer “the greatest actress I ever worked with,” got along splendidly with Farmer, an actress not known for suffering fools—or directors—gladly. (There’s a perhaps apocryphal story that Farmer chased Hawks’ replacement on Come and Get It, the venerable William Wyler, around the set with a fly swatter one day.) Farmer had co-starred with Grant in Toast of New York, evidently not being overly impressed with Grant's persona, so there could have been conflict in any case.

One of the film’s real calling cards is its Golden Age roster of superb supporting players, including the then controversial decision to cast silent film star Richard Barthelmess in one of the bigger roles of Barthelmess’ late career. Barthelmess, while taciturn due to his character’s past, delivers a very nicely contained and focused performance. Rita Hayworth, evidently shoved into the film against Hawks’ wishes by Harry Cohn, also made (and makes) a lasting impression as Judy, erstwhile love interest of Geoff’s who has moved on to surer pastures. Thomas Mitchell is great as Geoff’s long suffering assistant, and he gets a nicely done climactic scene toward the end of the film. Sig Ruman is his typical fun self as Dutchy, though he’s wearing a rather odd appliance on his nose that’s evidently supposed to make him look—Dutch?

What’s interesting from a structural standpoint is how Hawks tends to ping pong back and forth between the almost theatrical presentation of the narrative, taking place almost entirely within the confines of Dutchy’s ramshackle emporium, and the flying sequences, which are accomplished both with miniatures as well as some somewhat anachronistic second unit photography that was evidently accomplished in the American southwest (not exactly a suitable stand in for the Andes). The film also has some local flavor courtesy of Maciste, a South American troubadour who contributes a couple of songs along the way. It’s perhaps a little ironic that the onetime Rita Cansino, part of an ethnic dancing troupe, doesn’t get to strut her stuff to Maciste’s tunes, but she had morphed into Rita Hayworth by that time and had largely put her dancing shoes away, at least for a little while.

Only Angels Have Wings Blu-ray Movie, Video Quality 

Only Angels Have Wings is presented on Blu-ray courtesy of the TCM Vault Collection with an AVC encoded 1080p transfer in 1.37:1. Culled from the Columbia catalog, Only Angels Have Wings doesn't quite have the luster of the best looking vintage Columbia releases, but it's a solid effort that boasts a generally damage free, clear and stable image with impressively deep blacks. Those blacks are all over this presentation, for Hawks and cinematographer Joseph Walker cast the film in dark, shadowy ambiences where faces are sometimes obscured. Furthering challenges with fine detail is the fact that large swaths of the film take place in fog or mist shrouded environments, something that tends to make an already fairly heavy grainfield give an almost thatched appearance to some scenes. The combination of grain and fog can tend to swallow up detail in some of the most dimly lit sequences. However, the heaviness of the grain argues against any overly aggressive digital scrubbing, and likewise there are no signs of overly aggressive digital sharpening either. Contrast is generally consistent, though there are a couple of scenes that appear slightly blown out, perhaps more noticeable than usual due to the overall darkness of the film.

Only Angels Have Wings Blu-ray Movie, Audio Quality 

Only Angels Have Wings features a lossless DTS-HD Master Audio 2.0 mono mix that supports the film's rapid fire (and at times overlapping) dialogue quite well. Some of the sound effects, like the whirr of the plane engines, can sound a little boxy and tinny from time to time. Dimitri Tiomkin's appealing score (as well as Maciste's interpolated songs) sound fine. Fidelity is very good and aside from some age related artifacts like hiss, there's no damage of any import to worry about.

Only Angels Have Wings Blu-ray Movie, Special Features and Extras 

• Introduction by Robert Osborne (1080p; 2:16) leads directly into the film when selected. The film itself can be played without the introduction by selecting Play Movie.


• Publicity Stills (1080p; 4:10)


• Scene Stills (1080p; 9:00)


• Behind the Scenes Photos (1080p; 1:00)


• Movie Posters (1080p; 1:10)


• Lobby Cards (1080p; 1:20)


• Ben Burtt and Craig Barron Discuss Special Effects (1080p; 16:03) actually finds the pair discussing more than the film's effects, detailing the interesting bifurcation between a basically one set narrative and the interstitial flying sequences.


• Feature Article is culled from the TCM Archives and has a lot of interesting information about the production and some of Hawks' battles with Arthur during the shoot.

Only Angels Have Wings Blu-ray Movie, Overall Score and Recommendation 

Only Angels Have Wings manages to slip the surly bonds of trite melodrama to offer up a stormy sky's worth of interesting characters in an isolated and exotic locale, trying to deliver the mail, of all the mundane activities imaginable. Somehow Howard Hawks manages to get it to all work, at least most of the time, with the director's vaunted depictions of male camaraderie finding one of its finest outlets in this film. With a roster of fantastic supporting players, not even Grant's bizarre costume choices or Arthur's occasional faltering can materially affect the overall smooth flight of this often fascinating entry in Hawks' iconic filmography. Technical merits are generally very strong, and Only Angels Have Wings comes Recommended.