`Wings' arrived just as the silent era in Hollywood was coming to a close, and managed to sum up the pros and cons of the big budget `epics' that had become popular during that time. The story leaves much to be desired; it relies too much on coincidence, has an overly-simplistic `war is bad' message, and plays up its melodramatic aspects once too often. Nevertheless, it remains entertaining due to William Wellman's talent as a director and the genuinely exciting action scenes that interrupt the preachy tone with a much-needed jolt of energy.
This was the first movie to win the Best Picture Oscar, which is a perfectly appropriate place for it in history when you consider the kind of film that the Academy usually rewards with its top prize: something made on a big budget that can draw in a large audience and has just barely enough quality that critics can manage a thumbs up. It also had '20's superstar Clara Bow leading the cast, which gave it more than sufficient star power. Some of the people who worked on the film went on to do better things: director William Wellman improved during the sound era with "The Public Enemy," the original version of "A Star is Born," and the American classic "The Ox-Bow Incident," and up-and-coming actor Gary Cooper, in one of his first credited performances, would go on to win a pair of Oscars himself.
So is `Wings' an integral part of silent cinema? No; in fact, it even pales when placed next to silent epics like Gance's `Napoleon,' Griffith's `Intolerance,' or anything by Eisenstein. But perhaps that's setting the bar a little high; the silent era had its share of the good, the bad, and the downright ugly, just like movies today, and `Wings' remains likeable enough, perhaps because it is made with all the spirit of something by Gance, Griffith, or Eisenstein, albeit not with the same skill. It isn't great drama by any stretch of the imagination, but it certainly isn't boring, either.
This was the first movie to win the Best Picture Oscar, which is a perfectly appropriate place for it in history when you consider the kind of film that the Academy usually rewards with its top prize: something made on a big budget that can draw in a large audience and has just barely enough quality that critics can manage a thumbs up. It also had '20's superstar Clara Bow leading the cast, which gave it more than sufficient star power. Some of the people who worked on the film went on to do better things: director William Wellman improved during the sound era with "The Public Enemy," the original version of "A Star is Born," and the American classic "The Ox-Bow Incident," and up-and-coming actor Gary Cooper, in one of his first credited performances, would go on to win a pair of Oscars himself.
So is `Wings' an integral part of silent cinema? No; in fact, it even pales when placed next to silent epics like Gance's `Napoleon,' Griffith's `Intolerance,' or anything by Eisenstein. But perhaps that's setting the bar a little high; the silent era had its share of the good, the bad, and the downright ugly, just like movies today, and `Wings' remains likeable enough, perhaps because it is made with all the spirit of something by Gance, Griffith, or Eisenstein, albeit not with the same skill. It isn't great drama by any stretch of the imagination, but it certainly isn't boring, either.