Only Angels Have Wings

In a small South American port called Barranca, an air freight outfit flies mail over a mountain pass. Geoff Carter, who runs it, has one rule: nobody attaches to anybody while the pilots are in the air, and nobody mourns when they die. There is a crash, the man is buried, dinner is served. To land a big contract the company has to keep the schedule, which means somebody may die on every flight. Bonnie Lee, stranded in town, is the person who breaks that arrangement. Howard Hawks directed. Cary Grant plays Geoff and Jean Arthur plays Bonnie, with Thomas Mitchell, Richard Barthelmess and Noah Beery Jr in the cast. One reason the film is still cited is Rita Hayworth. This was her first significant part and the start of the road to major stardom. Hawks wrote the original story himself in 1938 and rewrote the screenplay with Jules Furthman. Filming began on 19 December 1938 and ran thirty-one days over schedule. It was the second of five films Hawks made with Grant. It opened on 15 May 1939 and, with a million dollars, became the third highest-grossing film of that year. It was nominated for an Academy Award for special effects. Metacritic sits at 86. It entered the National Film Registry in 2017. The main argument on set was how to play Bonnie. Hawks wanted her sharp, tough and sure of herself; Jean Arthur was not comfortable in that register, clashed with him repeatedly and finally played it his way without wanting to. Years later, after seeing Lauren Bacall in To Have and Have Not, she apologised to Hawks, having understood by then what he had been after. Who it is for: viewers who like Hawks on professionals and unspoken solidarity between men. Who it is not for: anyone waiting for an emotional breakdown. These characters are built on not showing what they feel, and the film presents that as a virtue.