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Matt Hough

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matt-hough has published a new article.

Only Angels Have Wings (Criterion) Blu-ray Review

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One of the terrific movie marvels of that fabled golden year of 1939, Howard Hawks’ Only Angels Have Wings spins its engrossing tale of flyers...
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Josh Steinberg

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Fantastic review Matt! I got the disc the other week and was blown away by it. Somehow I had never seen the movie before, and it was just a riveting, fantastic, wonderful piece of moviemaking. And then the transfer was equally mindblowing - it looked brand new. If you like this movie, it's a must have, and if you're a fan of Howard Hawks or Cary Grant or Jean Arthur, or just classic Hollywood in general, I'd absolutely recommend a blind buy.
 

Josh Steinberg

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I forgot to say, I love that they included the radio adaptation - it's a wonderful little gem. I liked it so much, I discovered that there are many other similar adaptations from that era available for streaming and download for free at archive.org
 

Matt Hough

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It was a day one for me. One of my favorite movies. I wish there was a commentary track.
That was the reason I didn't give it 5/5 for bonuses. This classic needed a great commentary track to identify those fantastic actors with their long, distinguished careers and Hawks' magnificent direction that made a 2 hour movie seem like 90 minutes.
 

Josh Steinberg

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That was the reason I didn't give it 5/5 for bonuses. This classic needed a great commentary track to identify those fantastic actors with their long, distinguished careers and Hawks' magnificent direction that made a 2 hour movie seem like 90 minutes.

The great Rudy Behlmer could've knocked this one out of the park if given the chance, I think.
 

warnerbro

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Does anyone know how this one compares to the first bluray of this title that was released by TCM? I have that one and wonder if it's as good.
 

benbess

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Finally picked this one up and watched it. PQ is impressive for a film from 1939. Saw it once before long ago, but it was good to revisit it in this release that makes it seem like opening night. This is one of Cary Grant's most important roles.

Matt Hough writes in his perceptive review:

"One of the terrific movie marvels of that fabled golden year of 1939, Howard Hawks’ Only Angels Have Wings spins its engrossing tale of flyers in the Andes with such surety and fervor that it only grows in stature with each passing year. A wonderful array of actors do some of the best ensemble work of their lives in telling these stories of courage and foolhardiness that only men dedicated to a task and to each other can spin taking us along with them on the scary and unforgettable adventures they all share....

Longtime Hawks regular Jules Furthman wrote the script from stories of Howard Hawks’ adventures in aviation during and after World War I. In typical Hawksian style, the men are bonded for life (interesting when halfway through the movie John Carroll’s Gent Shelton is fired for refusing to carry a load of nitroglycerin during bad weather, he still sticks around for the remainder of the movie: these are men he loves and wouldn’t be happy anywhere else), and the occasional woman is interesting for a dalliance but not for anything serious enough to take their focus away from their jobs and their male family. The Oscar-nominated special effects may seem like fairly obvious miniatures mixed with live action shooting (featuring some spectacular stunt flying and death-defying dives toward Earth), but Hawks only uses them to cap takeoffs and landings oftentimes relying on radio byplay between home base and the lookout Tex (played by the very young Don “Red” Barry) to keep his audience riveted to every moment of peril. Sentiment is held in check until a life lost really has an emotional impact (an early casualty is brushed aside to show us the men’s stoic attitudes toward mortality, but the death of a major character late in the movie carries an enormous amount of poignancy).

Cary Grant is less about being dapper and witty here instead playing the hard-bitten commanding leader of the company who doesn’t let his affection for his men cloud his judgment about their readiness to fly. Despite a dryer and darker series of acting choices, he’s as appealing as ever...."


Lots of poster art for this one....

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