Only Angels Have Wings (1939)

Hands down, Only Angels Have Wings is one of the most buoyantly entertaining movies in the American cinema. It is also a razor-sharp example of the action-oriented films of Howard Hawks, the wide-ranging auteur who would go on to make To Have and Have Not and Red River. This one is set in Barranca, a South American port city swathed in perpetual night fog, where a band of mail pilots struggle daily to get their planes through a treacherous mountain pass. They don't care about the mail so much as they live by the rules of adventure, professionalism, and friendly rivalry. Cary Grant is the leader of this daredevil group, a man who won't be pinned down to anything except his own code of stoicism. ("I don't believe in laying in a supply of anything," he says, which may be why he's always asking people for matches to light his cigarettes.) His cool style is tested by the arrival of a wisecracking blonde (Jean Arthur) and an ex-mistress (Rita Hayworth); Rita's now married to a pilot (Richard Barthelmess), disgraced by a single act of cowardice. Hawks always got great mileage from throwing a bunch of colorful characters together in an enclosed space, where death could strike in a moment. The great secret about Hawks is that although his feel for action was crackling, he was really more interested in the way people exchanged sidelong glances or lit each other's cigarettes--there's a lot of both in Only Angels Have Wings. --Robert Horton Amazon.com essential video

VERY ENTERTAINING & LIVELY GRANT FILM!

One of the best Grant films I've seen so far. This film is included on a Cary Grant box set I purchased along with four other top Grant films. This one is my second favorite of the lot. I still have one more to go. The entire cast is very good in this lively romance adventure. It's a little melodramatic in spots, but weren't they all back then? The DVD transfer is very good on the box set and there are a few extras. September 23, 2008

Never got off the ground

I loved The Talk of the Town with Cary Grant and Jean Arthur and was hoping this would be as good. Where that had a solid script that supported all the slapdash wonderfully silly humor of that era....this had a supposed adventure story set in some would-be exotic locale. Nothing was believable.

We see the set-up---supposedly heartless heroic type (Grant) who won't commit to any love but that of flying meets spunky, independent entertainer (Arthur). She fancies herself something of an adventurer, too, but meets her match with the cool, glossy Grant who has shut his heart down long ago. Somehow Grant is too polished and gorgeous to be convincing in the role. He looks perfect even when shot in the shoulder. It has been said that Jean Arthur felt threatened by the younger Rita Hayworth, and she should have been. She looks positively dowdy throughout...maybe it's the hairdo? Even when she sheds the tailored suit for a chenille robe, she still looks like Bonnie Lee from Brooklyn. It's hard to believe that, after all his years of avoiding women that he would succomb to her. All of the genuine chemistry that existed between the two of them in Talk of the Town just wasn't present here at all.. too bad.

People who love flying might get a lot more out of the film than I did. September 29, 2007

Only Angels Have Wings

Elements of drama and romance co-mingle with the serious business of men being men in this involving, exciting adventure story. Grant stretches his screen persona effortlessly as a tough guy with little humor and no polish, and Arthur makes a spunky love interest. Hayworth looks particularly stunning in a pivotal early role, and Thomas Mitchell also shines as Kid Dabb, a loyal older pilot who's losing his bearings. This heroic outing soars. June 21, 2007

Classic Cary

Cary Grant and Jean Arthur at their best. Great supporting cast sometimes overwhelm the "stars" but these two manage to steal the show. It don't get no better than this!! Look for very young Rita Hayworth in minor role. May 28, 2007

Great atmosphere, dialogue -- If you liked To Have and Have Not...

You may not know this nifty action adventure drama by Howard Hawks, but odds are good it will seem familiar to you. That's because many of its characters and story elements (and some of its dialogue!) got recycled in later pictures of his like To Have and Have Not and Rio Bravo. A witty drama about Hemingway-esque men flying mail in South America and their on-the-edge lifestyle, it features many excellent actors in rather uncharacteristic roles: Cary Grant as swaggering pilot, Sig Ruman (Schultz from Stalag 17) as a bartender, Rita Hayworth as Cary's old flame and Thomas Mitchell as his mentor.

I take away a star because, try as he might, Grant is just too miscast to play this part well. He doesn't exude the Hemingway-style hero like Bogart did and winds up overplaying it. February 7, 2007

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