Hell's Angels (1930)
- Directed by
- Edmund Goulding, James Whale, Howard Hughes
- Genre
- drama film, war film, musical film
- Country
- United States
- Runtime
- 2h 07m
- Rated
- NR
- Rating
- 6.5 of 10 from 108 voters
- Elsewhere
- IMDb
The catalogue in 3D
The film shelves have a room of their own that you can walk around in. The cat behind the counter is the AI Catbot, and they pick real films from the same catalogue when you tell them what you feel like watching. Nothing is for sale, here or in there. Go in from here and this film is already out on the counter, with more like it waiting on the shelf next to it.
How it feels
The film follows two brothers who are pilots in the British Royal Flying Corps during World War I. One is a shy intellectual and the other is a carefree partygoer.
dramaticwarmintensespectacularsentimentalsoaringbittersweet
What happens
Hell's Angels is a 1930 American pre-Code independent epic war film directed and produced by Howard Hughes, with dialogue directed by James Whale. Written by Harry Behn and Howard Estabrook and starring Ben Lyon, James Hall and Jean Harlow, it was released through United Artists. It follows two dissimilar brothers, both members of the British Royal Flying Corps during the First World War. The film was originally shot as a silent film. The Jazz Singer, which ushered in the sound era, premiered several weeks before the start of principal photography for Hell's Angels and left the public clamoring for talking pictures. A year and a half later, Hughes decided to convert his film to sound. The original female lead, Norwegian-American Greta Nissen, had to be replaced due to her accent. Jean Harlow became a major star as her successor. The production took three years (1927–1930) and Hughes spared no expense, so that despite being one of the highest-grossing films of the early sound era, it did not recoup its exorbitant $2.8 million cost. Hughes and pilot Harry Perry designed many of the stunts for the dogfighting scenes. When Paul Mantz, the principal stunt pilot, informed Hughes that a stunt in the final scene was too dangerous, Hughes piloted the aircraft himself, but crashed; he suffered a skull fracture and had to undergo facial surgery as well. Three stunt pilots and a mechanic died in accidents during filming. Most of the footage is black-and-white, but there are several one-color-tinted scenes for dramatic effect, such as a nighttime gun duel; part-screen full-color for the flames consuming a German Zeppelin; and full-screen full-color for one sequence, which is the only color footage of Harlow's career. In spite of the difficulties, it was and is today considered a landmark of early sound and color use, and of the epic action film genre. (from Wikipedia, CC BY-SA)
More like this
Body and Soul (1931)
The Eagle and the Hawk (1933)
Chances (1931)
Wings (1927)
The Dawn Patrol (1930)
Flight (1929)
Journey's End (1930)
A Soldier's Plaything (1930)- More like this film, on a shelf you can walk up to.It's the lit case on the top shelf.