Hell's Angels (1930)

One of my all time favorites.

A lot of fun.

It's entirely possible that sending the audience out feeling lousy was intentional

The first must-see film of the year.

result of ambition of Howard Hughes , it is more a cinematographic delight than a film in the precise definition. because it remains source of memories more than example of acting. the fall of zeppelin is one of its memorable moments. the chemistry between Ben Lyon and James Hall - the other.short, a film about war, so intense, so out of ordinaries rules, using heroism and the duty in a poetic manner who becomes touching against each comparison. sure, in strange manner, it is the film of Jean Harlow. not for her performance but for the biographic details. but, in same measure, it is one of films who remains amazing scene by scene because the evolution of technology has not chance to translate, in same subtle manner, the beauty of an air fight as a form of magic with roots in the memories about fairy tales.

Back in 1930, multi-millionaire, Howard Hughes (25 at the time) may have been the richest kid on the block, but, regardless of that, when it came to competently directing a Hollywood, adventure movie he was sure clueless, as was clearly evident here with Hell's Angels.Even for a film from that particular era of early movie-making, Hell's Angels was still noticeably mediocre and below-par in so many ways.With this film's budget being $4 million (making it the most expensive picture of its time), I have to tell you that I honestly couldn't see (by the final product) where all of this money was spent.From my point of view - The one and only reason for watching Hell's Angels was for its fairly impressive aerial dogfight sequences (which, unfortunately, happened so few and far between throughout the story).Without these action scenes, this film would've been a real forgettable, nothing picture. And, believe me, at 2 hours and 11 minutes, Hell's Angels was already running on empty, anyway, right from the very start.

. . . who proves to be a Brit! The power of life to imitate art cannot be overestimated, and Howard Hughes was a master of insinuating his morbid fantasies into the fabric of civilization forevermore. He famously designed the cantilevered brassiere for one of his movies, which persisted to Madonna and beyond. Here, in the oddly-titled HELL'S ANGELS, the Allied anti-heroes use suicide as a military tactic more than once. Not to be outdone, dozens of Germans march out the bomb bay of their dirigible without parachutes, viewing themselves as expendable ballast. Even fratricide is not off limits to the main character, and if Howard could have worked a little incest into the plot I'm sure he would have. Hughes lured three stunt pilots to their deaths in "real life" during the making of this flick. It got to the point where Howard had to put his mouth where his money was, and fly his death crates himself for the stunts toward the end of the shoot. As a death-obsessed crazy living a charmed life, he survived to film this movie not once, but twice, making it the most expensive flick until GONE WITH THE WIND came out. Adjusted for ego and inflation, it tops HEAVEN'S GATE and ISHTAR put together as a monument to the wrong-headed promulgation of dangerous ideas which obviously inspired PEARL HARBOR. Too bad we do not know what variation of "Rosebud" Hughes was muttering as he passed away in his museum of his own carefully bottled and preserved urine.

Brothers Roy and Monte Rutledge ditch their native Oxford for England's Royal Flying Corps at the onset of the First World War. One of the brothers (James Hall) is madly in love with a beguiling and attractive girl named Helen, played by Jean Harlow. Meanwhile, after the news that war has been declared on Germany, their German friend Karl (John Darrow) is ordered back to his country to enlist in the war and fight Britain; a sentence he resents on account that he considers the English his friends. Karl ultimately ends up on a Zeppelin (a German airship) with orders to bomb an area in London.As the story progresses Roy and Monte volunteer for a risky mission: to bomb a German munitions facility using a German plane. Before they commence to their duty however, Roy and Monte decide to enjoy what could possibly be their last night together and Roy goes off and looks for Helen, only to find her in the arms of another man. (Sometime in mid-1934, The Motion Picture Association of America (MPAA) drafted a document that set the standards on what was acceptable to be shown on motion picture screens. A lewd scene in the movie involving Helen and a drunken man is a fine example of pre-code behavior)."Hell's Angels" was really a movie ahead of its time. Howard Hughes, the director, wasn't afraid to do anything if he knew it would be beneficial to the picture, and cost certainly wasn't an issue because the results were sensational. The aerial sequences alone were convincing for its time, and even today, because it was achieved through the means of practical effects and obviously required an aviator's skill. The color sections of the film (the destruction of the Zeppelin in particular), were also well done, creating the right atmosphere for a highly elevated airship in danger of being compromised. And the sacrificing of the German airman falling down a darkened pit without even so much as a whimper was both frightening and unnerving; this scene is a sparkling example of how images can triumph over words. But what I found most wonderful of all in this film was an eight minute, two-strip Technicolor scene featuring Jean Harlow, the only color footage that exists of the actress.