Wings combines two then-emerging, innovative technologies – the airplane and the moving picture – into one cinematic experience!
The immortal Clara Bow stars as Mary Preston, a sweet “girl next door” and Army ambulance driver desperately in love with a dashing young airman from her hometown. The airman, played by Charles “Buddy” Rogers, and his rival-turned-friend played by Richard Arlen, experience intense training and heart-stopping air battles during their time in the service.
Upon its release, critic Edwin Schallert of the Los Angeles Times called Wings “the first triumphant air picture,” and said the film is “unquestionably the dazzle and pyrotechnics of the screen fulfilled in a new sphere, and teems with twentieth century timeliness.” The film was added to the United States National Film Registry in 1997.
Fun Fact: Wings was the first film to ever win the Academy Award for Best Picture and remains the only fully silent film to do so.