IMDb > Only Angels Have Wings (1939)
Only Angels Have Wings
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Only Angels Have Wings (1939) More at IMDbPro »

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Only Angels Have Wings (1939) -- MyMovieScripts.com - Trailer (Flash)

Overview

User Rating:
7.6/10   3,762 votes
MOVIEmeter: ?
Down 12% in popularity this week. See why on IMDbPro.
Director:
Howard Hawks
Writer:
Jules Furthman (screenplay)
more
Contact:
View company contact information for Only Angels Have Wings on IMDbPro.
Release Date:
15 May 1939 (USA) more
Tagline:
Powerful as a tropical storm! more
Plot:
While waiting for her boat, Bonnie Lee stops at a small airport in South America. The pilots there deliver... more | add synopsis
Awards:
Nominated for 2 Oscars. more
NewsDesk:
(3 articles)
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User Comments:
And You Thought FedEx Delivery Men Had It Rough more (48 total)

Cast

  (Cast overview, first billed only)

Cary Grant ... Geoff Carter

Jean Arthur ... Bonnie Lee
Richard Barthelmess ... Bat Mac Pherson

Rita Hayworth ... Judy MacPherson
Thomas Mitchell ... Kid Dabb
Allyn Joslyn ... Les Peters
Sig Ruman ... Dutchy (as Sig Rumann)
Victor Kilian ... Sparks (radioman)
John Carroll ... Gent Shelton
Don 'Red' Barry ... Tex (as Donald Barry)
Noah Beery Jr. ... Joe Souther
Manuel Álvarez Maciste ... The Singer (as Maciste)
Milisa Sierra ... Lily - Joe's girl (as Milissa Sierra)
Lucio Villegas ... Doctor

Pat Flaherty ... Mike
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Additional Details

Also Known As:
Howard Hawks' - Only Angels Have Wings (UK) (complete title) (USA) (complete title)
Howard Hawks' Only Angels Have Wings (USA) (complete title)
Plane No. 4 (USA) (working title)
more
Runtime:
121 min
Country:
USA
Language:
English | Spanish
Aspect Ratio:
1.37 : 1 more
Sound Mix:
Mono (Western Electric Mirrophonic Recording)
Certification:
UK:A (original rating) | UK:U | Finland:K-16 | France:U (re-release) | USA:Approved (PCA #4942) | Germany:6 | Australia:G

Fun Stuff

Trivia:
The film was inspired by a true story of a real-life couple Howard Hawks met while scouting Mexican locations for Viva Villa! (1934) (which was eventually directed by Jack Conway). more
Goofs:
Factual errors: When McPherson takes off with the patient, the chimney smoke shows he's taking off with the wind instead of against the wind. Taking off against the wind would increase his relative speed and help him take off. more
Quotes:
Geoff Carter: Got a match?
Bonnie Lee: Say, don't you ever have any?
Geoff Carter: No - don't believe in laying in a supply of anything.
[she hands him a match]
Geoff Carter: Thanks.
Bonnie Lee: Matches, marbles, money or women, huh?
Geoff Carter: That's right.
Bonnie Lee: No looking ahead; no tomorrows; just today.
Geoff Carter: That's right.
more
Movie Connections:
Featured in Rita Hayworth: The Columbia Lady (2000) (V) more
Soundtrack:
The Arkansas Traveler more

FAQ

This FAQ is empty. Add the first question.
7 out of 10 people found the following comment useful.
And You Thought FedEx Delivery Men Had It Rough, 7 February 2006
8/10
Author: brocksilvey from United States

A very strange movie in its own way, "Only Angels Have Wings" is about a group of mail carriers living, working and carousing somewhere in South America. Supposedly it's very dangerous to fly mail back and forth from this particular frontier town, and the life expectancy of a flier isn't long. Therefore, when sexy Jean Arthur shows up on a stop-over and gets a hankering for boss Cary Grant, the sexual tension rests in whether or not Grant will be alive long enough to make forming a romantic attachment worthwhile.

With a second world war looming on the horizon, one can see how this story was both relevant and irrelevant at the same time: relevant as a parallel for the many American men who would soon be in the position of not knowing whether or not they would be alive from day to day; but sort of irrelvant too, since we're talking about delivering mail here, not going to war!! I can't imagine a movie made today about the dangers of being a FedEx delivery man (unless you count "Cast Away").

Anyway, Cary Grant is horribly miscast as the crusty man in charge, who puts up a callous front and tries to convince everyone that he doesn't care when one of his men dies. I can only take Grant seriously when he's in a tuxedo and being dapper; here they outfit him in ridiculous parachute pants pulled up to his nipples---I kept expecting him to drop to the floor and start break dancing.

As for the female lead, Jean Arthur could do no wrong, as far as I'm concerned. Rita Hayworth shows up in an early role as another love interest for Grant, and one-time silent film star Richard Barthelmess struts in playing Grant's mail carrier arch rival (!), looking for all the world like he's still acting in silent films.

Director Howard Hawks creates an authentically foggy and sweaty South American atmosphere, and for all the surface silliness of the plot, he fashions a pretty compelling movie about the instinct to challenge death that dominates these characters' lives. I don't hear this movie mentioned along with the other classics released in the golden year of 1939, but it more than holds its own against the more popular films of that year.

Grade: A-

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Recent Posts (updated daily)User
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