Only Angels Have Wings is a 1939 drama film directed by Howard Hawks. The film stars Cary Grant, Jean Arthur, Thomas Mitchell, and Rita Hayworth.
Director: Howard Hawks
Production Company: Columbia Pictures
Distributor: Columbia Pictures
Cast: Cary Grant, Jean Arthur, Thomas Mitchell, Rita Hayworth, Richard Barthelmess, Allyn Joslyn, Sig Ruman
US Box Office: $2,695,000 ($112,100,000 adjusted for inflation)
Film Format: Black & White
Genre: Drama, Adventure
Release Date: May 12, 1939 (premiere); May 25, 1939
Plot Summary: While on a trip to the South American port city Barranca, showgirl Bonnie Lee (Jean Arthur) meets Geoff Carter (Cary Grant), the chief pilot and manager of Barranca Airways. Geoff is willing to risk the lives of his pilots (including himself) by doing dangerous jobs to gain a government contract, which troubles Bonnie. Things become more complicated when Geoff hires disgraced pilot Bat MacPherson (Richard Barthelmess) who is married to Geoff’s former girlfriend Judy (Rita Hayworth).
Production: Director Howard Hawks came up with the idea for Only Angels Have Wings while he was location scouting for his film Viva Villa! (1934) in Mexico. In Mexico Hawks met several pilots and was inspired by their stories of danger and bravery. In 1938 wrote a story inspired by the pilots that he titled “Plane from Barranca.” In 1938 Columbia Pictures began pre-production work on a film based on Hawk’s concept, the screenplay outline was written by Anne Wigton and titled Plane No. 4. Hawks rewrote the film’s scenario to be closer to his original story, and the screenplay was written by Jules Furthman, who developed it closely with Hawks. The film was retitled Only Angels Have Wings during production.
Hawks cast Cary Grant to play the role of pilot Geoff Carter. Hawks had previously worked with Cary Grant on his comedy film Bringing Up Baby (1938), and Only Angels Have Wings was the second of five films in which Hawks directed Grant. Jean Arthur was cast to play Bonnie Lee, the female lead character. Hawks chose Arthur for the part because he liked her performances for Frank Capra in Mr. Deeds Goes to Town (1936) and You Can’t Take It with You (1938). Hawks cast Richard Barthelmess to play disgraced pilot Bat MacPherson. Barthelmess was a former silent film star whose career had diminished in the sound era. Barthelmess had x-shaped scars under his eyes due to bad plastic surgery, he usually wore heavy makeup to cover them up, but Hawks thought that the scars made Barthelmess look more distinctive and wanted to use them for the character. Hawks had originally cast Dorothy Comingore in the role of Judy MacPherson, but this decision was vetoed by Columbia studio head Harry Cohn. Cohn insisted that Hawks instead cast young starlet Rita Hayworth in the part. Only Angels Have Wings was Hayworth’s first starring role in a big budget, A-list production.
Filming on Only Angels Have Wings began in late December of 1938 and wrapped up in late March of 1939. Many of the exterior shots for Only Angels Have Wings were shot at the Columbia Studio Ranch in Burbank California. Hawks tried to shoot the film in chronological order whenever possible for the benefit of the actors. Hawks and Jean Arthur didn’t get along on set, and Arthur would frequently argue with him. Hawks wanted Bonnie to be witty, tough, and seductive (what is now called a “Hawksian woman”), but Arthur didn’t feel comfortable with this and played the character as more of a standard good girl. Hawks was disappointed with Arthur’s performance and later used aspects of the personality he developed for Bonnie for Lauren Bacall’s character in To Have and Have Not (1944).
The flying scenes in Only Angels Have Wings used a combination of real aircraft and realistic models. Several scenes of the actual planes flying were shot at the Utah portion of the Rocky Mountains (standing in for the Andes Mountains in South America). Hawks used a Ford Trimotor, Hamilton H-47 Metalplane, and Travel Air 6000 for these scenes. The Metalplane was the plane that Joe Souther (Noah Beery Jr.) crashes at the start of the film, and the real plane was primarily just used for ground shots. The Travel Air was used for the rescue scene, and the Trimotor was used for Bat MacPherson’s landing near the end of the film.
Fun Facts and Trivia: It is a common misconception that Cary Grant says the line, “Judy, Judy, Judy” in Only Angels Have Wings. This line actually comes from comedian Larry Storch. While impersonating Cary Grant in one of his comedy shows, Storch noticed Judy Garland in the audience and said, “Judy, Judy, Judy” in his Cary Grant voice. The line presumably became specifically associated with Only Angels Have Wings because Rita Hayworth’s character was named Judy. Howard Hawks later reused Jean Arthur’s line, “I’m hard to get, Geoff, all you have to do is ask me” (albeit with a different character name) in his film To Have and Have Not (1944), where it was spoken by Lauren Bacall to Humphrey Bogart. Hawks was disappointed by Arthur’s performance as Bonnie so he reused aspects of Bonnie when developing Bacall’s character in To Have and Have Not.
Barranca is a fictional city, but it may be based on the city of Barranquilla in Colombia. Aside from the similar names, both are bustling port towns located near a mountain range (the Andes Mountains in Barranquilla’s case). Allyn Joslyn (Les Peters) played the character Mortimer Brewster in the original 1941 Broadway production of Arsenic and Old Lace. Cary Grant played that character in the play’s 1944 film adaptation. Actor Robert Sterling had an uncredited bit part in Only Angels Have Wings, he would later be known for starring in the television series Topper (1953-1955)
Reception: Only Angel Have Wings had its New York City premiere on May 12, 1939. The film’s premiere was held at the Radio City Music Hall, where it earned $143,000 in its initial two week run there. Only Angel Have Wings went into general release in late May. The film performed fairly well at the box office, and it was Columbia’s second highest grossing film of the year (a distant second to Mr. Smith Goes to Washington). Lux Radio Theatre broadcast a radio adaptation of Only Angel Have Wings on May 29, 1939. Cary Grant, Jean Arthur, Rita Hayworth, Richard Barthelmess and Thomas Mitchell all reprised their roles in this version. On February 25, 1940 The Campbell Playhouse released their own radio adaptation of the film, which starred Orson Welles and Joan Blondell. Only Angel Have Wings was one of twelve American films selected to be screened at the first Cannes Film Festival in 1939, but the festival was cancelled in September after France declared war on Germany.
Only Angel Have Wings received positive reviews from critics when it was first released. Abel Green of Variety favorably compared Only Angel Have Wings to fellow aviation drama Flight from Glory (1937) and he praised Richard Barthelmess’s performance. Marion Aitchison of the Tampa Bay Times praised the film for its story and its performances. She thought that Only Angel Have Wings was one of 1939’s “outstanding pictures.” Frank S. Nugent of The New York Times strongly praised the flying sequences and the acting performances, but thought that the plot was just average.
Only Angel Have Wings has received strongly positive reviews from modern film critics. Geoffrey Macnab of The Independent described Only Angel Have Wings as the “quintessential Hawks movie” and he praised the film for its flying scenes and for the performances of the actors. Jeffrey M. Anderson of Combustible Celluloid considered Cary Grant’s role as Geoff Carter to be one of his finest performances. Lori Hoffman of Atlantic City Weekly, Carol Cling of the Las Vegas Review Journal, and Ken Hanke of Mountain Xpress all gave Only Angels Have Wings perfect 5/5 star reviews.
Oscars: Only Angels Have Wings was nominated for one Oscar at the 12th Academy Awards ceremony: Best Special Effects (Roy Davidson for visual effects and Edwin C. Hand for sound effects). Davidson and Hand lost the award to E.H. Hansen (sound) and Fred Serenson (visual) for The Rains Came. The Rains Came also beat out Gone With the Wind and The Wizard of Oz for this award.
Why You Should See It: Only Angels Have Wings is a good aviation drama. All the main cast members give good performances. Cary Grant’s performance displays his range as an actor. Geoff Carter is a complex character and very different than the sort of roles that Grant played in romantic comedies, such as David Huxley in Hawks’ earlier Bringing Up Baby (1938). The flying scenes are exciting and well done. The mountain cinematography in these scenes is beautiful as well. Only Angels Have Wings features plenty of humor, but Hawks skillfully integrates it into the film so that it doesn’t take away from the thrills and more dramatic moments.