Wings

Two young men Jack Powell and David Armstrong — one rich, one middle class, both in love with the same woman — become US Air Corps fighter pilots and, eventually, heroic flying aces during World War I. Devoted best friends, their mutual love of the girl eventually threatens their bond. Meanwhile, Jack's lifelong next door neighbor Mary Preston, played by Clara Bow, secretly pines for the solider and eventually joins the war-effort as an ambulance driver.

Celebrated for its spectacular flight scenes and realistic depiction of the war, Wings won the first-ever Academy Award for Best Picture and remains the only silent film that earned the title. The film was released the same year as It and cemented Clara Bow's reputation as a leading lady.

Wings screens as part of our "(You Look Like) Clara Bow" series, cosponsored by the Wharton Studio Museum and presented in honor of Silent Movie Month in Ithaca. Courtesy of Paramount Pictures and Swank Motion Pictures.

"Long touted as a classic by cinema historians, and justifying almost every adjectival extravagance. A spectacular tribute to the American flyers of WWI, born of Wellman’s and John Monk Saunders’ own experiences with the Lafayette Flying Corps, it’s distinguished by matchless aerial photography, logistically-detailed battle scenes and dogfights, a unique blend of ‘European’ directorial touches with Hollywood pace, and solid performances holding the straightforward love/duty/camaraderie plotline together.” — Time Out