Hell's Angels
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Movie Reviews of Hell's Angels
Movie Review: "Hell's" Belle ... the Heavenly Harlow
Summary: 4 Stars
75 years after it first appeared on the silver screen, "Hell's Angels" remains noteworthy for two stunning attributes. The first of these is some incredible aerial footage, including one great sequence involving a gigantic dirigible, and another involving a dogfight between several British and German biplanes. Skillfully filmed and edited - and beautifully presented with color tinting - these scenes remain exciting and fresh, and are prime examples of the technical achievements Hollywood craftsman were capable of producing as the silent era yielded to the new challenges of talkies. In fact, it's worth noting that "Hell's Angels" actually started out as a silent film, and was refashioned as a talking feature before its release.
The transformation of the film into a talking picture was directly responsible for its second great asset, which is a star-making performance from Jean Harlow in the role of a sexually liberated young woman who uses men for her own pleasure. ("Would it shock you if I changed into something more comfortable?," she famously purrs at one point.) Silent siren Greta Nissan was originally cast in the role; her thick Norwegian accent made her unsuitable to play the role with dialogue. Nineteen-years-old Harlow took over from Nissan, and proceeded to steal every scene in which she appeared. Harlow simply radiates sensuality, especially in those two-strip Technicolor party scenes in which she (just barely) wears a flimsy, form-fitting evening gown which sets off to advantage her platinum hair and full red lips.
The male performances haven't held up as well over the years. James Hall, as a member of Britain's Royal Air Corps, acquits himself admirably with an earnest turn that only occasionally lapses into melodramatic excess; top-billed Ben Lyon, however, frequently becomes laughingly hammy playing the part of Hall's brother, particularly in his over-wrought death scene. In a moment that calls for him to underplay for the audience's sympathy, Lyon gasps; rolls his eyes; emotes; takes it up a notch and pulls out all the stops; and then really begins to lay it even more thickly before he finally - mercifully - expires. The effect of this scenery-chewing is embarrassing to behold. Surprisingly, although Howard Hughes is credited as the film's director, James Whale was hired to redirect the dialogue sequences, so it is the normally tasteful Whale who is apparently responsible for Lyon's shameless overacting.
Despite its faults, "Hell's Angels" is nonetheless well worth a "look-see", simply for the sight of ancient planes battling in the sky, and the vision of the incredibly sexy Jean Harlow looking heavenly while behaving devilishly. Hell's Angel, indeed.
Movie Review: Howard Hughes Comes To Hollywood
Summary: 4 Stars
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 acheived 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.
Movie Review: Best WWI Aviation Film I've Seen
Summary: 4 Stars
I'm a stickler for authenticity when it comes to airplanes and weapons, so I was impressed by Hughes' use of genuine WWI surplus aircraft in the film. As it was shot only a dozen years after the end of hostilities, it must have been a lot easier to find original planes. Even if shot in high definition with all the gee-whiz effects CGI masters could muster, no one today could make aerial scenes nearly as well. The minor flaws (like the bullet holes appearing so closely together) are minor indeed. It is the only film I can think of that shows the workings of a Zepplin (no, I don't think "Rocket Man" or "Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade" do Zepplins justice).
Seeing Jean Harlow as a young, scantily-clad libertine in a theater one could take a date to must have been a thrill in the early 1930s. After the anything-goes 1960s this isn't shocking any more, and today she just seems like a common slut in the film. Yes, the acting is corny and stereotyped. At least the German characters spoke real German instead of the odd amalgam of German-accented British so common in bad WWII movies.
Lucien Prival (the German Count) looked disturbingly similar to Paul Reubens, and I half expected to find out he was Pee Wee Herman's grandfather. I have found no such connection.
As long as you are willing to forgive the effects of age on a film transferred to DVD, this is a great film to watch even if just for the air combat scenes. Hughes used the long shot to capture the aerobatics of dogfighting Fokkers and British SE5s, and he skillfully mixed in close shots taken from cameras mounted in individual planes capturing their pilot/actors or the planes they were pursuing. Unless someone can come up with the millions necessary to build dozens of replica WWI aircraft for a future film, no one will be able to match it.
Movie Review: An Uneven But Important Film
Summary: 4 Stars
"Hell's Angels" will no doubt return to public attention for a time because of the success of Martin Scorsese's "The Aviator," and that attention is well deserved. Howard Hughes' World War I epic is notable on a number of levels, not the least of which is the fact that it introduced Jean Harlow. The flying/action sequences were clearly ahead of their time and still hold up quite well, and this alone puts this film in rare company. There have only been a few notable films about the air war in World War I ("Wings," "Dawn Patrol," "The Blue Max," and maybe "Darling Lili")and this is about as good as it gets. The zeppelin sequence is just simply outstanding. The story and individual acting...well, Huges should have delgated to James Whale who was a part of the production. Harlow does stand out, but that was not difficult. Her peformance was allowed to sizzle (and she did that), and the rest of the cast was not at all memorable. The making of the film is the stuff of legend and that story is becoming known via the hype surrounding "The Aviator" (also a good film). The restored film on DVD is something of a treasure. Rarely do we see films from this era in such good shape. The production evolved in that awkward period between silent film and "talkies" and it shows in places. The dialogue is stilted, and the musical score is only barely serviceable, but the sound effects, like the visuals, are at times unbelievable for the time. A great value at a low price, and well produced and packaged by Universal, this is a must for serious film buffs.Movie Review: Still remarkably entertaining
Summary: 4 Stars
Three reasons to watch this film:
- still-teenaged Jean Harlow, radiant in her only Technicolor footage, and giving a much better performance under the direction of (I assume) James Whale than she would in "Public Enemy" a year later;
- a riveting nighttime Zeppelin attack with an astounding payoff;
- aerial battle scenes unmatched for realism that truly convey the terror of fights-to-the-death in the skies (apparently three pilots died doing the remarkable stunts).
Ben Lyon is the only lead performer whose acting seems fairly modern and somewhat natural while the other male leads are still stuck in that strange, stilted early-talkie mode (the film was begun as a silent and morphed into a talkie over a two-year shoot spanning 1928-1930). The biggest flaw is the ridiculous stereotypical portrayal of the German commanders as sadistic Huns straight out of a WWI propaganda film; this is the most dated element in what remains, given the period in which it was produced, an amazingly entertaining film, beautifully restored in its current DVD incarnation by UCLA film restoration experts.