SPECTACLE AND REALISM.

New Zealand Herald, Volume LXV, Issue 20022, 11 August 1928, Page 9 (Supplement)

SPECTACLE AND REALISM.

A FILM OF WAR IN THE AIR. Embodying all the wonder of the mechanical age in vivid spectacle, ?'Wings" comes as one of the definitely great pictures which are now being made more frequently. The film, which will bo released in Auckland shortly, is emphatically a picture for the masses. It has not felt tho influence of the " little cinema" movement, as have some of tho finest dramatic pictures which have been released this year, but it has a well-con-structed plot, logically worked out, as a setting for spectacular photography *Vhieh vies with that in the UFA mastex--piece " Metropolis," and in many respects oven cxcells it. Paramount has made " Wings" at a time when interest in aviation has reached its highest point, and the film has been mnde with all the thoroughness that characterises the efforts of the firm. It must surely be one of (he most costly films ever produced, for huge sets are ruthlessly destroyed by high explosives and aerial torpedoes to provide thrills in a picture which abounds in thrills. From the viewpoint of realism, " Wings" is the finest spectacular film that has yet been made, and further productions from William Wellman will be awaited with interest if he can endow them with the same sure touch which he has used in his first masterpieco. An Allied Interest.

" Wings," of course, is a war film, but iho fact that it is an American war film should not be allowed to prejudice the ■public against it. It is true that it takes no interest in the war until after 1917, but it does not make the mistake of showing the two final years of a worldwide conflict as the conclusion of a quarrel between the United States and some European nations. Although the film deals in particular with the exploits of two members of the American Air Force, in general, praiseworthy efforts have been made to give it an Allied interest. Nor is the German airman forgotten. Thejre is no propaganda against him as a ruthless destroyer j indeed, a young American attempts with much greater success deeds of wholesale slaughter. Knights of the air, whether they bo American, Englishmen, Frenchmen, or Germans, are all shown as possessing that sense of chivalry which the fiendish inventions of modern battle have not yet killed. Unlike most films with leanings to tho spectacular, there is not just one great scene in " Wings" calculated to bewilder the spectator. Once the airmen of the story arrive in France, and in the greyness of the morning go out on their first dawn patrol, bewildering shots crowd on one another so fast that they can hardly be fully appreciated. The fights above a sea of clouds, with the patchwork of earth occasionally sweeping into view as the aeroplanes circle and dive, are masterpieces of thrilling photography. Battles in the Heavens. Aeroplanes seem to fill tho heavens, wheeling menacingly and then dashing forward, spitting out death from their machine guns. An airman is struck and loses control. His machine lurches and spins, and then, with flames and smoke coiling upwards, commences a sickening, curling descent to destruction. There is a Horrible fascination in watching one of these machines crash to earth, so realistically have the scenes been photographed. The daring of the flyers leaves one gasping; tho genius of the direction leaves one with the impression that it was a real fight that sent that huge Gotha bomber crashing to earth. And scenes like these abound, crowding on one another to give the effect of ceaseless mighty conflict. Under a less skilful director the film might easily have become a series of disjointed episodes, strung together with sub-titles. The very nature of tho film has made the titling of "Wings" a most difficult task, hut it has been accomplished excellently. The continuity of the film is not its least marvellous point. In all tho thrill of air fighting, the action never once loses sight of the story. Two boys, enemies through their love for the saine girl, become fast friends when braving the perils of the air, and slowly and skilfully the story is traced until the one boy who returns realises that it was his comrade who was loved. Ho has fame and glory; he finds happiness with the little torn-boy whose love for hint had taken her to France as the driver of a crazy supply waggon, and who preferred to be sent home in disgrace in order that she might save her playmatelover.

" Beau Geste" o! the Air. The story, as it centres round the two men, is almost a " Beau Geste" of the air. The parts are taken, and taken admirably, by Mr. Charles Rogers and Mr. Richard Arlen. Mr. Rogers is cast slightly more prominently, but it is unquestionably Mr. Arlen who steals the acting honours of the picture. ■ For dignity and reserve in liis work, he must be placed on an equal footing with his fellow countryman, Mr. Ronald (Dolman, and it is not unfair to him to say that he seems to have tried to live up to Mr. (Dolman's magnificent performance in Beau Geste." The scene in which lie tears up a girl's photograph, risking enmity with his friend rather than disillusion him, is exceptionally well done, while the finest piece of acting in the Jilm is furnished by Mr. Arlen, escaping from behind the enemy lines in a German aeroplane, when he is pursued and forced clown to death by his friend. In the most memorable scene of the picture, the German machine crashes into the wall of a farm house and the young American is taken inside to die. There is a simple funeral procession. L\ body is laid in a little dog cart, his friend's flying jacket is the gallant airman's shroud, and over his grave a tombstone is fashioned from an aeroplane propeller, the wings that brought him victory. honour and death. Mr. Rogers also gives a meritorious performance which helps to mark him as one of the coming figures of*the sci'een. Ho manages changing moods with an air of spontaneity, and there is a touch of light and shade about his work which is most pleasing. Miss Bow's Good Work. Miss Clara Bow, as the small town lom-boy, invests the role with her effervescent personality, and makes it a thoroughly commendable piece of work. She shows quite plainly that she has other gifts besides comedy and enthusiasm. Her acting in the cabaret scene is excellent.

Nor must there be forgotten the very brief apearance of Mr. Gary Cooper. He provides a little vignette characterised by forceful acting. There arc others in the east who work so. well that it is unfair to single any one of them out for special comment, but the thanks of the picturegoing public are most certainly "due' to tlio daring airmen who risked their lives to provide some of tho greatest spectacles •ver filmed^