My Grading System

A+ = Masterpiece (I hold back on this one.) / A = Great. / A- = Really Good. / B+ = Good. / B = Decent (Serviceable). / B- = Flawed but okay (For those times there's something redeeming about the work). / C+ = Not very good (Skip it). C = Bad. / C- = Awful. / F = Complete Disaster (I hold back on this one too).

Note on Spoilers: I will try to avoid ruining a story by going into too much detail. But if I wish to include some revealing points to my analysis I will try to remember to add a separate spoiler paragraph.

Tuesday, July 31, 2012

Only Angels Have Wings (1939)

This Howard Hawks film starring Cary Grant and Jean Arthur is about a group of rough and tough air mail pilots who are commissioned to fly through the dangerous Andes.  Jean Arthur stumbles upon this group while vacationing South America.  A romance quickly begins between her and the leader of the outfit played by Grant in one of his better performances (which is saying a lot considering how consistent he is as an actor).  Thomas Mitchell though really gives the most memorable performance playing the aging pilot, Kid.  Hawks' direction and this tightly-scripted story work on so many levels.  It's about lost loves, about bravery in the face of death and about facing death with a smug almost heartless strength.  Grade: A-
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