Howard Hughes' Hell's Angels

Director: Howard Hughes Howard Hughes

Overview

"No one was surprised in 1929 that aviation mogul Howard R. Hughes would produce a paean to World War I flying aces like Hell's Angels. Given Hughes' comparative inexperience as a moviemaker, however, everyone was taken slightly aback that the finished film was as good as it was. The very American Ben Lyon and James Hall play a couple of British brothers who drop out of Oxford to join the British Royal Flying Corps. Several early scenes establish Lyon and Hall as unregenerate lotharios, setting up their romantic rivalry over two-timing socialite Jean Harlow. While flying a dangerous bombing mission over Germany, the brothers are shot down. The commandant (Lucien Prival), who'd earlier been cuckolded by one of the brothers, savors his opportunity for revenge. He offers the boys their freedom if they'll reveal the time of the next British attack; if they don't cooperate, they face unspeakable consequences. Lyon, driven mad by his combat experiences, is about to tell all when he is shot and killed by Hall. The latter is himself condemned to a firing squad by the disgruntled commandant--who, it is implied, will soon meet his own doom at the hands of the British bombers. Nobody really cares about this hoary old plot, however: Hell's Angels strong suit lays in its crackerjack aerial sequences. The highlight is a Zeppelin raid over London, one of the most hauntingly effective sequences ever put on film. From the first ghost-like appearance of the Zeppelin breaking through the clouds, to the self-sacrificing behavior of the German crew members as they jump to their deaths rather than provide ""excess weight"", this is a scene that lingers in the memory far longer than all that good-of-the-service nonsense in the finale. Also worth noting is the starmaking appearance of Jean Harlow. When Hell's Angels was begun as a silent film, Norwegian actress Greta Nissen played the female lead. During the switchover to sound, producer Hughes decided that her accent was at odds with her characterization, so he reshot her scenes with his latest discovery, Harlow. While she appears awkward in some of her scenes, there's no clumsiness whatsoever in her delivery of the classic line about slipping into ""something more comfortable"". Originally, Marshall Neilan was signed to direct the film, but became so rattled by Howard Hughes' interference that he handed the reins to Hughes himself, who was in turn given an uncredited assist by Luther Reed. Also ignored in the film's credits are the dialogue contributions by future Frankenstein director James Whale, who'd been hired as the film's English-dialect coach. Modern audiences expecting a musty museum piece are generally surprised by Hell's Angels's high entertainment content: they are also startled by the pre-code frankness of the dialogue, with phrases like ""The hell with you"" bandied about with reckless abandon. In recent years, archivists have restored the film's two-color Technicolor sequence, providing us with our only color glimpses of the radiant Jean Harlow."

Product Details

Release Date:	12/07/2004
UPC:	0025192593321
Original Release:	1930
Rating:	PG
Source:	UNIVERSAL STUDIOS
Region Code:	1
Presentation:	[B&W]
Language:	English
Time:	2:11:00

Cast & Crew

Performance Credits

Ben Lyon	Monte Rutledge
Jean Harlow	Helen
John Darrow	Karl Armstedt
Lucien Prival	Baron Von Kranz
Douglas Gilmore	Capt. Redfield
Jane Winton	Baroness Von Kranz
Evelyn Hall	Lady Randolph
William B. Davidson	Staff Major,British Officer Shot by Firing Squad
Wyndham Standing	RFC Squadron Commander,Roy's Dancing Partner
Lena Malena	Gretchen the Waitress
Marian Marsh	Girl Selling Kisses
Carl von Haartman	Zeppelin Commander
Ferdinand Schumann-Heink	First Officer of Zeppelin
Stephen Carr	Elliott
Nora Cecil	Helen's Maid
Georgette Rhodes	French Girl
George Berliner	Bit Role
Bob Blair	Bit Role
Jack Deery	Splashed Officer
Lucy Doraine	Bit Role
David Findlay	Bit Role
James Hall	Roy Rutledge
Curt Furberg	Bit Role
Frank Clarke	Lt. Von Bruen
Roy Wilson	Baldy Maloney
Carl von Hartmann	Zeppelin Commander
Owen Gorin	Bit Role
Pat Harmon	Recruiting Sergeant
Hans Joby	Von Schlieben
Werner Klingler	Bit Role
Burton Lane	Bit Role
Maurice Murphy	Pilot,Pilot
Leo Nomis	Pilot
Ira Reed	Pilot
Harry Semels	Anarchist
Ernie Smith	Bit Role
Pat Somerset	Marryat
Henry Strange	Bit Role
Gertrude Sutton	Canteen Worker
Frank Tomick	Pilot
Roscoe Turner	Pilot
William von Brinken	Von Richter
Hugo Riesenfeld	Composer
Adolph Tandler	Composer

Technical Credits

Howard Estabrook

Harry Behn

Joseph March

Howard Estabrook	Screenwriter
Harry Behn	Screenwriter
Joseph March	Screenwriter
Howard Hughes	Director,Producer