Only Angels Have Wings

Only Angels Have Wings (1939) is a movie directed by Howard Hawks, starring Cary Grant and Jean Arthur. Grant plays Geoff Carter, pilot and manager of a small air service carrying mail from the (fictional) port town of Barranca in South America over the Andes. Arthur is Bonnie Lee, a piano-playing entertainer who becomes infatuated with Carter's fatalistic attitude toward flying, and stays on in Barranca (not at Carter's invitation, as he insists on telling her). The situation is complicated by the arrival of Bat Kilgallen (Richard Barthelmess) and his wife Judy (Rita Hayworth). Kilgallen is a pilot shunned by other fliers because he once bailed out of a plane, allowing his mechanic (the brother of Kid Dabb (Thomas Mitchell), Carter's best friend) to be killed in the resulting crash. Judy is Carter's former lover.

Related Topics:
Howard Hawks - Cary Grant - Jean Arthur - Richard Barthelmess - Rita Hayworth - Thomas Mitchell

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While somewhat contrived in its plot twists, Only Angels Have Wings is generally regarded as being among Hawks' finest films, particularly in its portrayal of professionalism among the pilots, its atmosphere, and its flying sequences.

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Quotes:

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Carter (referring to a pilot who has just been killed in a crash): "Who's Joe?"

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Bonnie: "I'm hard to get, Geoff. All you have to do is ask me."

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