Howard Hawks on familiar territory with this aeroplane adventure/drama.

Geoff Carter is the head of a small run down air freight company in Barranca, one of his best pilots (and friend) is killed, but this is merely only one of the problems he has to deal with as ex flames, potential new sweethearts, and dissension in the camp, all fuse together to test him to the limit.

Howard Hawks was the perfect man for this film because of his aviation background, the result is a very well crafted character study set in a very small locale. Looking at it from the outside you would think that the film was lining up to be a soft soap romantic fable, but here the emotion is channelled into a sort of character bravado that is flawed - yet something that makes for a viewing experience that draws you in deep with the finely etched characters.

The cast are on fine form. Cary Grant gets to flex his non comedic muscles with great results as Carter, the film relies on Grant to glue the story together which he does with great aplomb. Jean Arthur & Rita Hayworth are the girls in amongst this strongly male orientated story, and it's a testament to both of the ladies ability that they don't get bogged down by all the macho heroism pouring out in the plot. Smart camera work and exciting aerial sequences further up the quality that is dotted within the piece, and were it not for some terribly twee dialogue, Only Angels Have Wings would surely be ranked as a classic of the 1930s. As it is, it's a wonderfully involving film that shows Hawks at his most humane. 8/10

Holy Smokes.

And they do smoke a lot in this film.

Geoff as the prototypical "man's man" who runs a struggling air freight company near a difficult to pass mountain. I don't want to give too much away, but between a handful of airplane crashes and a new beau and ex lover showing up there is a lot going on.

I can't remember the last time I teared up from pure joy from a film. But this movie has about a perfect an ending I've ever seen.

Jean Arthur plays Bonnie Lee, a woman who passes through a small South American port town and encounters an airline devoted to running mail over the Andes. It’s a perilous job and heading up the operation is Geoff (Cary Grant), a fatalistic, jaded and pragmatic pilot. In spite of his standoffishness she begins to fall for him and decides to stay in town a little while longer.

This is like a cross between Casablanca and The Wages of Fear yet it pre-dates them both. The exotic yet prison-like setting of the former combine with the dangerous career choices of the latter. It’s also more complex than both - the plot is more a series of connected vignettes rather than a sweeping Hollywood epic. Hawks is really a chronicler of his character’s lives and the choices they make. He’s not afraid to let things happen without obvious meaning or consequence and, more importantly, not afraid to let people drop out of the frame when they aren’t relevant to the story.

And yet at the end he ties it all together with one of the most satisfying, subtle and beautiful endings you could wish for. The way he lets the audience realise what’s happened at exactly the same moment as Bonnie is genius.

A timeless and exotic classic that rings true even 80 years on.

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