The Most Wonderful Sport

[Garfly]

This is an interesting review of the book "Unsubstantial Air: American Fliers in the First World War" by Samuel Hynes. The review is by James Salter, a novelist who was also a combat pilot in the Korean war.

 

http://www.lrb.co.uk/v36/n21/james-salter/the-most-wonderful-sport

 

 

[planedriver]

That looks a very interesting read, i'll check out in more detail.

 

Thanks for posting the link.

 

 

[Garfly]

"Unsubstantial Air" type subject matter comes back to life with a viewing of the amazing silent movie "Wings"(1927). It was directed by a young William A. Wellman, chosen for the job because he was, himself, an aviator veteran of WWI. That'd account for the painstaking authenticity of the flying scenes for which the film is famous - to this day. It was a multi-million dollar blockbuster, even in 20's money, but unluckily its reception suffered from the fact that over the period of its making the sun had been setting on the silent era. Everybody, was, by the time it was finished, mad about the talkies.

 

Still and all, it took out the (first ever) Best Picture Academy Award in 1929.

 

 

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wings_(1927_film)

 

On YouTube there's a half-hour selection of clips (below). I notice that someone's also posted a full version on YouTube but that one's strangely - and seriously - cropped. For anyone interested it's worth finding the DVD on Amazon. It includes a great documentary about the movie and its place in aviation and film history.

 

Incredible to read that fully 300 pilots and 3500 infantrymen were employed in its making.

 

 

It's not only the amazing flying scenes for which the film is famous. It also incorporated some cinematic innovations like in the Folies Bergere scene (around 26' in the clip above) that extraordinary forward tracking shot across a series of tables, passing in-between the couples sitting at each and arriving at a medium close up of our star American aviator, enjoying his leave a little too much (complete with animated champagne bubbles! ;-)

 

You get the idea of the shot from these screen grabs; imagine it as a continuous take. There's a mini-drama going on at each table as we pass by. Priceless!