"Wings" by John Monk Saunders. NY: Grosset & Dunlap, (1927). Photoplay edition
“Wings” is a 1927 silent war film acclaimed for its realistic air combat sequences. The film was shot at Kelly Field in San Antonio, Texas with hundreds of pilots and planes of the US Army Air Corps and 3500 infantrymen on a mock battlefield constructed on location to simulate an actual WWI battlefield. The film won the first Academy Award for Best Picture at the first Academy Award Ceremony in 1929, the only silent film to do so. The film was re-released for a limited run in theaters on its 85th anniversary in 2012. Here is the link to a movie trailer:
www.youtube.com/watch?v=GFRas2-x_OQ
“Speed” Powell, in his racer the “Shooting Star,” terrorized the sober citizenry of Temple, Washington, who prophesied a bad end for him. He had but one champion, the girl next door, who adored him. Powell however directed all his attentions toward Sylvia Lewis. When the war came Powell found his way into the Air Service. The qualities that had brought him into disrepute at home, now served to make him a brilliant pilot; his flair for speed, his bent for mechanics, his nerve and daring. He was sent overseas as a member of the First Pursuit Group.
Powell’s flying mate at the front was David Armstrong. Theirs was a friendship begun at ground school and sealed by a series of desperate adventures in the air. An hour before their last flight together, Powell precipitated a bitter quarrel between them over Sylvia Lewis. Estranged, they flew off on a balloon-strafing mission and Powell led Armstrong to his death. It was only when he was going over his dead comrade’s effects that he discovered that David and Sylvia were lovers. A different “Speed” Powell returned home to pick up the threads of everyday living, to find himself and to find the girl next door.
"Wings" by John Monk Saunders. NY: Grosset & Dunlap, (1927). Photoplay edition
“Wings” is a 1927 silent war film acclaimed for its realistic air combat sequences. The film was shot at Kelly Field in San Antonio, Texas with hundreds of pilots and planes of the US Army Air Corps and 3500 infantrymen on a mock battlefield constructed on location to simulate an actual WWI battlefield. The film won the first Academy Award for Best Picture at the first Academy Award Ceremony in 1929, the only silent film to do so. The film was re-released for a limited run in theaters on its 85th anniversary in 2012. Here is the link to a movie trailer:
www.youtube.com/watch?v=GFRas2-x_OQ
“Speed” Powell, in his racer the “Shooting Star,” terrorized the sober citizenry of Temple, Washington, who prophesied a bad end for him. He had but one champion, the girl next door, who adored him. Powell however directed all his attentions toward Sylvia Lewis. When the war came Powell found his way into the Air Service. The qualities that had brought him into disrepute at home, now served to make him a brilliant pilot; his flair for speed, his bent for mechanics, his nerve and daring. He was sent overseas as a member of the First Pursuit Group.
Powell’s flying mate at the front was David Armstrong. Theirs was a friendship begun at ground school and sealed by a series of desperate adventures in the air. An hour before their last flight together, Powell precipitated a bitter quarrel between them over Sylvia Lewis. Estranged, they flew off on a balloon-strafing mission and Powell led Armstrong to his death. It was only when he was going over his dead comrade’s effects that he discovered that David and Sylvia were lovers. A different “Speed” Powell returned home to pick up the threads of everyday living, to find himself and to find the girl next door.