Hell's Angels

"Reactions to Hell's Angels have always been divided," wrote venerable critic Pauline Kael. "It inspires admiration and laughter." That's still true today: as the pet project of Howard Hughes and the most expensive film of its time, Hell's Angels (1930) combines still-impressive spectacle with a cornball plot that even the great writer-director James Whale (one of several screenwriters on Hughes' extravagant payroll) couldn't rescue from the clutches of war-movie cliché. Costing $4,000,000 and taking the lives of three aerial stuntmen, this lavish World War I melodrama ultimately earned a modest profit, and it's still a crowd-pleaser, albeit a stiff and creaky one. The aerial footage--sometimes requiring 26 cameras (as humorously revealed in Martin Scorsese's lavish Oscar-nominated Hughes biopic, The Aviator) and a squadron of 137 pilots--is breathtaking, especially during the climactic dogfight between R.A.F. and German fighter planes, including the dreaded enemy ace, Baron Von Richtofen. But the film's three-way romance, between Jean Harlow (the blonde bombshell who became a star with this film) and a pair of British brothers, is (as Kael tersely observed) "just plain awful." Still, the film's tale of conflicting loyalties remains eminently watchable; contrary to popular opinion, Hughes was never a hack director, and most of his scenes are executed on a level of competence that may seem surprising given his status as a well-heeled novice filmmaker. Presented on DVD with a beautiful-looking transfer (but no extras), Hell's Angels is rightfully considered one of Hollywood's legendary spectacles. Recommended. (J. Shannon)