Silent Film Sunday-Wings 1927

Released in 1927 and the first American film to win the academy award for Best picture, Wings remains one of the greatest war films ever made.  The battle scenes, as well as the interior shots, represent many stunning advances in film making and left audiences stunned by their realism.  The film also represented the horror of war in a way that spoke to 1920s audiences, for whom WWI was a recent memory.  The plot focuses on three friends from the same small town Jack, David, and Mary.  Jack and David become soldiers and Mary an ambulance driver.  The three endure many hardships during the war before David looses his life and Mary and Jack are eventually re-united.  The death bed scene of David below is one of the most famous in the history of film, both for its depiction of the tragedy of war and the obvious intimacy between the two men.  While the film never directly implies that Jack and David are lovers the scene below has been interpreted by many viewers as romantic.  It is certainly a beautiful scene that demonstrates that cinema has breaking taboos for far longer then the last decade.  

 

 

Wings is available for instant viewing on Amazon Prime and the entire film can also be scene on you tube, its the perfect movie for Memorial Day weekend.