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- Only
Angels Have Wings (1939)
In director Howard Hawks' quintessential and very
entertaining aviation-adventure film and character study, set in
Barranca (fictional town in South America), that told about a group
of mail pilots who flew treacherous routes from Ecuador to Peru over
mountain passes in the fogged-in Andes Mountains:
- the opening sequence of the entrance of perky, unemployed,
smart-talking Brooklynite blonde Bonnie Lee (Jean Arthur), who
disembarked off a 'banana boat' at the port of Barranca; she became
stranded at a broken down, air-freight aviation headquarters (in
a saloon owned by a Dutchman affectionately named "Dutchy" Van
Ruyter (Sig Rumann))
- Bonnie Lee's first acquaintance with the stoic, steely-eyed,
cool, all-business, rude, misogynistic and cynical Latin American
freight pilots' boss Geoff Carter (Cary Grant), nicknamed "Papa"
Main Characters
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Bonnie Lee
(Jean Arthur)
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Geoff Carter
(Cary Grant)
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'Kid' Dabb
(Thomas Mitchell)
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- the affectionate relationship between Geoff and
his "best friend" - older, near-blind daredevil pilot
'Kid' Dabb (Thomas Mitchell) with a 22-year flying career, who
draped his jacket over Geoff's shoulders and lit his cigarettes
for him
- the nerve-wracking and tense scene of an attempted
foggy landing (with three approaches) by dare-devil flier Joe Souther
(Noah Berry, Jr.) - a dangerous mission for the trans-Andes Barranca
Airways in a rickety-old single-engine plane that ended with a fatal
crash at the airstrip
- Geoff spitefully put the blame on Joe's death on Bonnie: "Sure
it was your fault. You were gonna have dinner with him, the Dutchman
hired him, I sent him up on schedule, the fog came in, a tree got
in the way. All your fault. Forget it, unless you want the honor" -
she responded negatively to his insensitivity:
"Haven't you any feelings? Don't you realize he's dead?";
Geoff coldly told her to be less emotional: "And all the weeping
and wailing in the world won't make him any deader 20 years from now.
If you feel like bawling, how do you think we feel?"
- at the start of an on/off again romance, bachelor
Geoff's revelation to American showgirl and cabaret singer Bonnie
Lee that his hard nature was due to a failed romance in his past;
he told her that his steadfast, stubborn nature was to avoid any
entanglements, attachments, supplies, and binding emotional relationships
with women because they always wanted to make plans for the future;
his closest female in a relationship left him due to his dangerous
occupation: ("Told me if I didn't quit flying, it was all off...I'm
still flying")
Geoff's Past Relationship Described to Bonnie
Lee:
"Told me if I didn't quit flying, it was all off"
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- the arrival of ostracized and shunned pilot Bat
MacPherson/alias Kilgallen (Richard Barthelmess) to take Joe's
place, accompanied by his radiant and glamorous wife Judy (Rita
Hayworth in her first appearance in a major film), Geoff's embittered
ex-wife; due to Bat's troubled past, he was shunned by the other
fliers as disgraced and unworthy; allegedly, his cowardice once
caused the death of Kid's younger brother - "the first pilot
who ever bailed out of his plane and let his mechanic crash"
- the attempted seduction, in private, of Geoff by his
ex-wife Judy (who had kept her past life's secrets from her new husband)
- she happily greeted Geoff: "I could hardly believe my eyes";
after he kissed her on the lips, she wondered: "I'm not so sure
we should've done that"; later in the film when she was drunk,
Geoff chastised her for advancing on him and for betraying her husband: "You're
no good, Judy, and you never were...I used to wonder if I was right
when we broke up. Well, I don't have to worry about it anymore"
The Seductive Wife Judy MacPherson
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- the scene of Bonnie's encounter with Geoff in his
quarters on the upstairs balcony, while she was sticking around
for another week to get better acquainted with him; she invited
herself to take a bath and appeared in a bathrobe; after he scooped
her into his arms and called her a "queer duck," they
kissed each other; then, Bonnie confessed her love toward him and
that she was no longer demanding and vulnerable about his risky
profession; she affirmed that she was accepting of uncertainty,
just like his close friendship with 'Kid' Dabb: "Geoff, you
don't have to be afraid of me anymore. I'm not trying to tie you
down. I don't want to plan. I don't want to look ahead. I don't
want you to change anything. I love you, Geoff. There's nothing
I can do about it. I just love you, that's all. I feel the same
way about you that Kid does. Anything you do is all right with
me....Yes, he doesn't ask you for anything, or get in your way
or bother you, does he?" - surprisingly, he admitted differently: "Drives
me nuts" - although he still kissed her
- the scene of a redeemed MacPherson's volunteering
for a treacherous flight (with co-navigator 'Kid' Dabb) carrying
nitroglycerin to prove his bravery; the risky, instruments-only flight
in horrific flying conditions led to a condor crashing through the
cockpit window and seriously wounding Kid with flying debris, causing
a broken neck; it destroyed the aircraft's windshield and two motors
were set ablaze; instead of parachuting and bailing out, MacPherson
remained with the disabled craft and co-pilot - responding "Not
this time"
Fatal Flight for 'Kid' Dabb
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Co-Navigator 'Kid' Dabb with Bat
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Condor Strike - Broken Windshield
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Bat Flying and Landing Flaming Plane
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- the affecting death scene of 'Kid' Dabb after a
final crucial flight that ended with a disastrous crash-landing
on the airstrip; before dying, he bid farewell to Geoff
- in the final moments of the film, as Geoff (although
injured) was off to fly another mission, Bonnie told him that all
she had to do to remain with him was to be asked: "I'm hard
to get, Geoff. All you have to do is ask me"; after he departed,
she discovered that he had actually asked her to stay (by flipping
a two-headed coin) - to be Kid's female counterpart in his life;
she buoyantly exclaimed: "Hey! Hey, Geoff!" and then watched
his plane lift off into the rainy sky
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Crash-Landing Death of Joe Souther
Sparring Between Geoff and Bonnie Lee
New Disgraced Flier: Bat MacPherson/Killgalen (Richard
Barthelmess)
Judy MacPherson (Rita Hayworth), Geoff's Ex-Wife
Bonnie Lee In a Bathrobe in Geoff's Quarters
Geoff: "You're a queer duck, Bonnie"
Bonnie: "Geoff, you don't have to be afraid of me
anymore. I'm not trying to tie you down..."
A Passionate Kiss
Cargo: Nitroglycerin
Death Scene of 'Kid' Dabb
Bonnie to Geoff: "I'm hard to get, Geoff. All
you have to do is ask me"
Ending: "Hey, hey, Geoff"
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