WINGS

The film cost $2,000.000.

William Wellman and John Monk Saunders had been WWI aviators. Arlen (David) was also able to do his own flying. Rogers underwent flight training so he too could fly and be filmed in the films close ups.

A number of famous and soon to be famous actors appear in the film some of whom you should start to recognize

The American Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences

Censorship

People were becoming tense (both within and outside of the industry) about films morals and ethics both in the personal lives of the stars and in the films themselves.. Battles are waged constantly as to whether people really disregard what happens in films (“Its just a movie” approach) and the idea that films shape people’s views. The first group generally argues that movies can do what they like, there are no real consequences in the real world as a result of the films’ content while the other group argues that there is an impact and if the film industry produces largely films which are either left wing (pro socialism, communism, anti religion and so on, then it needs to be regulated in the same way that it needed to be when it produced racial and ethnic stereotypes).

It was ultimately suggested that a committee be set up to try to deal with these problems and to get a grip on the moral and ethical biases in films which paralleled the events surrounding the baseball scandal of 1919 in which the Chicago White Socks intentionally lost the World Series to the Cincinnati Reds. Eight of the players had been paid off by gamblers. The result was the establishment of a baseball commission headed by a federal Judge named Kenesaw Mountain Landis.

It was thought that a siilar commission should be set up and that the postmaster general under president Warren Harding and a Presbyterian elder named Will H Hays should be enlisted by the studios to block anyl federal involvement in censorship. 37 States had introduced over 100 bills by 1921 concerning this issue. As a result in 1922 and organization known as the Motion Picture Producers and Distributors of America (MPPDA) formed with Hays serving as its head

From the beginning the basic plan for the MPPDA was a strong public relations campaign to make certain that Hollywood remained financially stable. The editing of films byt local boards was making some films unintelligible and people were less likely to go and see films that had been editis. This was damaging to the industries ability to attract money from Wall Street. It was also make certain that American films had a "clean moral tone". The MPPDA also instituted a code of conduct to control the ctors in Hollywood films, governing their behavior offscreen. It also wanted to protect American film interests abroad, This is did by encouraging film studios to avoid racist portrayals of foreigners.

At this point there were regional censorship boards in the US that actually edited films to remove those parts they felt were offensive (usually the ever popular violence and sexuality) The studios got a lot of negative publicity from this and film goers stopped going to films because the edits made often made the story unintelligible and incoherent. Hays watched over the creation of a list of “Dos and Don’ts” Synposis of films were to be submitted to a board, but there was no compulsion to do so, so most studios didn’t. The list of these Dos and Don’ts was submitted in 1927

Resolved, That those things which are included in the following list shall not appear in pictures produced by the members of this Association, irrespective of the manner in which they are treated:

And be it further resolved, That special care be exercised in the manner in which the following subjects are treated, to the end that vulgarity and suggestiveness may be eliminated and that good taste may be emphasized:

The Code under Hays and no teeth. Worse, the liberal views of the 1920’s made the Victorian code look as naïve and backward as the period did. Liberal publications attacked it and most agreed it was unenforceable. As the thirties arrive companies ignore the code because racy and violent films do well and money is king Notice that people against censorship are also against capitalism which is in effect a way of justifying making money. You can say that you are against censorship because of “freedom of speech” and not acknowledge that your real interest is in making money! The latest “the constitution is an old document and not really relevant any more only applies to those parts the people who say that are for revision are against, but will cte the constitution for their own ends.

By the 1930s, Hayes left and the censorship board was headed by someone named Joseph Breen who had worked under Hayes. Under his rule, the organization along with the founding of the Catholic legion of decency things tightened up a good deal. More on this later.

The Academy Awards

About the same time all this is going on, Louis B. Mayer (MGM) had the idea of creating an organization which would mediate labor disputes and improve the industry’s image which was more than soiled by scandals.

So, Mayer, actor Conrad Nagel, director Fred Niblo and Fred Beetson, the head of the Association of Motion Picture Producers discussed having an organization that would involve all 5 branches of the industry –actors, directors, writers, technicians, producers

On Jan 11 1927 Mayer invited 36 (+ Mayer=37) people from the industry to the Ambassador Hotel for a formal banquet. Present were

In 1929, the Academy, in a joint venture with the University of Southern California, created America's first school to further the art and science of moving pictures. The School’s founding faculty included Fairbanks (President of the Academy), D. W. Griffith, William C. deMille (elder brother of Cecil B. , Ernst Lubitsch, Irving Thalberg, and Darryl F. Zanuck.

So in 1927 in films like Wings, nudity was still possible as it had been in many earlier films. WINGS

Overture: “Significant film” Jazz singer has one, Gone with the Wind, Duel in the Sun and so on.

Titles use planes in the design.

Swing on which Sylvia sits is shot with moving camera approximates flying.

Jack- middle class, brash, self-assured, takes Sylvia off the swing without asking. Leaves in car with parents – walks away to see Mary.

David – upper class, reserved, polite, doesn’t cause “scenes” Doesn’t tell Jack initially the locket is for him and th writing on the back. Family more staid and old fashioned. Why is he the one who dies? Why have Jack go to Mary whom he didn’t love and leave Sylvia behind. Is he the heroic American of the film? Old value system being overthrown

Film is known for its spectacular aerial photography. Note the camera work. Even in the scene in the Paris bar when the camera moves over the tables.

Note people walking into the camera – when Jack jumps into the trench and approaches the British officers. (Note Vultan does the same in Flash Gordon chapter 6)

Symbolism: When David dies, the shot outside shows the plane outside a cemetery with its propeller stopping.