Only Angels Have Wings (1939)

In a small South American port town, a showgirl (Jean Arthur) finds herself in the company of the pilots of a small air freight service. She's attracted to the manager (Cary Grant) who, because of a bad previous relationship, has a rather hardened and cynical attitude toward women. This is a wonderful movie! Very much in his element, Howard Hawks throws us into the adrenaline rushed world of daredevil pilots who take dangerous risks and live on the brink. Considering that it was shot on the Columbia sound stages, Hawks and his art director (Lionel Banks) do a terrific job of creating the authentic feel of a bustling "flying by the seat of their pants" atmosphere set amid a dilapidated air field. Cary Grant would seem an unlikely choice for the rough and tumble adventurer but he's very good. Jean Arthur plays the archetypal Hawksian woman but she has some of her thunder stolen by the young Rita Hayworth in her breakthrough role as Grant's ex-girlfriend. As Hayworth's current husband, Richard Barthelmess (BROKEN BLOSSOMS) seems rather stiff. Dimitri Tiomkin supplied the score. With Thomas Mitchell, Allyn Joslyn, John Carroll, Sig Ruman and Donald Barry.