Wednesday, August 12, 2009

The Hell Of Hell's Angels

I think when Martin Scorsese made The Aviator, his bio-pic of eccentric billionaire Howard Hughes, he created the impression that Hughes's 1930 World War I adventure yarn Hell's Angels might be a good movie. It isn't. I coughed up nine bucks or so for the dvd, because I wanted to see Jean Harlow's debut and because Hell's Angels has a reputation of featuring some of the best aerial duels of movie history.

Well, I can tell you, Jean Harlow was beautiful, she gave us the line "Would you be shocked if I put on something more comfortable?" (changing from a humdinger of a backless evening gown to a loosely tied robe and nothing else), but she was as raw as a newborn foal struggling to find her legs beneath her, and what you're going to see is the work of a promising amateur offering up only the hint of what was to come after.

The aerial footage? Hughes was right that filming airplanes on a cloudy day gives you a better sense of how fast the planes are moving. And there is a scene with a German zeppelin that is both eerie and bizarre (wait until you see how the desperate Germans lighten their load to gain altitude—talk about taking one for the team!). But that's not the same as saying the dogfights are well staged or that the zeppelin scene makes a lick of sense. For an effective version of that sort of thing, track down 1927 best picture co-winner Wings.

As for the story, which unfort- unately takes up the other nine- tenths of the movie, it truly plays as if a schoolboy wrote it in the back of a notebook and then doodled pictures of airplanes in the margins. As the TV Guide online review so artfully puts it, "the story seems to have been written in crayon by Hughes." Which, trust me, is an insult to crayons everywhere. It's so bad it almost transcends itself and becomes campy fun.

Almost.

I found it for around $9 and it's no doubt available through Netflix. But you've been warned.

Note: I spent all day yesterday in a legal seminar, which if you've ever attended one is a lot like sitting in an airport waiting for a plane that never arrives. But there's nothing like trashing a bad movie while posting a picture of Jean Harlow to get you back into the ballgame. So here we go and hopeful tomorrow or the next day, I'll have my choice for the best director of 1929-30 ...

9 comments:

Who Am Us Anyway? said...

Hey! Those legal seminars are harder to put on than you might think :-)

(speaking of which, you gonna be around D.C. town on wed. 9/16?)

But getting back to the Mythical Monkey book meme, my point is, did you talk to your agent yet about a Mythical Monkey Movie book (you said you would!) (read: I think you did but i could be wrong!) -- i.e., you carry on with this blog as always & don't you dare stop, but you use it as the basis for a book?

I would buy this book in a heartbeat, as would all my kith 'n kin (and although I don't know for sure what "kith" means I promise to look it up later).

Even Douglas Fairbanks will buy this book -- he'll say he won't, but trust me, he actually will, the old softy.

If your agent isn't keen on this caper I can give you the name of another agent who just might have a different opinion! I'm just as they just say, just sayin'!

Douglas Fairbanks said...

Even Douglas Fairbanks will buy this book -- he'll say he won't, but trust me, he actually will, the old softy.

Let's just say that the content of the book will determine my enthusiasm.

It may ultimately less about me than about that no-talent goon Chaney.

And I don't mean your vice-president.

I *do* second the book idea, though; perhaps I can use my charms on his literary agent -- I can "swashbuckle" her, if you know what I mean. . . . .

PS Quit posting pictures of that ingrate son of mine, MythMon!

Sigmund Freud said...

that may be the finest robe in the history of robes





well, the finest content of robes on the history of robes



the finest robed parts, I mean.


hubba hubba

Lupner said...

Thirding the motion on the book idea -- I'd buy a bunch o' copies for friends and fambly, and I'm not even kith of WhoAmUs. As far as I know.

mister muleboy said...

I wish Lupner would consider going to a baseball game.

I've tried and tried to get her to go, and she won't answer my inquiries.

MythMon, try to use your considerable influence. . . . .

Mythical Monkey said...

You guys are up early. Actually, I was up early, too, but I find the earlier I'm awake, the less work I get done.

Like Marcel Proust, I do my best work in bed.

No, wait, that doesn't sound quite right ...

Lupner, Katie-Bar-The-Door and I are always available for a baseball game, provided we are in town.

Oh, and I should say that with regard to the legal seminar the other day, it was well organized and very informative. A top notch operation all around. But I still would rather have been watching old Marion Davies movies or something ...

Lupner said...

Baseball???? Huh? I don't know what you're talking about . . . HOWEVER -- it just so happens that both the Nats and Lupner are in DC next week if anyone is game for a game. Of course we all know that Mister Muleboy will be at each and every one b/c he has vowed to not miss a single game this year . . .

Uncle Tom said...

question - which is worse, the Nats or "Hell's Angels"? I guess the Nats will, at least in theory, get better.

And to think, Howard Hughes tee-tee'd into milk bottles for this movie....

Mythical Monkey said...

How would you like to have been the guy who returned the bottles for the deposit?

I've always admired Hughes's willingness to make others suffer for his art ...