Only Angels Have Wings

While waiting for her boat, Bonnie Lee stops at a small airport in South America. The pilots there deliver..

• Director:Howard Hawks
• Genre:Adventure / Drama / Romance
• Runtime:116 minutes

Cast

Cary Grant : Geoff Carter
Jean Arthur : Bonnie Lee
Richard Barthelmess: Bat Mac Pherson
Rita Hayworth : Judy MacPherson
Thomas Mitchell : Kid Dabb

Geoff Carter (Cary Grant) is a pilot and the manager of a small, barely-solvent air service owned by “Dutchy” Van Reiter (Sig Ruman) carrying mail from the port town of Barranca (Barrancabermeja) in Colombia over the Andes Mountains. Bonnie Lee (Jean Arthur), a piano-playing entertainer, arrives one day and becomes infatuated with Carter, despite his fatalistic attitude about the dangerous mountain flying, and stays on in Barranca (not at Carter’s invitation, as he insists on telling her).

The situation is complicated by the appearance of Bat Kilgallen (Richard Barthelmess) and his wife Judy (Rita Hayworth). Kilgallen is a pilot shunned by other fliers because he once bailed out of a plane, leaving his mechanic—the brother of ‘Kid’ Dabb (Thomas Mitchell), Carter’s best friend—to be killed in the resulting crash. Carter needs pilots badly, but he is unwilling to hire Kilgallen even so. However, when Judy begs him to give her husband a chance, he gives in, with the understanding that Kilgallen will get the most dangerous flights.

Dutchy will secure a lucrative government mail contract if he can provide reliable service during a trial period. On the last day of the trial, bad weather closes a mountain pass. Bat and Kid try flying over the mountains in a new Ford Trimotor instead. However, they are unable to climb high enough. On the way back, birds crash into the airplane, paralyzing Kid. Bat refuses to bail out and manages to land the burning plane. Kid dies, but not before telling Geoff of Bat’s heroism.

Bonnie finally gives up on Geoff and bids him goodbye. He offers to toss a coin to decide: heads, she stays; tails, she leaves. Then the weather clears; Geoff rushes out to secure the all-important contract. Bonnie is unwilling to decide her life so haphazardly, until she sees that the coin has heads on both sides. Read more