Country: USA
Year: 1930
Duration: 127'


Program notes: A legendary screen classic, Hell's Angels has all the extravagance that one might expect from a Howard Hughes production. It began as a silent film in 1926 (when Hughes was just 22 years old), was in production for three years, and consumed over four million dollars of Hughes' fortune. He exposed three million feet of film, hired 20,000 people to appear on screen, and rounded up 50 World War I planes which once again took the air in some of the most sensational stunt flying sequences ever recorded. The team of 100 flyers was led by Frank Clark, whose men experienced dozens of mid-air collisions and forced landings (including one in which pilot Al Wilson crashed in producer Joseph M. Schenck's backyard). Hell's Angels initially ran 127 minutes plus intermission, but was cut to 119 minutes and then to 115 minutes for general release, mostly for censorship reasons. In 1940, Astor Pictures bought the film from Hughes and cut is still further, to 90 minutes, creating the version most audiences are familiar with today. The UCLA Film and Television Archives preservation effort restores the film to its full running time of 127 minutes and recreates the red, blue and lavender tints which embellished the original prints. More importantly, perhaps, our restoration includes an eight-minute two-color technicolor sequence unseen since 1930. This is the only color footage known to exist of Jean Harlow, who became a major Hollywood star as a result of her appearance in Hell's Angels. Seeing Hell's Angels in its original form on the big screen is an exciting experience, granted that the plot line is, at times, overly melodramatic (leading man Ben Lyon, who eventually became a popular radio an TV star in England, often parodied the hysteria of his performance in later years). The story portion of the film was directed by James Whale, a man of great talent as evidenced by his work on Journey's End (1930), Frankenstein (1931), The Old Dark House (1932), The Invisible Man (1933), The Bride of Frankenstein (1935), and Show Boat (1936). It is curious that the dramatic scenes Whale directed for Hell's Angels have dated so badly, while the two lengthy flying sequences directed by Howard Hughes from the cockpit of his own plane are as fresh and exciting today as they must have been for audiences in 1930. (Robert Gitt)

Biography

film director

Howard Hughes

Cast

& Credits

Director: Howard Hughes.
Screenplay: Howard Estabrook e Harry Behn, da una storia di Marshall Neilan e Joseph Moncure March.
Dialogues: Joseph Moncure March.
Director of photography: Gaetano Gaudio, Harry Perry.
Editor: Douglas Biggs, Perry Hollingsworth, Frank Lawrence.
Art director: Julian Boone Fleming, Carroll Clark.
Music: Hugo Riesenfeld.
Sound: Lodge Cunningham.
Cast and characters: Ben Lyon (Monte Rutledge), James Hall (Roy Rutledge), Jean Harlow (Helen), John Darrow (Karl Armstedt), Lucien Prival (barone von Krantz), Frank Clark (luogotenente von Bruen), Roy Wilson ("Baldy"), Douglas Gilmore (capitano Redfield), Jane Winton (baronessa von Krantz), Evelyn Hall (lady Randolph), William B. Davidson (maggiore), Wyndham Standing (comandante dello squadrone RCF), Lena Malena (Gretchen), Carl von Haartmann (comandante dello Zeppelin), Stephen Carr (Elliott), Hans Joby (von Schieben), Pat Somerset (Marryat), Marylin Morgan (ragazza che vende baci), F. Schumann-Heinz (primo ufficiale dello Zeppelin), William von Brinken (von Richter).
Director of Production: Howard Hughes.
Production company: Caddo Company.
Italian distribution: United Artists.

Conservazione e restauro: Realizzati dall'UCLA usando varie fonti, incluso materiale prestato dalla Universal.
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