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Wings



Forever granted a place in cinematic history by winning the first ever Academy Award for Best Picture in 1927 and the only silent film to do so, William Wellman's silent epic Wings is more than an Oscar winner, but an epic story of friendship with the type of thrilling action only practical effects can imagine...

Hometown best friends Jack (Charles "Buddy" Rogers) and David (Richard Arlen) compete for the affection of a gorgeous dame (Jobyna Ralston), though Jack doesn't realise that girl next door Mary Preston (Clara Bow) has eyes for him as well. But World War I is soon upon them, so the boys are off to France to fight against the Germans. Meanwhile, Mary follows Jack into enemy lines as a nurse.

Wellman's epic drama combines the most spectacular of stunts with the most classical of melodrama, along with one of Bow's greatest performances and the screen debut of Gary Cooper. The Masters of Cinema Series is proud to present this American classic in a beautiful new restoration on Blu-ray for the first time in the UK as part of a Dual Format (Blu-ray & DVD) edition.

SPECIAL DUAL FORMAT (BLU-RAY + DVD) EDITION

• New high-definition 1080p presentation on the Blu-ray and progressive encode on the DVD
• Two optional scores: one by J. S. Zamecnik with sound effects by Ben Burtt, and the other by Gaylord Carter
• Three video documentary pieces on the film's production, restoration, and airplanes
• 48-PAGE BOOKLET containing a new and exclusive essay on the film by critic and filmmaker Gina Telaroli; an interview with William A. Wellman by Scott Eyman; an excerpt from Wellman's autobiography; and rare archival imagery

winning the first ever Academy Award for Best Picture in 1927 and the only silent film to do so

Forgetting The Artist or just not counting it?

That's not a silent film. Or rather, the soundtrack is an integral part of the film, even if nobody actually speaks.

By that standard would City Lights also not qualify as a silent film? Not meaning to hedge, just wonder if the not-talking part isn't a more significant distinction between the silent and talking cinema, rather than the presence of a synchronized score.

The Artist is a sound film done in the style of a silent. City Lights is a transitional film that doesn't easily fit into either the sound or silent category.

Two points: (1) the first Academy Awards were in 1929 and (2) there were two Best Picture awards. Wings won Outstanding Picture (i.e most box office receipts ) and Sunrise won Best Picture for Unique and Artistic Production, meaning the Academy hadn't clue what to do with it but it was too damn good to ignore.

I am surprised there is no steelbook for this

DVDBeaver

The review claims the 5.1 score on the MoC is in dts-HD High Res, which is the first time I've seen MoC use this slightly lower form of audio. Wonder if it's a mistake or not.

Well they've allocated an additional 10GB to the main feature in comparison to the Paramount disc, plus upping the Carter score to lossless, leaving under 4GB for the menus, subtitles, supplements and audio tracks. It was no doubt a worthwhile trade off going by the caps.

DVDBeaver lists the doc Grandeur in the Sky as being 25:55 on the Paramount Blu, and 35:58 on the MOC, but doesn't mention this in the review. Any word on why it's around ten minutes longer, or if this is in fact just an error in the review?

manicsounds wrote:The review claims the 5.1 score on the MoC is in dts-HD High Res, which is the first time I've seen MoC use this slightly lower form of audio. Wonder if it's a mistake or not.

It certainly is a mistake, 3840 kbps is not a possible bitrate for DTS HD HR. The 16-bit is also probably a mistake, it's most certainly a 24-bit track... if we can trust the bitrate of 3840 kbps.

EddieLarkin wrote:Well they've allocated an additional 10GB to the main feature in comparison to the Paramount disc, plus upping the Carter score to lossless, leaving under 4GB for the menus, subtitles, supplements and audio tracks. It was no doubt a worthwhile trade off going by the caps.

Looking at the caps, I'm not sure I like the strong contrast of the MoC, and without any addition except the booklet, I'm most likely not to double dip. However, looking at the space taken by the movie (only 2 Gb left for other things than the main feature), do we know if MoC kept the extras in HD ?

DVDcompare also lists 35 minutes for the featurette, yet it lists master audio for the audio specs
The featurette on the Paramount BD is also 35 minutes, dvdbeaver has a typo there.

Review @ Silent London.

Did anybody ever determine for certain whether the 5.1 track is DTS-HD HR or MA?

The track is encoded as this : DTS-HD High-Res Audio / 5.1 / 48 kHz / 3840 kbps / 16-bit (DTS Core: 5.1 / 48 kHz / 1509 kbps / 16-bit).
The 2.0 track is LPCM Audio / 2.0 / 48 kHz / 1536 kbps / 16-bit.

Thanks

I came across this NY Times article of a 1987 Library of Congress screening of what was then a new restoration. Charles (Buddy) Rogers also attended. At the time, he was 83 years old and the only featured performer from Wings who was still alive, a fact that moved him to tears when he saw the film again. (''I saw so many of my pals I'll never see again.'')

I didn't realize this, but he was also married to Mary Pickford:

NY Times wrote:The movie was shown in the library's Mary Pickford Theater, which is named for Mr. Rogers's late wife. ''Yes, I married America's Sweetheart,'' the actor said. ''Clark Gable told Mary not to marry me,'' said Mr. Rogers, who was 11 years younger than Miss Pickford. ''He told her that I was too young and that it wouldn't last.''

It lasted 43 years until Miss Pickford's death in 1979. ''I know Mary's listening in,'' Mr. Rogers said.