''Wings in the Dark'' is a 1935 film directed by

James Flood James Joseph Flood (1895-1953) was an American film director. Born in New York City, Flood became an assistant director with Biograph in 1912 and was active through 1952. Career When working on ''The Swellhead'', Flood decided he wanted to ...

and starring

Myrna Loy Myrna Loy (born Myrna Adele Williams; August 2, 1905 – December 14, 1993) was an American film, television and stage actress. Trained as a dancer, Loy devoted herself fully to an acting career following a few minor roles in silent films. ...

and

Cary Grant Cary Grant (born Archibald Alec Leach; January 18, 1904November 29, 1986) was an English-American actor. He was known for his Mid-Atlantic accent, debonair demeanor, light-hearted approach to acting, and sense of comic timing. He was one o ...

and focusing on a daring woman

aviator An aircraft pilot or aviator is a person who controls the flight of an aircraft by operating its Aircraft flight control system, directional flight controls. Some other aircrew, aircrew members, such as navigators or flight engineers, are al ...

and an inventor thrust into a desperate situation. ''Wings in the Dark'' was produced by Arthur Hornblow, Jr. The film was the first that Loy and Grant made together, although Loy's biographer Emily Leider says that ''Wings in the Dark'' "wastes their talents and prompts an unintentional laugh fest."Leide
2011, p. 151.
/ref> The film remains notable as a rare movie depiction of a blind protagonist (played by Grant) during the 1930s, and is also known for its accomplished aerial photography directed by Dewey Wrigley.

Plot

Skywriter and stunt pilot Sheila Mason (

) who has to work as a barnstormer because women were not allowed in other aviation fields, is attracted to ace pilot Ken Gordon (

). Ken is trying to perfect instrument flying (flying "blind"), with his own design of an

autopilot An autopilot is a system used to control the path of an aircraft, marine craft or spacecraft without requiring constant manual control by a human operator. Autopilots do not replace human operators. Instead, the autopilot assists the operator' ...

. He has devoted four years to perfecting the system and even mortgaged his aircraft to finance his experiments. Before being able to prove his invention works, a stove accident blinds him. The doctors cannot say for how long. When Ken retreats from the world, Mac (

Hobart Cavanaugh Hobart Cavanaugh (September 22, 1886 – April 26, 1950 ) was an American character actor in films and on stage. Biography He was born in Virginia City, Nevada on September 22, 1886. Cavanaugh attended the University of California. He worked i ...

), his friend and partner, brings him

Lightning Lightning is a naturally occurring electrostatic discharge during which two electric charge, electrically charged regions, both in the atmosphere or with one on the land, ground, temporarily neutralize themselves, causing the instantaneous ...

, a

seeing eye dog Guide dogs (colloquially known in the US as seeing-eye dogs) are assistance dogs trained to lead blind or visually impaired people around obstacles. Although dogs can be trained to navigate various obstacles, they are red–green colour bl ...

. He first resists any efforts to help him, but with the help of his dog, he learns to navigate around his household and soon keeps busy by writing aviation articles. Sheila, who has fallen in love with Ken, does not tell him that the articles are all being rejected. She gives him money to survive by taking on dangerous stunts arranged by her manager, Nick Williams (

Roscoe Karns Roscoe, also spelled Rosco or Roscow, may refer to: People * Roscoe (name) Places United States * Roscoe, California (disambiguation) * Roscoe Township (disambiguation) * Roscoe, Georgia, an unincorporated community * Roscoe, Illinois, a villag ...

). Ken finally regains his confidence and continues to work on his autopilot when the Rockwell Aviation Company, based at Roosevelt Field near New York, repossesses his aircraft. Distraught, Ken accuses Sheila of falling for him out of pity and sends her away. She plans a solo flight from Moscow to New York to win a $25,000 prize so they can marry. Her last stage from Boston to New York finds Sheila nearly out of fuel and running into bad weather. She navigates by looking down to see where she is, but over Roosevelt Field, the fog is so heavy that she may not be able to land. With help from Mac, Ken sneaks into his old aircraft and takes off, using his autopilot to help Sheila land. While in the air, Ken talks to Sheila about his desperation of being blind and not having any future. His intention is to bring her to the ground and then fly until he runs out of fuel and crashes. Sheila tries to dissuade him, but he is determined. The two pilots make it down, but Sheila deliberately crashes into Ken's aircraft to make sure that he will not try to kill himself. A huge crowd has gathered at the airport. As the two greet the public and the press, Ken sees flashes of light from the exploding flash bulbs of the photographers. Ken and Sheila embrace as their car continues through the throng of well-wishers.

Cast

as Sheila Mason *

as Ken Gordon *

as Nick Williams *

as Mac *

Dean Jagger Dean Jagger (November 7, 1903 – February 5, 1991) was an American film, stage, and television actor who won the Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor for his role in Henry King (director), Henry King's ''Twelve O'Clock High'' (1949). E ...

as Top Harmon *

Russell Hopton Harry Russell Hopton (February 18, 1900 – April 7, 1945) was an American film actor and director. Biography Hopton was born in New York City, New York. He appeared in 110 films between 1926 and 1945, often playing streetwise characters f ...

as Jake Brashear *

Matt McHugh Matthew O. McHugh (January 22, 1894 – February 22, 1971) was an American film actor who appeared in more than 200 films between 1931 and 1955, primarily in small cameo parts. Career McHugh came from a theatrical family. His parents ran a s ...

as 1st Mechanic *

Graham McNamee Thomas Graham McNamee (July 10, 1888 – May 9, 1942) was an American radio broadcaster, the medium's most recognized national personality in its first international decade. He originated play-by-play sports broadcasting for which he was awa ...

as Radio Announcer *

the dog

Production

Principal photography for ''Wings in the Dark'' began on October 22, 1934. Captain Earl H. Robinson was the technical advisor on the film and adapted the screenplay with Dale Van Every.

Amelia Earhart Amelia Mary Earhart ( , born July 24, 1897; disappeared July 2, 1937; declared dead January 5, 1939) was an American aviation pioneer and writer. Earhart was the first female aviator to fly solo across the Atlantic Ocean. She set many oth ...

also visited the set as a consultant. Ken Gordon's aircraft is a

Lockheed Model 8 Sirius The Lockheed Model 8 Sirius was a single-engined, propeller-driven monoplane designed and built by Jack Northrop and Gerard Vultee while they were engineers at Lockheed in 1929, at the request of Charles Lindbergh. Two versions of the same basic ...

; other aircraft include a Travel Air B 4000, flown by Sheila Mason, and a

Lockheed Vega 5B The Lockheed Vega is an American five- to seven-seat high-wing monoplane airliner built by the Lockheed Corporation starting in 1927. It became famous for its use by a number of record-breaking pilots who were attracted to the rugged and very l ...

Reception

In his review for ''

The New York Times ''The New York Times'' (''the Times'', ''NYT'', or the Gray Lady) is a daily newspaper based in New York City with a worldwide readership reported in 2020 to comprise a declining 840,000 paid print subscribers, and a growing 6 million paid ...

'', film critic Andre Sennwald described the film as "... a pleasantly performed and skillfully filmed melodrama of the peacetime airways which is hampered by an addle-pated narrative. High altitudes have a tendency to make scenarists just a trifle giddy, with the result that the big climax of the Paramount's new photoplay has the appearance of having been composed during a tail spin."Sennwald, Andre
"Movie review: 'Wings in the Dark' (1935); Tale of a sightless aviator in 'Wings in the Dark,' at the Paramount."
''The New York Times'', February 2, 1935.

Nell Shipman Nell Shipman (born Helen Foster-Barham; October 25, 1892 – January 23, 1970) was a Canadian actress, author, screenwriter, producer, director, animal rights activist and animal trainer. Her works often had autobiographical elements to them and ...

, one of the writers of the original story "Eyes of the Eagle", which pivoted upon a fictionalized version of

, whom Shipman knew personally, was extremely disappointed by Myrna Loy's performance and the diminishing of the seeing eye dog as one of the main characters.

Mandell Mandell is a surname and a given name: Notable people with the surname include: *Arnold J. Mandell, American neuroscientist and psychiatrist *Barbara Mandell (1920–1998), British television journalist and travel writer *Daniel Mandell (1895–19 ...

2002, p. 307.

Graham Greene Henry Graham Greene (2 October 1904 – 3 April 1991) was an English writer and journalist regarded by many as one of the leading English novelists of the 20th century. Combining literary acclaim with widespread popularity, Greene acquir ...

called the film "as sentimental as it is improbable," but "... as exciting as it is naive."Greene and Parkinso
1993, p. 7.
/ref> Aviation historians consider ''Wings in the Dark'' one of a number of poorly done aviation filmsYoun
2007, p. 43.
/ref> made during the early part of the Depression.Harriso
2000, p. 116.
/ref>

References

Notes

Citations

Bibliography

* Dwiggins, Don. ''Hollywood Pilot: The Biography of Paul Mantz''. Garden City, New York: Doubleday & Company, Inc., 1967. * Greene, Graham and David Parkinson. ''Mornings in the Dark: The Graham Greene Film Reader''. Manchester, UK: Carcanet Press, 1993. . * Harrison, James P. ''Mastering the Sky: A History of Aviation from Ancient Times to the Present''. New York: Da Capo Press, 2000. . * Leider, Emily W. ''Myrna Loy: The Only Good Girl in Hollywood''. Oakland, California: University of California Press, 2011. . * Mandell, Deena. ''Deadbeat Dads: Subjectivity and Social Construction''. Toronto, Ontario, Canada: University of Toronto Press, 2002. . * Young, William H. and Nancy K. Young. ''The Great Depression in America: A Cultural Encyclopedia''. Santa Barbara, California: Greenwood Publishing Group, 2007. .

External links

* * {{James Flood American aviation films American romantic drama films Films about blind people Films directed by James Flood Paramount Pictures films American black-and-white films 1935 romantic drama films 1935 films 1930s English-language films 1930s American films Films about disability