Combining two of his favorite past times – aviation and self-promotion – Howard Hughes’ Hell’s Angels is a true spectacle, a film that was ahead of its time technically and, most surprising, in its anti-war sentiment. Nearly three years in production, the movie’s whopping $2.8 million budget (54 million in 2025 dollars), insured the production was doomed to lose money, which it did, despite bringing $2.5 million. Yet, financial profit was not Hughes’ goal with this feature, but rather to expound on the wonders and capabilities of contemporary aircraft and highlight the bravery of the pilots of World War I.
The plot of the film is, frankly, inconsequential. Two brothers, Monte and Roy Rutledge (Ben Lyon and James Hall, respectively) join Britain’s Royal Air Force to do their part to defeat the Hun. Along the way, duels, both on the ground and in the air, occur, while Jean Harlow vamps her way towards screen immortality.
Originally filmed as a silent feature, the release of Warner Brothers’ The Jazz Singer convinced Hughes his film had to keep up with the times and ordered many scenes reshot. Never mind that the movie had been in production a year and a half, two stunt pilots and a mechanic had been killed, and two million dollars had already been spent, changes were made.
James Whale was responsible for all the earthbound moments, while the millionaire took it upon himself to capture the derring-do that occurred in the air. Give Hughes credit – he put himself in the middle of the fray, casting himself as one of the 137 pilots used in the film. Having choregraphed many of the air duels with pilot Harry Barry, the millionaire flew one of the many camera-outfitted planes and foolishly attempted a stunt no one else would do. The result was a spectacular crash that required an extensive hospital stay and multiple rounds of plastic surgery. Talk about suffering for your art…
Still, there’s no question every cent is up on the screen and Hughes, and his crew’s efforts result in some truly spectacular moments. Angels makes William Wellman’s Wings look like a dress rehearsal for war film, as images of biplanes cluttering the sky, weaving and bobbing in out of danger, is a sight to see, the realism and danger of this undertaking obvious and astonishing.
Not satisfied with these innovations, Hughes and Whale also experimented with the use of color throughout. Tinting is used during nighttime aerial sequences and in a special scene involving an exploding zeppelin. Employing a method called Multicolor they captured Harlow at her sultry best, an 8-minute sequence that’s the only known color footage of her known to exist. To be sure, these are showboating moments, but they’re in tune with the audacious nature of the production.
Today’s audiences will likely be surprised by the level of violence and the use of colorful language. Flaunting the lax enforcement of the era’s Hayes’ Code, Hughes and Whale pull no punches, striving to create a sense of realism and rawness throughout. Perhaps most shocking of all is an anti-war tirade that’s given, questioning the individual cost of those who die in the service of corporate and governmental interests. It’s as far from patriotic as you can imagine.
Despite it being a hit with audiences in 1930, Angels has become a curiously overlooked cinematic curio. The Criterion Collection has made sure future generations will be able to appreciate it with a package that contains a stunning new 4K restoration, while outtakes from the film provide a more complete look at Hughes’ intentions. An essay by journalist Fred Kaplan contains valuable insight while an interview with Robert Legato, the visual-effects supervisor on Martin Scorsese’s The Aviator, provides invaluable information regarding the difficulties Hughes and his crew faced. An interview with Harlow biographer Farran Smith Nehme rounds out the package, one that does justice to Hughes’ audacious vision.
