Wordiezett So much average

CrawlerChunky In truth, there is barely enough story here to make a film.

BelSports This is a coming of age storyline that you've seen in one form or another for decades. It takes a truly unique voice to make yet another one worth watching.

Kaydan Christian A terrific literary drama and character piece that shows how the process of creating art can be seen differently by those doing it and those looking at it from the outside.

JohnHowardReid Copyright 1 February 1935 by Paramount Pictures, Inc. New York opening at the Paramount: 1 February 1935. Australian release: 8 May 1935. Sydney opening at the Prince Edward: 4 May 1935 (ran 2 weeks). 8 reels. 75 minutes.SYNOPSIS: Ken Gordon is a flier attempting to perfect instruments for safe flying in the dark or fog. Sheila Mason, barnstorming sky-writing stunter, managed by Nick Williams, falls in love with him. Her affection is coldly received. At the moment when triumph for his devices seems just ahead, Gordon is blinded by a gas explosion. Gordon, who has retired to the country accompanied only by his faithful mechanic, Mac, gets a seeing-eye dog to lead him around. Trying to be a writer, but only getting rejection slips, he never knows that the checks he cashes are the result of Sheila's taking any kind of a breakneck job that manager Williams can conceive. COMMENT: Attractive photography by William Mellor on the ground and Dewey Wrigley in the air; but otherwise this is a somewhat less than routine suds opera, pedestrianly directed by James Flood. Admittedly, the script is no help. It's one of those turns in which the characters stand around and talk a lot, but actually say nothing of real interest at all.The movie starts off quite promisingly too. The director gives the opening scenes extra liveliness by using a large number of camera set-ups, employing angles that are very smoothly edited. The players are not unattractive either. This first teaming of Loy and Grant (later to pair in such box-office winners as The Bachelor and the Bobby-Soxer and Mr Blandings Builds His Dream House) has considerable curiosity value.Alas, once the Grant character goes blind, the soap opera takes over, leading direction, performances - and audience interest - right down into a deep, dark decline.

Michael_Elliott Wings in the Dark (1935) *** (out of 4) Ken Gordon (Cary Grant) is a pilot who is trying to use technology so that other pilots will be able to fly blind. He meets stunt pilot Sheila Mason (Myrna Loy) but soon afterwards Ken is blinded in an accident. He soon hits depression but he believes now that he's really blind he can prove his technology.WINGS IN THE DARK isn't a masterpiece or even a classic Hollywood picture but it's certainly an entertaining if rather routine drama that features two great stars and enough entertainment to make it worth watching. The film isn't one that was made to be an "A" picture but as far as a "B" film goes there's no doubt that it's very much worth watching.There are a lot of cliché things in the picture even for 1935 standards. For starters, the entire story is rather predictable and especially in the way that it plays out. I'm not going to ruin the ending but you'll see it coming from a mile away and what happens at the very end was silly enough to where you'd have to right to boo it. Yes, the closing moments are really that bad! I'd also argue that the romance in the film really doesn't work either.With that said, there are some terrific moments with the stunt sequences. The aerial flying sequences are extremely good and if you enjoy Hollywood films with real stunts then you'll certainly enjoy what's on display here. I'd also argue that both Grant and Loy were very good in their roles. Loy got the top-billing since Grant wasn't yet a star but it's his performance that steals the picture. I wouldn't say he gave one of the greatest performances by an actor playing someone who is blind but I thought the actor did a really good job in the scenes where his character acts out his frustration.WINGS IN THE DARK will certainly appeal to fans of the two stars and they're both good enough to make it worth watching.

mark.waltz Long before "The Bachelor and the Bobby Soxer" and "Mr. Blandings Builds His Dreamhouse", Myrna Loy and Cary Grant were paired only once together, in this somewhat unbelievable aerial drama about a cocky thrill pilot (Grant) who suddenly looses his eyesight in a freak accident and with the help of fellow pilot Loy and pal Roscoe Karns, ends up back in the cockpit. Loy, playing a variation of Amelia Earhart and Katharine Hepburn's "Christopher Strong", tries to break a transit record, and in the climactic sequence, is believed missing. The blind Grant sets out to find her, leading to one of the most ridiculous abuses of reality on film.Best known for comedy, the two have proved themselves in dramatic roles, so that is not the issue here. What is obvious is that they are playing a story that needs far more reality than the script delivered, so the result is as absurd as anything you've seen on film. Grant starts off as rather obnoxious; In fact, there's nothing in his character to suggest, other than his looks, that Loy would fall in love with him. But once blind, he looses all hope, even initially rejecting the seeing eye dog Loy and Karns bring him. This leads to sequences of obvious "cuteness", and how can you not love this Rin-Tin-Tin pooch. But the star power of the leads and the dog aside, I have to mark this one as a disappointment that fails even in spite of some thrilling flight scenes and bits of amusing dialog.

wordsmith_57 It's always a treat to find an early Cary Grant movie. In this case it was a double treat since Myrna Loy played his love interest. Wings in the Dark (1935) showcases the talents of its two stars, despite the rather unbelievable plot of a recently blinded pilot (Cary Grant) who flies a plane configured with special navigating equipment he has created. While the movie ends on a typical melodramatic, if not predicable note, the movie is still one to catch. Cary Grant pulls together an admirable performance of an independent man who is suddenly blinded and goes through a myriad of emotions that come with the convalescence. This movie shows that Grant had depth as a serious actor. Catch him with two other movies with Myrna Loy, The Bachelor and the Bobby Soxer, and Mr. Blandings Builds His Dream House.