Only Angels Have Wings (EOTWS)

End Of The Week Shorts #51 extract: Only Angels Have Wings (1939)

A truly tremendous film, one of the great Old Hollywood pictures--a picture that stands as testament to the immortality of an impeccable movie with its heart in the right place. 

A stoic romance - something that is about as rare as a proper musical in the modern day - Only Angels Have Wings is a study in subtle change and acceptance. With characters that have long understood their hubris and imperfection as their humanity, personalities are all formed and inflexible. They nonetheless resemble puzzle pieces that, with a push, pull and a squeeze, may slot together; a true, real and poignant depiction of love, however Hollywood-ised, one that does not suggest we have to all go through hell and transform entirely for endless bliss, instead, simply fall, trust our feet to land well, if not, a helping hand to catch us. The kind of romance Hollywood as long forgotten how to make, Only Angels Have Wings is an absolute must see for all.