Bit to Do

Have I ever mentioned how much I love silent films? I'm not sure if I have stated it explicitly, although it has certainly been implied. It was the medium of the great Charlie Chaplin, who continued to make silent films long after the advent of synchronized sound, claiming that talking distracted (and detracted) from the action on-screen: he believed that all that should be said could be said with body language; after all, “City Lights” is subtitled “A Comedy Romance in Pantomime.”

While Chaplin is definitely the greatest of the silent screen directors (in my not-so-humble opinion), others who deserve to be forever remembered include Fritz Lang (“Metropolis,” “Destiny”), Sergei Eisenstein (“Battleship Potemkin”), and especially F.W. Murnau, whose films never fail to captivate, from the genuinely scary “Nosferatu” to the heartbreaking tale of “The Last Laugh” to one of my favorite films of all time, and, in my opinion, the best love story ever put to film, “Sunrise.”

All this to say that the silent era was a fantastic time for artistic expression, and thus I am excited to announce a special screening at Cinemark Tinseltown of William Wellman's 1927 film “Wings,” which tells the story of two World War I fighter pilots who are in love with the same woman. The film stars Charles Rogers and Richard Arlen as the competitors for the heart of Clara Bow.

The film is also significant in that it won Best Picture in the first ever Academy Awards (beating out Lewis Milestone's “The Racket” and Frank Borzage's “Seventh Heaven” [somehow, criminally, “Sunrise” wasn't even nominated, although it did win awards for cinematography and “artistic and unique production”]).

“Wings” plays at Tinseltown today (Wednesday) at 2:00 and 7:00 as part of the Cinemark Classics series. Tinseltown is located at 4400 Towne Center Drive. Further information can be found at the Cinemark website.

Image: Internet Movie Database