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[youtube]<a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=l8wmyCcbnX0">http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=l8wmyCcbnX0</a>[/youtube]

Howard Hughes revolutionized the movie industry, he elevated and pushed film to new and higher extremes and went beyond the limits of film making. Howard Hughes was a pioneer to the film industry. Martin Scorsese said that “One of the most interesting attributes about Howard Hughes was his courage and innovation and how he was willing to just break all the rules.” Howard Hughes was the quintessential tycoon of the last century. Howard Hughes had many different facades, and revolutionized all fields, whether it was building the biggest airplane ever or being the first man to fly around the world in one single flight or breaking the world record for becoming the fastest man on the planet. Howard excelled at everything he was engaged in. When Howard Hughes dove into film he directed, produced and partially wrote “Hell’s Angels” which became Hollywood’s first million dollar blockbuster movie ever. On his unprecedented work of “Hells Angels” Howard introduced the world to a newer perspective type of action, a type of action that is seen from the cock pit of an airplane that views the aerial battles from all possible angles during the memorable dog fight scenes in the movie. Howard Hughes recreated what war was like in the air from a pilot’s perspective and pushed the pilots to go beyond all levels of safety to recapture the reality of battle on film. Hells Angels had amazing special effects and ground breaking footage that achieved graphic realism from a whole new different perspective, for all these reasons this film should be preserved for future generations.

Technology was definitely progressing in many ways during the mid to late 1920’s. Many changes were going on at the time and new inventions and new discoveries were being found. In film, movies were just starting to implement the use of sound and color in films which was a major breakthrough for the industry and created a much bigger interest of audience. The invention of the radio changed many lives in America, which defiantly help expand not just the news but Hollywood and entertainment which lead to a growing interest in entertainment and the movie industry. World War One ended a couple of years earlier; this had also helped the movie industry at the time. American’s could go and watch a movie and for a brief moment and forget about what was going on in the real world for a hour or two and enjoy themselves while lifting their morale or spirits. The movie industry definitely helped American’s get through some tough times. In 1919 a law was passed for the Prohibition of the consumption and possession of alcohol making it illegal, this as well helped the movie industry during the times, bringing more consumers towards the movies. Jazz was the music of popular choice at the time and some of the more popular artists were Duke Ellington and Al Jolson. A popular composer at the time was George Gershwin. These years were considered the roaring twenties, because everything was happening in huge proportions, people were captivated by new ideas and new breakthroughs. Howard Hughes was definitely a man in his time. Everything that Howard Hughes engaged in was a breakthrough for society and everything he did was in a huge way. Howard Hughes was a multi millionaire at a young age. Howard Hughes didn’t just change the film industry he also revolutionized aviation, aerospace and technology. Howard created his own airline company at a young age, broke speed records to become the fastest man in the world in an airplane, and was the first man ever to fly around the world in one single flight. Howard Hughes was the reason when we fly today we fly above the stratosphere. Howard had many contributions to electronics as well. Hughes aircraft became a leader in avionics developing radar, guided missiles and missile and weapon guidance systems and also the synchronous orbit communications satellite. In a book Howard Hughes the untold story Brown writes “ His legacy in the skies and in Las Vegas and on the screen, To Hughes the skies were there to conquer, and the desert was a frontier, not a wasteland, and the censorship codes were something to fight, not fear. He also left a stunning medical bequest The Howard Hughes Medical Institute. ”(Brown)Howard was always fascinated by aviation as a child and he wanted to bring that fascination to the big screen. In Hells Angels Howard shows his love for aviation through the film. Howard Hughes invested four million dollars of is own money in the making of Hells Angels and used 137 pilots, 87 airplanes, 35 camera men and 2,000 extra’s which helped him make Hollywood’s first multi million dollar film.
The movie was originally shot as silent film and was a movie that depicted World War One. The movie is centered on two brothers who are studying at Oxford together during the time of World War One. The two brothers are very different in many ways, they both end up falling for the same girl, played by Jean Harlow. The two brothers end up signing up for the Royal Flying Corps (RFC), both for different reasons. While flying a dangerous bombing mission the two brothers end up getting shot down behind enemy lines. The climax and true genius of the film are shown in the dog fight scenes. This is what catapults the film to iconic status. From a technical standpoint the dog fight scenes contained amazing aerial footage. Hells Angles created unpretentious grandeur for its aerial performance. Pilots took the planes past what was known as safe, they zoomed from beyond dangerous levels and perform stunts that cost one pilot and one mechanic their lives while shooting the film. When a pilot refused to due a risky stunt that was two dangerous Howard would get in the plane and perform the stunt himself just to get the realization of the pilots view on film. There is an aerial fight seen that involves a German zeppelin that is shot in a dual Technicolor with a purple backdrop, this complimented certain scenes that involved explosions and captured fire in its real form and changed special effects and made it more visual and real. Every detail in the film with aviation was stellar, from the take off’s to the flying v formation. The realism of the planes tale spinning out of control was epic, and was recreated to perfection and is seen throughout the dog fights. “The monumental dog fight scenes were incorporated in dozens of other films and are still stolen today.”(Historynet)
Today many people are still captivated by Hells Angels and what it did for film. The movie Hells Angels was redubbed for conversion to DVD and the film and story behind the director were brought to life by Martin Scorsese in the “Aviator” which was released in 2004, which the numbers box office movie data projected worldwide total box office growth of over 214 million dollars. During the time of the original release of Hells Angels 500,000 people waited for hours in line to see the movie and were captivated by its concept. Many people were unaware or had never seen such breath taking footage of dynamic realistic action brought to screen; the release of Hells Angles produced America’s first ever million dollar action blockbuster. Hells Angels is still viewed as a prestigious film as it was during its original release, in terms of technicality of the production many people view the film as iconic. People today are still captivated by the idea of flight and from when Howard Hughes brought it to the big screen. The movie Hells Angels gave people a glimpse of a newer standard of the way film can be shot. Hells Angels was typical of its time in terms of innovation and from its original release in 1930 and still is typical of our time today, for these reasons Hells Angels should be preserved for future generations.
During the release of Hells Angels was a time when sound was first becoming part of a movie. Inventor Lee de Forest successfully demonstrated his sound on film process called the Phonofilm. A popular film at the time was Demile’s “Ten Commandments, which was a great American silent film classic released by Paramount Pictures which also used the Technicolor film process. In 1925 the Great Charlie Chaplin wrote, produced, directed and starred in the classic silent comedy “The Gold Rush.” (hollywoodmovies) Hells Angels broke away from the modern classic films of the time, people were just not used to in you’re face action and mind blowing stunts that dazzled audiences. Hells Angels revolutionized film to a new category of action with flight through dog fight scenes. Hells Angles was innovative of its time and took film to a whole new level.
Hells Angels shares some similarities with a movie known as Pearl Harbor, both of these two films have very similar story lines. Pearl Harbor also portrays the beginning of World War 2. “Pearl Harbor also had a huge budget that was 145 million making it the biggest budget ever to get a green light.” (about movies) In Hells Angels and in Pearl Harbor there are two pilots who are very close to each other, Hells angels has two brothers and Pearl Harbor has two best friends who are like brothers but both go to war and end up falling for the same girl and get caught in a love triangle. In both movies there is a drastic ending on who actually ends up with the girl or who does not. In the two films both have a climatic ending where it is the two come face to face with who lives or who dies. The two films have a substantial amount of aerial footage as well as great special effects that are in the films, and both films used a lot of money to make and both actually came out at about even at the box office. Surprisingly the main characters in both movies are both pilots in London’s Royal Air Force and both get shot down by the Germans. In contrast, although both of the films are portraying a war, Hells Angels is about World War One and the battle is between London and Germany, and in Pearl Harbor is about World War 2 and is the United States against Japan. In Hells Angels there is an aerial battle that involves a zeppelin and in Pearl Harbor there is not. Pearl Harbor does not have a long aerial battle like Hells Angels which is about 30 minutes of footage of aerial footage. In Hells Angels in the dog fight scene with the zeppelin the film is shot with a dual Technicolor backdrop of purple or blue, which helped the special effects out a lot. Pearl Harbor had aerial dog fight scenes filmed over water and of course Jerry Bruckheimer wasn’t getting in the actual planes himself and performing the stunts in air. In Pearl Harbor there are many explosions with the help of Computer Graphics unlike Hells Angels. Although both films do contain some bad acting, not to blame Hells Angels who had actors who were used to silent acting and Jean Harlow was only 18 years old, I think Pearl Harbor is a little to wishy-washy for me.
I was stunned when I finally saw Hells Angels; the aerial footage was phenomenal and was blown away by the stunts that were actually performed by the pilots of the time. The special effects were before its time and set the bar of what could be done to make a blockbuster film. I was blown away because aviation back in the late 1920’s was still in its early progressive stages there was a lot that pilots were unaware of in terms of aviation. It was the pilots back then that took planes beyond their limits to see what could actually be done while in flight and it is shown in the movie Hells Angels during the aerial scenes. The pilots risked their lives flying into the unknown setting the standard of what a plane can and cannot do during flight, that’s what intrigues me the most about Howard Hughes was the fact that he took huge risks that revolutionized all things that he participated in. He lived to go beyond what was considered normal in every single way which eventually changed the world. Hell’s Angels is proof of that, on film Hells Angels broke through what was considered normal of the time and was considered revolutionary to the film industry. Many of our movies today are filled with action and glamour and a lot of that we owe to Howard Hughes and Hells Angels; this is the reason why I chose the film and why Hells Angels should be preserved for future generations.

Works Cited

1. Brown, Harry. The Untold Story, Da Capo Press 1996.
A book about Howard Hughes life.

2. www.historynet.com
I found this website online looking for technical information on Hells Angels

3. www.hollywoodmovies.com
I found this website online and got information for Charlie Chaplin films and the Ten Commandments