May 16, 1929
The first-ever “Best Picture” Oscar went to a movie about planes. Wings, which was also the only silent movie to win that award, told the story of two men who are in love with the same woman and end up becoming fighter pilots in World War I. The actors who played these men were Richard Arlen and Charles “Buddy” Rogers. While not as well-known today as their leading lady Clara Bow (forever remembered by silent movie buffs as the “It Girl”) or another co-star named Gary Cooper (who had a supporting role), they deserve special recognition for the realism they helped bring to that epic film.
Arlen had served as a pilot during World War I, though he never saw combat. Rogers, for his part, did not know anything about flying planes when production began. By the time filming was finished, however, he had learned how to do so. That is actually Arlen and Rogers, along with fellow actors playing other roles, in the up-in-the-air scenes. Each of these actors had to get his plane off the ground, keep it aloft, turn on a motorized camera to film himself, land safely, and of course stay in character the whole time.
About four decades after Wings entered both Hollywood and transportation history, Arlen and Rogers made their final appearance together on film. They guest-starred on the TV sitcom Petticoat Junction in an episode entitled — you guessed it — “Wings.”
Image Credit: Public Domain
For more information on the Oscar-winning movie Wings, please check out https://www.tcm.com/tcmdb/title/504086/wings#overview
Transportation History 
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