page_title: Only Angels Have Wings
section_title: Plot
hierarchical_section_title: Only Angels Have Wings / Plot
caption_attribution_description: Cropped screenshot of Jean Arthur from the trailer for the film Only Angels Have Wings. Arthur is wearing a costume designed by costume designer Robert Kalloch.
context_page_description: Only Angels Have Wings is a 1939 American adventure drama film directed by Howard Hawks, and starring Cary Grant and Jean Arthur, based on a story written by Hawks. The film also marked the first significant role in a major film for Rita Hayworth. It is generally regarded as being among Hawks' finest films, particularly in its portrayal of the professionalism of the pilots of the film, its atmosphere, and the flying sequences. The supporting cast features Thomas Mitchell and Richard Barthelmess.
  Only Angels Have Wings was based on a number of real incidents witnessed by Hawks, and although Air Mail, Night Flight, Ceiling Zero and Flight From Glory have similar stories, they are not related.
  In 2017, the film was selected for preservation in the United States National Film Registry by the Library of Congress as being "culturally, historically, or aesthetically significant".
context_section_description: Geoff Carter (Grant) is the head pilot and manager of Barranca Airways, a small, barely solvent company owned by "Dutchy" Van Ruyter (Sig Ruman) carrying airmail from the fictional South American port town of Barranca through a high pass in the Andes Mountains. Bonnie Lee (Arthur), a piano-playing entertainer, arrives on a banana boat one day. After making her acquaintance, Joe Souther (Noah Beery Jr.) crashes and dies trying to land in fog later that day.  Bonnie becomes infatuated with Geoff, despite his fatalistic attitude about the dangerous flying, and stays on in Barranca (not at his invitation, as he insists on telling her).
  The situation is complicated by the arrival of pilot Bat MacPherson (Richard Barthelmess) and his wife (and Geoff's old flame) Judy (Rita Hayworth). McPherson cannot find work in the United States because he once bailed out of an airplane, leaving his mechanic — the brother of "Kid" Dabb (Thomas Mitchell), Carter's best friend — to die in the ensuing crash.  When Geoff is forced to ground the Kid because of failing eyesight, he hires MacPherson on the understanding that he will get the most dangerous assignments.
  Dutchy will secure a lucrative government contract if he can provide reliable mail service during a six-month trial. On the last day of the probation period, bad weather closes the mountain pass. Geoff decides to try to fly a new Ford Trimotor over the mountains instead. The Kid asks to go with him as co-pilot. Geoff refuses, but then lets the Kid toss a coin to decide the matter. When it lands on the floor, Geoff discovers that the coin has two heads. Geoff still agrees to take him along. Just before leaving, Bonnie tries to talk Geoff out of going.  She takes his gun out of his holster and points it at him.  When she realizes that she cannot stop him, she drops the gun on the table, but it accidentally fires, hitting Geoff in the shoulder.
  Unable to fly, Geoff lets MacPherson take his place. However, MacPherson and the Kid are unable to climb high enough; the plane stalls and drops thousands of feet before leveling off. Geoff tells them to turn around, but they decide to try to fly through the fogged-in pass. In the pass, they encounter a flock of condors. One crashes through the windshield, paralyzing the Kid; another hits the No. 1 engine, setting it on fire. Later the No. 2 engine also catches fire. The Kid tells MacPherson to bail out, but he refuses. He turns around and returns to Barranca, managing to crash-land the burning Trimotor on the field. The Kid dies from a broken neck, but not before telling Geoff what MacPherson did. As a result, MacPherson is finally accepted by the other pilots.
  Bonnie is torn between leaving and staying, and confronts Geoff in the hope he will ask her to stay.  However, Geoff does not.  Then, with mere hours to spare on the trial period, the weather clears and Geoff has to rush off to secure the all-important contract. Before he goes, he offers to toss a coin to decide: heads, she stays; tails, she leaves. Discouraged, Bonnie gives up. As he leaves, however, Geoff gives her the coin as a "souvenir."  At first, she is distraught, but then she discovers that the coin has heads on both sides.
caption: Jean Arthur as Bonnie Lee
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