The Broken Wing (1923 film)


The Broken Wing is a 1923 American silent aviation comedy drama film directed by Tom Forman based on the play The Broken Wing by Paul Dickey and Charles W. Goddard. The film stars Kenneth Harlan, Miriam Cooper, and Walter Long. The Broken Wing was released on August 19, 1923..

Plot

In a small Mexican town, Captain Innocencio Dos Santos rules the town with an iron fist. He pursues the beautiful Inez Villera, claiming she is his "true love". When Philip "Phil" Marvin, an American pilot flying in Mexico is caught in stormy weather and crash-lands on a nearby ranch, Inez nurses him back to health. Phil falls in love with his nurse but he has lost his memory.
Inez had been praying for a husband, and believes he will come "in a storm". She is sure that God has answered her prayers by sending him this handsome pilot. Innocencio does not like that he has a rival and arrests the pilot and threatens to kill him, before Inez intercedes. Luther Farley, a local guerrilla leader also complicates matters. Phil finally recovers his memory, repairs his aircraft and flies away with Inez.

Cast

The play "The Broken Wing" opened at the 48th Street Theater in New York City on November 29, 1920, and ran for 171 performances.
Principal photography on The Broken Wing took place in Detroit. While in production, cinematographer Harry Perry devised a camera mount that allowed him to film from a Curtiss JN-4 biplane. Using a camera mounted on the fuselage behind the rear cockpit, Perry was able to shoot the pilot in the front cockpit.

Reception

Aviation film historian Stephen Pendo in Aviation in the Cinema, considered The Broken Wing part of the theme of "Trouble in the air" that either involves passengers and crew in an emergency or the problems faced by survivors of an air-crash. In the case of The Broken Wing, the film "combined aviation comedy with the air-crash device in telling of a flier who crashes in Mexico and is nursed by Inez." Aviation film historian James M. Farmer in Celluloid Wings: The Impact of Movies on Aviation, noted that the later 1932 film was a remake of the 1923 production. He also stated, "Little air action in either production."

Preservation

The Broken Wing is one of only two of Miriam Cooper's features that still exist.

Citations