How do you handle loss?  That is the central question in Only Angels Have Wings (1939).  When you are dealing with the possibility of death at any moment as we shall soon see, one develops coping mechanisms.  It is sad to see when events appear so difficult for some that they blame God, turning away from the ultimate source of comfort.  Interestingly, Faith has little to do with today’s movie despite the title.  I admit to having picked it partially because it has the word “Angels” in it.  Another big reason is that it stars Cary Grant.  He has been in other productions with a more purposeful Christian bent to them, but that is not so evident in this one.  Instead, it refers to the hubris of man, particularly in the 1930s, to fly airplanes in dangerous parts of the globe.  They do it for the lucrative paydays, preferring to stay in the moment rather than be tormented by past fatal mistakes or the nerve-racking future.  There is some utility for a practicing Catholic in this attitude, which I hope will emerge as I describe the plot.  If not, stick around for the rest to find out how this works.

A fact like Only Angels Have Wings is made evident as soon as Bonnie Lee (Jean Arthur) disembarks in the fictional South American port of Barranca.  This rough town sandwiched between the sea and the Andes Mountains is a mere stop off for her on the way to performing as a singer in other more lucrative parts of the world.  As the bananas are loaded onto her boat, she steps onto terra firma and is followed by “Tex” Gordon (Don Barry) and Joe Souther (Noah Beery Jr.).  Once she realizes the two men are fellow Americans, she lets them take her to their local watering hole for a drink and potentially a bite to eat.  Joe wins the honor of the meal, but before it can be had, they are interrupted by Geoff Carter (Cary Grant).  He is the manager and chief pilot for Barranca Airways, the owner of which, John “Dutchy” Van Ruyter (Sig Ruman), also operates the bar and restaurant.  Geoff has come with orders for Joe to take off on a delivery run.  Yet, he is turned back not long after departure by heavy fog.  The dense midst also obscures the landing strip, and he dies after clipping a tree while attempting to land.  Bonnie is horrified by the cavalier way in which Joe’s death is treated, feeling as if they are not honoring his memory properly by moving on almost immediately as if Joe never existed.  Bonnie privately confronts Geoff on this reaction, learning that they have to live in the present in order to cope with the dangers of flying airplanes in this part of the world.  So attracted does she become to this way of being that she decides to stay behind despite him insisting that she move on with her ship.  This is only the beginning of Geoff’s problems.  The next to come along is Bat MacPherson (Richard Barthelmess), a new pilot with a history with Geoff and his right hand man, “Kid” Dabb (Thomas Mithcell).  Kid’s brother and Geoff’s best friend had once been Bat’s mechanic.  The reason for the past tense is because Bat had bailed out of a plane with his mechanic still in it, leaving the other man to die.  Though Geoff is cognizant of the tension Bat’s presence will bring, Geoff needs every available flyer.  This becomes particularly true when Tex breaks his arm while trying to calm Kid down over Bat’s presence.  For Geoff, the situation is made worse by Bat’s wife, Judy MacPherson (Rita Hayworth).  She is the woman who had come closest to getting Geoff to give up the aviation business, and her departure had callused him to life in general.  Yet, she does not know about Bat’s actions earlier in her husband’s career, and she is unaware as to why anyone would see Bat differently.  Bat proves his worth, though, by taking on the most dangerous missions that other pilots will not attempt, and returning safely even when the flight cannot be completed.  Speaking of danger, the government approaches Dutchy with an opportunity to make a lot of money by fulfilling a mail carrying contract, which would keep the airlines going for the foreseeable future.  At the same time, a storm moves into the area, which makes the route over the Andes that much more impassable.  Geoff is about to take to the skies himself when he is accidentally shot in the shoulder by Bonnie, who had finally been able to make him understand that she loves him.  Owing to his wound, Bat volunteers to go with Kid.  As they are about to make it through a high mountain pass, their airplane is struck by condors.  The collision results in Kid breaking his neck, and Bat having to land a plane that has caught on fire.  Bat being able to bring the mortally wounded Kid back safely earns him the respect he had so desperately wanted.  This is cemented when Kid uses his dying breath to tell Geoff about Bat’s exemplary behavior in the midst of their midair troubles.  It brings Geoff back to Bonnie, and it looks like they might be throwing away any chance at a future together when the ship at the port whistles for passengers to come aboard.  What she is hoping for is that he will ask her to stay.  With the weather clearing and a mail agreement to fulfill, he is eager to be away with the other pilots.  When pressed, he flips a coin on the matter: heads she stays, tails she goes.  She is about to protest when she realizes that there is a head figure on each side.  Mollified, she runs out to see him take off, and this is where the movie concludes.

I enjoyed Cary Grant in Only Angels Have Wings, though I could not entirely tell why Bonnie would have been interested in his character at any point.  For example, she walks in on him as he is getting reacquainted with Judy, and in a manner not exactly becoming of a married woman.  He also has stereotypes about women, one of which pertains to the notion that they like to make plans for the future.  This goes directly against his principle of living in the moment.  In other words, he epitomizes what the title suggests because he is no heavenly creature.  Despite all this, God desires that we focus more on the present.  There is nothing we can do about either the past or the future.  Both of those periods are in God’s hands, and none of us, thankfully, are God.  The only thing we can control is what is happening in this moment, and that is a blessing.  Any amount of regret over previous events will do nothing to change them.  As for what is to come, there is nothing wrong with planning.  Indeed, it is good to at least have a sense of how you will handle things.  At the same time, we have to be able to accept that circumstances can and will change.  When Bonnie stepped off the boat in Barranca, it was simply to stretch her legs before moving on with the rest of her showbusiness career.  She likely had no clue that she would go on to spend weeks there pining after a man with a view of society that inspires her.  I can apply the same logic to my own vocation.  Had you told me when I was eighteen that I would still be unmarried by the time I am forty-four, I would have looked at you like you were crazy.  These days, with prayer, I am learning to concentrate on the only concrete thing God gives us, and that is this very moment.  God is in it with me, and with you, and we should be thankful for this fact.  What we should avoid, though, is bitterness.  This tinges what would otherwise be an arguably healthy way in which Geoff handles struggles, excessive drinking and smoking aside.  We can mourn the loss of loved ones.  This is something even Jesus did.  But there is a time for doing so, a discrete one, that once experienced should be left in the past.  When viewed from the proper lens, this is how the employees of Barranca Airlines behave.

The behavior of pilots like Geoff in Only Angels Have Wings can be praised from a narrow point of view, but it does have enough utility for a practicing Catholic to at least learn something.  Overall, the movie is a little hard to follow, but it does have Grant in it.  That makes it worth at least a view.