Wings Of The Morning

Wings Of The Morning (1937)

Tagline: "First Technicolour movie filmed in Britain"

Starring: Annabella, Henry Fonda, Leslie Banks

Featured Racecourse: Epsom

Director: Harold D. Schuster (replaced original director Glenn Tyron)
Producer: Robert Kane
Writers: Thomas J. Geraghty (screenplay), story by Brian Oswald Donn-Byrne, based on Destiny Bay, two short stories by Donn-Byrne

Release Date: January 1937
Runtime: 89 mins

IMDB Synopsis: The Duchess of Levya, Maria, falls in love with a horse trainer, despite being engaged to Don Diego, the Duke of Montreal.

Where to Buy: Amazon
Film Links: IMDB, BFI, Wikipedia

Personal Review


The story begins in 1890 in Ireland where a young gypsy called Marie (Annabella) and the Earl of Clontarf (Leslie Banks) fall in love and marry. Five months later the Earl is killed in a riding accident and Marie is forced to leave Clontarf castle with seemingly nothing but just before her departure she speaks to the Earl’s young cousin Valentine and promises to return one day. Marie and the rest of the gypsies leave Ireland for Spain and on the way a fortune teller tells Marie that she has been cursed for mixing blood lines and that her family will only be pure again come the fourth generation.

Skip forward fifty years and Marie (now Irene Vandbrugh) and has lost all of her possessions during the Spanish civil war but we learn that she has a great grand-daughter called Maria “Duchess of Levya”, (also Annabella) who is betrothed to Don Diego the Duke of Montreal. Marie returns to Destiny Bay “Gipsy Rest” in Ireland (land given to the gypsies for all time by Maria's great grand-father the Earl of Clontarf in 1880) and Maria soon follows, escaping from Spain dressed as a boy without Don Diego.

Maria still dressed as a boy takes Marie’s prize colt “Wings of the Morning” for a ride and falls off into the path of Canadian racehorse trainer Kerry Gilfallen (Henry Fonda) outside Clontarf castle. Carey takes a shine to “Wings” and tricks Maria into swapping the colt for six of his own hacks, much to the displeasure of her great-grandmother Marie who declares that their future is dependant of Wings.

Maria returns to Clontarf Castle to retrieve Wings of the Morning from Kerry but the horse escapes from the stables and Maria and Kerry set off into the night in pursuit. They eventually locate Wings and spend the night sheltering in a nearby stable and the next day during a playfight Kerry discovers that Maria is actually a woman.

With both families worried about the whereabouts of Maria and Kerry, Sir Valentine, Kerry’s uncle, visits Marie and the pair soon realise that they knew each other from fifty years ago with Sir Valentine referring to her as “Lady Clontarf”. Marie explains that she has lost everything in Spain except for the Colt which she entered into the Derby the day it was born but just needs to find a an experienced trainer. Maria and Kerry return to the gypsy camp with Wings and Kerry agrees to train the Colt for the Derby alongside his own Derby Hope "Destiny Bay" and Maria is also invited to stay at the castle. Once Kerry sees Maria’s true beauty he falls in love and the two become very close until her fiancée Don Diego (Edward Underdown) turns up unexpectedly at the castle – surprising Kerry who didn’t even know she was engaged. With his heart broken Kerry vows to return to Canada after the Derby.
 
Derby Day soon comes along and when Kerry learns that Marie is close to dying in the gypsy camp on Epsom Downs, he switches legendary jockey Steve Donoghue (playing himself) from his own horse Destiny Bay to Wings of the Morning to give Marie a chance of winning her fortune and Maria’s future. Wings duly wins the big race at 20/1 but there are concerns whether he will keep the race as the owner must be alive at the time of victory. Don Diego leaves Maria as he suspects she won’t have the required dowry but the gypsies rally round and prove to the race stewards that Marie is still alive and Wings keeps the £60000 prize money. Maria and Kerry are now free to settle down together in Ireland and the gypsy curse is at last lifted. 


Wings of the Morning is famous for being the first three-strip Technicolour feature film to be shot in Britain and the cinema audiences of the time must have been mesmerised by the vibrant colours of the Irish countryside, London landmarks and Epsom races. Robert Kane’s New Work Pictures, backed by Twentieth Century Fox, produced the film at a cost of $800,000 and there were plenty of issues along the way. The first director Glen Tyron, who had already shot most of the racing sequences at the 1936 Derby, was sacked and replaced by original Editor Harold Schuster to finish off the film and also at the last minute Robert Kane decided to include a three song performance from the world famous tenor John McCormack, complete with a montage of the picturesque Killarney scenery. Kane also took a chance with his leading cast giving French actress Annabella her first English role and placing her alongside Henry Fonda who at the time was relatively unknown, except for a supporting role in a US Technicolour film “The Trail of the Lonesome Pine”.

The fifteen minute Derby sequence at the end of the film is simply breath-taking and the dramatic tension is built up beautifully for the viewer. We initially see views of famous London landmarks and people making their way to the races followed by panoramic views of Epsom racecourse, individual faces of various social standing in the crowd, musical performers, bookmakers, shots of the funfair, Prince Monolulu (standard) and gypsy gatherings - all beautifully described by Edward Emmett in his plummy English accent. Although perhaps he wouldn’t get away with his narration of the gypsy scene these days; “Away in the background is a little camp of gypsy caravans, no Derby is complete without the people of Romany. Dark skinned faces, flashing teeth and gay picturesque clothes with all the colours of the rainbow, telling your fortune and wishing you luck.”

The race action itself is certainly advanced for the time with some close-up shots of the Derby runners mid-race from various angles which must have been extremely hard to film and although the footage is interspersed with Steve Donoghue on a model horse and action taken from the gallops – it is beautifully blended with footage of a 1936 Epsom race (although not the Derby) with exciting commentary provided by Capt. R. C. Lyle “Bob”. The use of Steve Donoghue (top jockey who won the Derby six times between 1915 and 1925), Capt. Lyle (BBC racing commentator and Times correspondent) and Edward Emmett (Gaumont British News reader), who also eloquently describes the post-race confusion, was a masterstroke by Kane as it adds so much authenticity to the Derby sequence.

The film plot and dialogue were widely regarded at the time as being sub-standard, but this film was all about technological innovation and for me the on-screen chemistry between the beautiful Annabella and dashing Fonda, the colourful panoramic scenes of Killarney, London and Epsom and the exquisite Derby race action more than make up for the weak storyline. (Rating 8/10)

Favourite Quotes
Kerry Gilfallen: "Holy mackerel, my friend the Duke" (on seeing Maria's true beauty for the first time)


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