This re-release trailer for Hell’s Angels, the classic film by Howard Hughes, features images from the movie as well as coverage (:59) of the world premiere at the Chinese Theater. At 1:08, Hollywood Blvd. is illuminated for two miles through the heart of Hollywood, with airplane cut-outs decorating the overhead electric trolley lines. At 2:36, star Jean Harlow is shown at the premiere.

Hell’s Angels is a 1930 pre-Code independently made American epic aviation war film, directed and produced by Howard Hughes, that stars Ben Lyon, James Hall, and Jean Harlow. The film, which was written by Harry Behn and Howard Estabrook, was released by United Artists. Originally shot as a silent film, Hughes retooled Hell’s Angels over a lengthy gestation period. Most of the film is in black-and-white, but there is one color sequence, the only color footage of Harlow’s career.

Controversy during the Hell’s Angels production contributed to the film’s notoriety, including the accidental deaths of several pilots, an inflated budget, a lawsuit against a competitor (The Dawn Patrol), and repeated postponements of the release date. Hell’s Angels was one of the highest-grossing films of the early sound era, but despite this it still failed to recover its exorbitant production costs. It is now hailed as one of the screen’s first sound action films.

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This film is part of the Periscope Film LLC archive, one of the largest historic military, transportation, and aviation stock footage collections in the USA. Entirely film backed, this material is available for licensing in 24p HD, 2k and 4k. For more information visit http://www.PeriscopeFilm.com