Filming
Wings was shot and completed on a budget of $2 million at Kelly Field, San Antonio, Texas between September 7, 1926, and April 7, 1927. Primary scout aircraft flown in the film were Thomas-Morse MB-3s standing in for American-flown SPADs and Curtiss P-1 Hawks painted in German livery. Developing the techniques needed for filming closeups of the pilots in the air and capturing the speed and motion of the planes onscreen took time, and little usable footage was produced in the first two months. Wellman soon realized that Kelly Field did not have the adequate numbers of planes or skilled pilots to perform the needed aerial maneuvers, and he had to request technical assistance and a supply of planes and pilots from Washington. The Air Corps sent six planes and pilots from the 1st Pursuit Group stationed at Selfridge Field near Detroit, including then-2nd Lt. Elmer J. Rogers Jr. and 2d Lt. Clarence S. "Bill" Irvine who became Wellman's adviser. Irvine was responsible for engineering an airborne camera system to provide close-ups and for the planning of the dogfights, and when one of the pilots broke his neck, performed in one of the battle scenes himself.
Hundreds of extras were brought in to shoot the picture, and some 300 pilots were involved in the filming. Because the aerial battles required ideal weather to shoot, the production team had to wait on one occasion for 18 consecutive days for proper conditions in San Antonio. If possible, Wellman attempted to capture footage in the air in contrast to clouds in the background, above or in front of cloud banks to generate a sense of velocity and danger. Wellman later explained, "motion on the screen is a relative thing. A horse runs on the ground or leaps over fences or streams. We know he is going rapidly because of his relation to the immobile ground". Against the clouds, Wellman enabled the planes to "dart at each other", and to "swoop down and disappear in the clouds", and to give the audience the sense of the disabled planes plummeting. During the delay in the aerial shooting, Wellman extensively rehearsed the scenes for the Battle of Saint-Mihiel over ten days with some 3,500 infantrymen. A large battlefield with trenches and barbed wire was created on location for the filming. Wellman took responsibility for the meticulously planned explosions himself, detonating them at the right time from his control panel. According to Peter Hopkinson, at least 20 young men, including cameraman William Clothier, were given hand-held cameras to film "anything and everything" during the filming.
Wellman frequently conflicted with the military officers brought in to supervise the picture, especially the infantry commander whom he considered to have "two monumental hatreds: fliers and movie people". After one argument Wellman retorted to the commander, "You're just a goddamn fool because the government has told me you have to give me all your men and do just exactly what I want you to do." Although Wellman paid much attention to technical details in shooting, he used cars and clothing of the year during the filming, forgetting to use those of World War I. He took six weeks to fully edit the film and prepare it for release.
Whereas most Hollywood productions of the day took little more than a month to shoot, Wings took approximately nine months to complete in total. Although Wellman was generating spectacular aerial footage and making Hollywood film history, Paramount expressed concerns with the cost of production and expanding budget. They sent an executive to San Antonio to complain to Wellman who swiftly told him that he had two options, "a trip home or a trip to the hospital". According to biographer Frank T. Thompson, Wellman approached producer David O. Selznick regarding a contract predicament asking him what he should do to which Selznick replied, "Just keep your mouth shut. You've got 'em where it hurts." Otto Kahn, the financier bankrolling the production, arrived on set as Wellman was filming the St-Mihiel battle sequence, inadvertently disrupted Wellman's detonation timings, and caused several extras to be seriously injured. Wellman loudly and profanely ordered Kahn off the set. That evening, Kahn visited Wellman in his hotel room, told him he was impressed with his direction, and he could have whatever he needed to finish the picture.
The cast and crew had a lot of time on their hands between shooting sequences, and according to director Wellman, "San Antonio became the Armageddon of a magnificent sexual Donnybrook". He recalled that they stayed at the Saint Anthony Hotel for nine months and by the time they left the elevator girls were all pregnant. He stated that Clara Bow openly flirted with the male cast members and several of the pilots which was reciprocated, despite having become engaged to Victor Fleming the day after arriving in San Antonio on September 16, 1926. Gary Cooper, appearing in a role which helped launch his career in Hollywood, began a tumultuous affair during the production with Bow. Cooper reportedly showed Howard Hughes the script to the film and he was not impressed, considering the drama in it to be "sudsy", although he informed Cooper that he looked forward to seeing how Wellman would accomplish the technical aerial sequences. Bow strongly detested the wardrobe that Paramount designer Travis Banton made for the film. She slit the necklines and cut off the sleeves of her costumes, much to Banton's chagrin.
Wings is also one of the first widely released films to show nudity. In the enlistment office, nude men are visible from behind undergoing physical exams, through a door which opens and closes several times. In the scene in which Rogers becomes drunk, the intoxication displayed on screen was genuine, as although 22 years of age, he had never tasted liquor before, and quickly became inebriated from drinking champagne. During David's death scene, Jack is plainly observed kissing him on the left cheek near the left corner of Dave's mouth, which has led to interpretations of this film as depicting cinema's first male-to-male kiss. While there is no general consensus about which film achieves this LGBT milestone, D.W. Griffith's Intolerance (1916), Cecil B. DeMille's Manslaughter (1922), and Josef von Sternberg's Morocco (1930) have also been suggested.
