Left to right: Charles "Buddy" Rogers, Clara Bow, Richard Arlen
August 12, 1927: Wings premieres, directed by William Wellman, starring Charles "Buddy" Rogers and Richard Arlen as combat pilots in World War I, rivals for the affections of a woman played by Clara Bow, who became a superstar earlier in the year by starring in It. She was still "The It Girl."
Gary Cooper had a small role in the film, launching him to stardom. Two months later, The Jazz Singer opened the door for talking pictures, and Wings almost immediately became a relic.
On May 16, 1929, the 1st Academy Awards ceremony was held, honoring the best films of 1927 and 1928 -- a last gasp for the Silent Film Era. Wings was awarded Best Picture, and it remains the only silent film so honored. (The Artist was awarded Best Picture for 2011, but became a "talkie" at the end.)
Bow died in 1965, Wellman in 1975, Arlen in 1976. Rogers, known as "America's Boyfriend" for his romantic leading roles, married silent film legend Mary Pickford in 1937, following her divorce from Douglas Fairbanks Jr. They remained together until her death in 1979. Rogers lived on until 1999.
The 1990-97 NBC sitcom Wings was also about pilots, but, aside from the title, bears no resemblance to the silent film.
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August 12, 1927 was a Friday. Country singer Porter Wagoner was born. And these baseball games were played:
* The New York Giants beat their arch-rivals, the Brooklyn Dodgers -- or, rather, the Brooklyn Robins, as they were known while Wilbert Robinson was their manager from 1914 to 1931 -- 7-6 at the Polo Grounds. The Robins led 6-0 going to the bottom of the 8th, and blew it. Mel Ott was batting in the bottom of the 10th inning, and hit a ground ball to 1st base, where Babe Herman, normally an outfielder, proved he couldn't play 1st base, either, allowing Rogers Hornsby to score the winning run. Hornsby had 4 RBIs in the game, and Bill Terry went 4-for-5 on the day.
* The Boston Braves beat the Philadelphia Phillies, 12-6 at Braves Field in Boston.
* The Philadelphia Athletics beat the Boston Red Sox, 7-1 at Shibe Park in Philadelphia. Ty Cobb, now with the A's, proved he wasn't just playing out the string, going 4-for-5 with 2 RBIs. Nor was former Brooklyn star Zack Wheat playing out the string, as he went 4-for-4 with 2 RBIs.
* The Detroit Tigers beat the St. Louis Browns, 7-3 at Navin Field (later Briggs Stadium and Tiger Stadium) in Detroit.
* The St. Louis Cardinals beat the Pittsburgh Pirates, 2-1 at Sportsman's Park in St. Louis. "Sunny" Jim Bottomley hit a home run to win the game in the bottom of the 11th inning.
* The New York Yankees, the Chicago White Sox, the Cleveland Indians, the Washington Senators, the Chicago Cubs and the Cincinnati Reds were not scheduled. At the time, Babe Ruth had 36 home runs, and Lou Gehrig had 38.
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