Hell's Angels is a 1930 American
war film, directed and produced by
Howard Hughes and starring
Ben Lyon,
James Hall and
Jean Harlow. The film, which was written by
Harry Behn and Howard Estabrook, centers on the
combat pilots of World War I. The picture was released by
United Artists and, despite its initial poor performance at the box office, eventually earned its production costs twice over. 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.