Mary Preston is the “girl next door” and the neighbor of the male lead, Jack Powell. She is in unrequited love with Jack, quietly harboring deep longing for him, but he doesn’t notice her — instead Jack is infatuated with another woman, Sylvia Lewis.

When WWI breaks out and Jack, along with his rival-turned-friend David Armstrong, enlist as fighter pilots, Mary doesn’t stay idle. She volunteers and becomes an ambulance driver in the war effort. Her choice to serve shows she’s not just pining at home, she wants to contribute and stay connected to Jack, even though she knows her feelings are unacknowledged.

In France, she encounters Jack again, but in a difficult situation: he’s drunk and doesn’t even recognize her. Despite this, she cares for him, brings him back to his room, and takes care of him. The scene ends dramatically: while she’s changing back into her uniform (after helping him), two military police burst in and misunderstand the situation. As a result she is forced to resign and returns home to the United States.

While Mary Preston may not be the film's main action hero, and her screen-time is limited compared to the male leads, her decision to step into a more active, significant wartime role was unique for a woman in war films of that era, giving her a measure of agency rather than being a passive love interest.

*Wings (1927)

*Mary Preston is portrayed by Hollywood actress Clara Bow.
*The film is the only silent film to win the Academy Award for Outstanding Picture during the first Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences award ceremony in 1929.

*[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wings_(1927_film) Wikipedia]

Category:Heroes
Category:Female Characters
Category:1927 Debuts
Category:Movie Characters
Category:Preston Family Characters
Category:Non-Powered Characters
Category:War Genre Characters
Category:War Heroes
Category:Nurse Characters
Category:John Monk Saunders - Creator
Category:Paramount Characters
Category:Academy Awards Characters