Hell's Angels is a 1930 American epic 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.