Stars: Burt Lancaster, Dean Martin, George Kennedy, Jacqueline Bisset, Jean Seaberg
Best Quote: -The instruction book said that was impossible.
Joe Patroni: That's one nice thing about the 707. It can do everything BUT read.
A re-watch on my part, Hated by the critics but loved by the audience, Airport is the grand-daddy of the 1970s disaster movies and one of the best. Airport has a lot of things going for it. Nostalgia value, intentional AND unintentional humor, some fine supporting acting and -once it gets going -a slick, and engrossing plot. Lets take them in order.
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| Shrimp and Caviar - For Everyone! |
Anyone who travels by air in 2018, has to smile, or even laugh out loud, at the air travel world of 1970. Van Heflin walks on board with his attache case full of dynamite - and no one even inspects it. I guess that would be rude. Even more incredible, he lights up a cigarette in mid-flight, and never even asks for permission! No "None smoking sections" on this flight. Meanwhile, the first class passengers are eating shrimp and caviar and I didn't see a single overhead bin jammed with luggage.
During the flight, we get a clue why everything is so luxurious. A snotty passenger states he's paying $474 (one-way tourist) to go Chicago-Rome. That's equal to $4,000 today. No doubt if a 2018 round-trip to Chicago-Rome cost $8,000, we'd be back to 1970 standards.
And then there's Airport's "liberated" sexual morality, which today seems like the opposite. We have two bright young things (Seaberg and Bissett) having affairs with older married men (Lancaster and Martin). But we're not supposed to look down on anyone or be prudish. Hey, its 1970 -those girls "know the score" - and being pregnant is Bissett's problem. And we're supposed to sympathize with Lancaster - after all his wife's a shrew and he has an Airport to run, dammit! The male chauvinism meter is off the charts.
Nothing upset the elite critics more - or made me laugh more - than Airport's mainstream, often corny humor. Whether its Helen Hayes being cute and funny or Martin giving the airplane nerd some double-talk or Kennedy barking out a Petroni quip or a Priest "accidentally" hitting a cowardly whiner - I love the humor.
The Great Supporting Cast
The heart and soul of Airport is the great supporting cast. We can start with Van Heflin and Maureen Stapleton who add some pathos as the crazy bomber and sad wife. Then there's George Kennedy, so lively and interesting, he made a career out the role. And who can forget Helen Hayes, who was AA nominated? Even some of the smaller roles are well done. There's Gary Nelson, the Pipe smoking Pilot, Barbara Hale - Dean Martin's Wife. Larry Gates as the pompous Boss - how dare he disagree with Burt Lancaster. Burt's trying to run an Airport - dammit! And of course, Jessie Royce as the wealthy smuggler. Who else would smuggle in a diamond bracelet on her pet poodle?
Slick and Engrossing Plot
Once Airport finally gets in the air (about the 1 hour mark) - it draws you in, even though we all know no plane with Dean Martin is going to crash. Will Van Heflin explode the bomb? Will Dean-o land the plane before it falls apart? Will Kennedy clear runway 2-9 in time?
The Flaws
On re-watch, its really dull the first 30 minutes. This part should be titled "Airport Manager" - as you follow an obviously bored Burt Lancaster, as he fights with his wife, schmoozes with Girl Friday Seaberg, convinces Kennedy to deal with that stuck airplane on runway"Two-niner", and tells his boss he's going to keep the airport open, no matter how much it snows - dammit. Fortunately, Van Helflin and Stapleton arrive at the 32 minute mark, and things get much more interesting.
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