Airport (1970)
Picking up the mantle where The High and the Mighty left off, Airport started a wave of disaster films in the 1970s. This is a wonderfully entertaining genre full of great films, so if you’ve missed any of them, look up a list and gather up your weekend rentals.
As the title suggests, the majority of this movie deals with the everyday operations of a busy Chicago airport. One of the planes is grounded and stuck in snow, and engineer George Kennedy is called in to fix it to make room on the runway for other planes. A stowaway is found and reported to the airport director Burt Lancaster and his assistant Jean Seberg. They’d like to scold her, but rather than a menacing thief, they find a little old lady, Helen Hayes, who charms them with her stories. Burt and Jean fight an attraction to each other because he’s married, and Dean Martin is married to Burt’s sister, Barbara Hale. Dean’s one of the airplane pilots, and he’s having an affair with one of the stewardesses, Jaqueline Bisset. And to top it off, broke, unemployed, unhappy Van Heflin promises his wife, Maureen Stapleton, a financial future before taking out a life insurance policy on himself. Also, keep an eye out for Barbara Hale, Whit Bissell, Jessie Royce Landis, and Dana Wynter.
This is a long movie because it has a long setup, introducing all the characters and giving you a reason to care about them, should anything happen. Remember how long The High and the Mighty was? Just hang in there, because things get interesting fast. This is a very exciting movie, with a stirring theme by Alfred Newman to help you along. This is both Alfred Newman and Van Heflin’s last movies, so treasure them while you can. I didn’t really like Van in the beginning of his career, but as soon as he made Madame Bovary, he won my heart. I felt particularly sorry for him in this movie; I kept wanting to give him a big hug and make him feel better!
Helen Hayes won her second Oscar for being a cute little old lady, and while it’s quite obvious she won for sentimental reasons, she is very cute and very little. It’s no wonder she enjoyed a comeback and resurged her career with some Miss Marple tv movies. While Burt Lancaster, Jean Seberg, and Lloyd Nolan seem a bit superfluous, Dean Martin gives an unusually strong performance. He doesn’t often get to be genuinely romantic and tender, and he makes the most of his opportunity. I don’t know why Burt got first billing (besides the Oscar on his mantle) because it’s clearly Dean’s movie.
This, Airport 75 and Airport 77 were the basis for the great spoof flick Airplane. Have all four handy for a fun weekend. This one will make you chuckle as soon as Dean Martin picks up the white phone when he’s paged. Hopefully you won’t chuckle too much, since it is a tense thriller. I found it exciting, even fifty years later!
Want to watch it? Click here to watch it on ok.ru. And thanks "Sara Corales" for posting!
More Whit Bissell movies here!
More Helen Hayes movies here!
More Burt Lancaster movies here!
Be sure to check out Hot Toasty Rag's review of 1974's Airport '75 here!
Be sure to check out Hot Toasty Rag's review of 1977's Airport '77 here!
Be sure to check out Hot Toasty Rag's review of 1979's Airport...Le Concord here!
As the title suggests, the majority of this movie deals with the everyday operations of a busy Chicago airport. One of the planes is grounded and stuck in snow, and engineer George Kennedy is called in to fix it to make room on the runway for other planes. A stowaway is found and reported to the airport director Burt Lancaster and his assistant Jean Seberg. They’d like to scold her, but rather than a menacing thief, they find a little old lady, Helen Hayes, who charms them with her stories. Burt and Jean fight an attraction to each other because he’s married, and Dean Martin is married to Burt’s sister, Barbara Hale. Dean’s one of the airplane pilots, and he’s having an affair with one of the stewardesses, Jaqueline Bisset. And to top it off, broke, unemployed, unhappy Van Heflin promises his wife, Maureen Stapleton, a financial future before taking out a life insurance policy on himself. Also, keep an eye out for Barbara Hale, Whit Bissell, Jessie Royce Landis, and Dana Wynter.
This is a long movie because it has a long setup, introducing all the characters and giving you a reason to care about them, should anything happen. Remember how long The High and the Mighty was? Just hang in there, because things get interesting fast. This is a very exciting movie, with a stirring theme by Alfred Newman to help you along. This is both Alfred Newman and Van Heflin’s last movies, so treasure them while you can. I didn’t really like Van in the beginning of his career, but as soon as he made Madame Bovary, he won my heart. I felt particularly sorry for him in this movie; I kept wanting to give him a big hug and make him feel better!
Helen Hayes won her second Oscar for being a cute little old lady, and while it’s quite obvious she won for sentimental reasons, she is very cute and very little. It’s no wonder she enjoyed a comeback and resurged her career with some Miss Marple tv movies. While Burt Lancaster, Jean Seberg, and Lloyd Nolan seem a bit superfluous, Dean Martin gives an unusually strong performance. He doesn’t often get to be genuinely romantic and tender, and he makes the most of his opportunity. I don’t know why Burt got first billing (besides the Oscar on his mantle) because it’s clearly Dean’s movie.
This, Airport 75 and Airport 77 were the basis for the great spoof flick Airplane. Have all four handy for a fun weekend. This one will make you chuckle as soon as Dean Martin picks up the white phone when he’s paged. Hopefully you won’t chuckle too much, since it is a tense thriller. I found it exciting, even fifty years later!
Want to watch it? Click here to watch it on ok.ru. And thanks "Sara Corales" for posting!
More Whit Bissell movies here!
More Helen Hayes movies here!
More Burt Lancaster movies here!
Be sure to check out Hot Toasty Rag's review of 1974's Airport '75 here!
Be sure to check out Hot Toasty Rag's review of 1977's Airport '77 here!
Be sure to check out Hot Toasty Rag's review of 1979's Airport...Le Concord here!
Hot Toasty Rag Awards:
Best Musical Score of 1970: The Esteemed Alfred Newman
Hot Toasty Rag Nominations:
Best Supporting Actor: Van Heflin