![]() But even before you consider the parody, Airport 1975 does a lot to keep you laughing thanks to both its self-serious - more on that in a moment - and its lackluster attempts at humor. While consistently funny in its own right, Airplane!‘s send-up of films like Airport 1975 forever cast their self-seriousness into a world of cheese. Or, rather, her assistant’s arm (a striking Linda Harrison under the stage name Augusta Summerland) Meanwhile, the flight is also carrying Janice Abbot (Linda Blair), a young girl in dire need of a kidney transplant.Īnd if the whole thing sounds a lot like Airplane!, that’s part of the charm. And if there were not enough Hollywood types on the flight, Gloria Swanson (as herself) is rushing back to the coast with her autobiography under her arm. ![]() She’ll need those drinks as she keeps getting accosted by Barney (Sid Ceasar), a sometimes actor who claims to have been in American Graffiti. Devaney (Myrna Loy) can drink them all under the table with her love of boilermakers. Sam (Jerry Stiller), Bill (Norman Fell) and Arnie (Conrad Janis) are a trio of drunks trying to score a few extra drinks while on the flight, but aged alcoholic movie star Mrs. Sharon (Sharon Gless) is a green stewardess enamored by the flyboys. Their boy is something of a genius and requires tons of stimulation for reasons which are never defined. ![]() Joe Patroni’s wife Helen (Susan Clark) and son are flying back from an excursion to D.C. No good reason is ever given for their strange status other than Murdoch being old, leathery and reluctant to commit. Unlike the first Airport, in which every major male character except Joe Patroni was married and screwing around, Murdoch appears to be a bachelor. Chief stewardess Nancy Pryor (Karen Black) is forced to fly the plane while flight trainer Alan Murdoch (Charlton Heston) and Columbia Airlines chief of operations Joe Patroni (a returning George Kennedy) plan a rescue from the ground.īut since this is a disaster movie, the main plot is only half the story as by 1975, disaster flicks meant subplots! Nancy and Murdoch are having some sort of relationship, but its ambiguous nature inspires Nancy to ask if they should solidify it. The collision blows the co-pilot (Roy Thinnes) out of the cockpit, kills the engineer (Erik Estrada) and blinds the captain (Efrem Zimbalist Jr.). Nearing the SLC airspace, the plane is stuck head-on by a private aircraft when its pilot (Dana Andrews in a brief cameo) suffers a heart attack. to Los Angeles, which gets diverted because of fog to Salt Lake City. The plot concerns a routine flight from Washington D.C. Executive producer Ross Hunter was pleased as punch to say this around town, so Wasserman declined the option to renew his contract at the studio.Īnd then the studio chose to make another Airport flick, Airport 1975 - this weekend’s cheesy movie. ![]() Lew Wasserman, boss of MCA (Universal’s parent company at the time) predicted the film would flop, but it turned out to be a rousing success, floating all the ships in Universal’s harbor for several years. Helen Hayes offered some classic Hollywood star power as an old lady who enjoys the challenge of stowing away on airplanes while Dean Martin served as your captain. Based on a novel by Arthur Hailey, the film starred Burt Lancaster, Jean Seberg, George Kennedy and some other recognizable faces. Well, it proved successful sometime after 1970’s Airport. But the impulse to sequelize a well-received picture proved successful for the studio during the disaster era. ![]() This is definitely true of the Jaws and Psycho sequels it brought to market. And though it eventually ascended to a major studio within a titanic conglomerate, it never completely shook off its original spirit. In Your Weekend Cheesy Movie, we’ll examine some of these misguided efforts for what they fail at achieving and what they manage to do right.Īs we’ve mentioned previously, Universal Pictures began its life as the home of cheap westerns shot quickly and inexpensively. Others become entertaining in spite of their flaws or authorial intent. Despite an earnest attempt to create compelling stories, filmmakers often miss the mark. ![]()
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