Airplane! (1980)

Country of Origin: USA
Year of Production: 1980
Running Times: 88m
Length: 7,817 ft
Format: 35mm
Colour Format: Metrocolor
Aspect Ratio: 1.37:1 [negative ratio], 1.85:1 [intended ratio]
Sound: mono

DIRECTION

Directed by: Jim Abrahams, David Zucker, Jerry Zucker

CREW

PRODUCTION
Copyright: © MCMLXXX [1980] Paramount Pictures Corporation
Production Company: Paramount Pictures presents a Howard W. Koch production
Executive Producers: Jim Abrahams, David Zucker, Jerry Zucker
Produced by: Jon Davison
Associate Producer: Hunt Lowry
Unit Production Manager: Maurice Vaccarino

SCRIPT
Written for the Screen by: Jim Abrahams, David Zucker, Jerry Zucker
Original Scripts: Arthur Hailey (Flight Into Danger; Zero Hour); Hall Bartlett (Zero Hour), John C. Champion (Zero Hour) [all uncredited]

DIRECTION
First Assistant Director: Arne Schmidt
Second Assistant Director: Ken Collins
DGA Trainee: Dan Attias
Script Supervisor: Nancy Hansen

PHOTOGRAPHY
Director of Photography: Joseph Biroc
Camera Operator: Frederick J. Smith
Assistant Camera Persons: Todd Henry, Jamie Anderson
Gaffer: Larry Gilhooly
Electrical Department: Gary Wostack, Danny Marzolo
Gripology: Pete Papanickolas
Grips: Bill Decker, Edmond Wright, Nick Papanickolas
Stills: John Monte
Lenses and Panaflex Camera: Panavision

EDITING AND POST-PRODUCTION
Film Editor: Patrick Kennedy
Assistant Editor: Scott Wallace

MUSIC
Music by: Elmer Bernstein
Orchestrations: David Spear
Music Editors: Kathy Durning, Jeff Carson, La Da Productions

SONGS AND ADDITIONAL MUSIC
"Stayin' Alive"
Written and performed by The Bee Gees
Courtesy of RSO Records
Published by Stigwood Music, Inc.

"Theme from Jaws"
By John Williams

"Notre Dame Victory March"
By Michael J. Shea, J.H. O'Donnell & John F. Shea

"River of Jordan"
By Peter Yarrow

"Everything's Coming Up Roses"
By Stephen Sondheim and Jules Styne

"Respect"
By Otis Redding

SOUND
Recording Mixer: Tom Overton
Boom Operator: Dennis Jones
Re-recording Mixers: John T. Reitz, David Campbell, Dave Hudson
Sound Editor: Sound FX Inc./Jim Troutman
Assistant Sound Editor: David A. Whittaker [uncredited]
Vocal Effects Advisor: Allison Caine

COSTUMES AND MAKE-UP
Costume Designer: Rosanna Norton
Costume Supervisor: Aggie Lyon
Costumer: Victoria Snow
Make-up Artist: Edwin Butterworth
Hair Stylist: Joan Phillips

SPECIAL EFFECTS
Director of Photography Special Effects: Bruce Logan
Miniature Special Effects: Richard O. Helmer
Special Effects: John Frazier

VISUAL EFFECTS
Process Supervisor: Donald Hansard
Effects Unit Gaffer: Brink Brydon
Effects Unit Grip: Jerry Deats

Visual Effects by: Motion Pictures Incorporated/Blalack & Shourt; Visual Concept Engineering/Kuran & Casady; Magic Lantern/Bill Hedge; Special Projects/Chris Walas; Robert Keith & Company, Inc.

TITLES AND OPTICALS
Title Design: Dan Perri
Opticals: Jack Rabin and Associates
Additional Opticals: Howard Anderson Company

DESIGN AND SET CONSTRUCTION
Production Designer: Ward Preston
Set Designer: Joe Hubbard
Set Decorator: Anne D. McCulley
Property Master: Steven Levine
Assistant Prop Master: Tom Crowl
Lead Person: Mike Higelmire
Construction Coordinator: Wally Graham

OTHER CREW
Supervisor of Production Administration: Betty Moos
Generally In Charge of a Lot of Things: Mike Finnell
Airport Arrangements: Steve Kramer
Choreographer: Tom Mahoney
Magic Consultant: Larry Wilson
Transportation: Tom Baker, Glenda Baker
Unit Publicist: Art Sarno
Wranglers: Dick Webb, J.L. Mitchell
Craft Service: Adam Culunga
First Aid: Dave Miller
Author of A Tale of Two Cities: Charles Dickens

LOCATIONS
Locations: Culver City, California, USA; Los Angeles International Airport, Los Angeles, California, USA; Los Angeles, California, USA

ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
Special Thanks to: Kim Jorgensen, Pat Proft
The producers gratefully acknowledge: Trans American Freight Lines; Atari, Inc.; Schumacher Animal Rentals; Argon Oil Company; Ron Smith Look-Alikes; Dick Lowry; Laurie Abdo; Sheri Maruno; Paul Turner; Nancy Cocuzzo; Danice Hertz; Dennis Park; Sheila Sullivan; Terry Shagin; Robert Reilly; Richard Raynis; Susan Breslau; Jason Black; Erika Hiller; Chris Ross; Peter Ivers; Karen Rasch

STUNTS
Stunt Cordinator: Conrad Palmisano
Stunts: Conrad Palmisano, Jesse Wayne [both uncredited]

CASTING
Casting: Joel Thurm
Additional Casting: Susan Arnold, Wally Nicita, Gretchen Rennell

CAST

starring
Robert Hays (Ted Striker)
Julie Hagerty (Elaine Dickinson)

Kareem Abdul-Jabbar as [Roger] Murdock
Lloyd Bridges as McCroskey
Peter Graves as Captain [Clarence] Oveur
Leslie Nielsen as Dr. Rumack
Lorna Patterson as Randy
Robert Stack as [Captain Rex] Kramer
Stephen Stucker as Johnny

and introducing
Otto as himself

Jim Abrahams (religious zealot 6)
Frank Ashmore (Victor Basta)
Jonathan Banks (Gunderson)
Craig Berenson (Paul Carey)
Barbara Billingsley (jive lady)
Lee Bryant (Mrs Hammen)
Joyce Bulifant (Mrs Davis)
Mae E. Campbell (security lady)
Ted Chapman (airport steward)
Jesse Emmett (man from India)
Norman Alexander Gibbs (1st jive dude)
Amy Gibson (soldier's girl)
Marcy Goldman (Mrs Geline)
Bob Gorman (striped controller)
Rossie Harris (Joey Hammen)
Maurice Hill (reporter #3)
David Hollander (young boy with coffee)
James Hong (Japanese general)
Howard Honig (Jack)
Gregory Itzin (religious zealot #1)
Howard Jarvis (man in taxi)
Michael Laurence (newscaster)
David Leisure (first Krishna)
Zachary Lewis (religious zealot #3)
Barbara Mallory (religious zealot #2)
Maureen McGovern (nun)
Nora Meerbaum (cocaine lady)
Mary Mercier (Shirley)
Ethel Merman (Lieutenant Hurwitz)
Len Mooy (reporter #1)
Ann M. Nelson (hanging lady)
Laura Nix (Mrs Hurwitz)
John O'Leary (reporter #2)
Cyril O'Reilly (Bill the soldier)
Bill Porter (hospital contortionist)
Nicholas Pryor (Jim Hammen)
Conrad Palmisano (religious zealot #4)
Mallory Sandler (L.A. ticket agent)
Michelle Stacy (young girl with coffee)
Robert Starr (religious zealot #5)
Barbara Stuart (Mrs Kramer)
Lee Terri (Mrs Linda Oveur)
Kenneth Tobey (Air Controller Neubauer)
William Tregoe (Jack Kirkpatrick)
Hatsuo Uda (Japanese newscaster)
Herb Voland (Air Controller Macias)
Jimmie Walker (windshield wiper man)
Jill Whelan (Lisa Davis)
Al White (2nd jive dude)
John-David Wilder (2nd Krishna)
Windy (horse)
Jason Wingreen (Dr Brody)
Louise Yaffe (Mrs Jaffe)
Charlotte Zucker (make-up lady)
David Zucker (ground crewman #1)
Jerry Zucker (ground crewman #2)

UNCREDITED CAST

Larry Blake (upside-down man)
Susan Breslau (ticket agent)
Leslie Hoffman (passenger in terminal)
Kitten Natividad (woman in tight shirt)
Dr Robert Nevin (other doctor/plane passenger)

An airliner full of oddball characters (including coming-apart-at-the-seams ex-fighter pilot Ted Striker, his dippy stewardess girlfriend Elaine, a lecherous pilot with the hots for little boys and very strange doctor) is in trouble when the crew are knocked out by food poisoning. It's up to Striker to overcome his fears and land the plane safely.

A clever spoof of all those dreadful Airport films, but strangely borrowing its plot from the equally awful Zero Hour! (1957), Airplane! delivers such a wicked killer punch that any subsequent attempts to make airborne disaster films looked like mere straight remakes by comparison. The plot plays second fiddle to a virtually non-stop barrage of gags, most of which are dead on target; verbal trickery is the key to Airplane!'s success and the writers clearly had great fun playing with words and finding not merely double meanings for most of the dialogue, but triple. Nielsen is fantastic as the oddball doctor in a role that completely changed the course of his career.

Germany
Laserdisc Distributor: Philips (63397)

UK
Theatrical Distributor: Paramount
Video Distributors: CIC; Paramount
Laserdisc Distributor: CIC (LVG 2029)
DVD Distributor: Paramount (PHE8046)

USA
Theatrical Distributor: Paramount Pictures
Laserdisc Details: Paramount (LV 1305)
DVD Distributor: Paramount (013054; includes - commentary by Jon Davison, Jim Abrahams, David Zucker and Jerry Zucker)

Finland
Rating: K-12

Ireland
Rating: 12

Netherlands
Rating: AL

Norway
Rating: 11

UK
Rating: A (theatrical); PG (video); 15 (DVD)

USA
Rating: PG
MPAA: 25740

West Germany
Rating: 12

1981
BAFTA Awards, UK
Best Screenplay (Jim Abrahams, David Zucker, Jerry Zucker) - nominated

Golden Globes, USA
Best Motion Picture: Musical/Comedy - nominated

Writers Guild of America, USA
Best Comedy Adapted from Another Medium (Jim Abrahams, David Zucker, Jerry Zucker) - winner

Young Artist Awards, USA
Best Young Comedian (Rossie Harris) - nominated
Best Young Comedienne (Jill Whelan) - nominated

1980
June
6: USA - press screening at Paramount Studios, Hollywood

July
11: USA - theatrical release

September
26: Finland - theatrical release

December
25: Sweden - theatrical release

August
10: UK - theatrical release

1981
January
6: Norway - theatrical release

1983
November
13: USA - television broadcast (on NBC)

1984
December
26: UK - television broadcast (on Thames Television)

1991
December
18: USA - laserdisc release (Paramount (LV 1305))

1997
December
25: UK - television broadcast (on BBC1)

1998
September
29: UK - television broadcast (on BBC1)

2000
October
24: USA - DVD release (Paramount (013054))

2001
March
5: UK - DVD release (Paramount (PHE8046))

2002
February
15: UK - television broadcast (on Sky One)

July
2: UK - television broadcast (on Sky Moviemax 5)
6: UK - television broadcast (on Sky Moviemax 4)
18: UK - television broadcast (on Sky Moviemax 2)
22: UK - television broadcast (on Sky Moviemax 3)

2010
May
10: UK - shown at the BFI Southbank, London

What's slower than a speeding bullet, and able to hit tall buildings at a single bound?

Thank God it's Only a Motion Picture!

Aereo più pazzo del mondo, L' - Italian title
Aterriza como puedas - Spanish title
Czy leci z nami pilot? - Polish title
Flying High
Hei, me lennetään! - Finnish title
Hjelp vi flyr - Norwegian title
Kentucky Fried Theatre's Airplane - working title
Titta vi flyger - Swedish title
Unglaubliche Reise in einem Verrückten Flugzeug, Die - German title
Vi flyver højt - Danish title
Y a-t-il un pilote dans l'avion? - French title
¿Y dónde está el piloto? - Venezuelan title

SEQUEL
Airplane II: The Sequel (1982)

SEE ALSO
American Werewolf in London, An (1981)
Chicken Park (1994)
Hamster Factor and Other Tales of Twelve Monkeys, The (1996)
Independence Day (1996)
Jaws (1975)
Kentucky Fried Movie, The (1977)
Pinocchio (1940)
Shriek If You Know What I Did Last Friday the 13th (2000)
Spy Hard (1996)
Toy Story 2 (1999)
Wizard of Oz, The (1939)

EXTRACTS INCLUDED IN
AFI's 100 Years, 100 Laughs: America's Funniest Movies (2000)
Precious Images (1986)

REFERENCES

OTHER SOURCES

BFI Southbank Guide May 2010 p.8 (UK)
illustrated listing

KEYWORDS

aircraft, disasters, air traffic control, hare krishna, alcoholics, alcohol, fish, food poisoning, flatulence, drugs, war, airports

Last Updated: 27 March, 2010