Film Review
The film that launched a thousand (well, a few dozen at the very least)
disaster movies in the 1970s is itself something of a disaster,
although its ridiculously contrived plot, poor special effects and hammy
performances make it a surprisingly entertaining offering in a genre
that is justly held up to ridicule. Helen Hayes won an Oscar for
her supporting role (as a harmless old lady with a knack of defrauding
airlines) and she is easily the best thing about the film. In
comparison with the far more sober and far better constructed
The Poseidon Adventure (1972)
and
The Towering Inferno (1974),
Airport feels horribly like a
half-hearted parody of a disaster movie, complete with laughably bad
soap-style digressions and mediocre special effects (who would guess
the film was made on a ten million dollar budget?).
Performances vary from quite admirable (Helen Hayes and Jean Seberg) to
pretty awful (Dean Martin and Burt Lancaster), although George Seaton's
screenplay doesn't leave much room for acting skill as the characters
are all pretty well wooden stereotypes with a severe personality
bypass. As trashy as it undoubtedly is,
Airport is far more watchable than
its three dismal sequels, mainly because it doesn't take itself too
seriously. It took a 100 million dollars at the box office,
despite being comprehensively panned by the critics. Today, the
scariest thing about the film is how (if you believe the totally
convincing scenario put before us) lax airport security was in the
1970s. It was truly a decade of innocence...
© James Travers 2012
The above content is owned by filmsdefrance.com and must not be copied.
Film Synopsis
Airport manager Mel Bakersfeld has his work cut out when a snow
blizzard threatens to close his airport. As he deals with the
small problem of an airliner stuck in a snowdrift, blocking a runaway,
his wife threatens to divorce him, but that's fine because he's had
enough of her social ambitions and he'd rather be with his public
relations officer, Tanya Livingston. The latter has problems of
her own, in the shape of a dear old lady named Ada Quonsett who has a
habit of stowing away on the company's airliners because she can't
afford the airfare and security is apparently so lax than anyone could
walk onto an aeroplane without a ticket. Airport security is no
match for Mrs Quonsett and once again the old dear has managed to slip
on board an airliner unnoticed, this time a Boeing 707 bound for
Rome. Not a good choice as it turns out, because one of the
passengers on this flight has decided to cash in his life insurance by
blowing the plane up when it is out above the Atlantic. Despite
Mrs Quonsett's best efforts, the bomber manages to blow a hole in the
side of the aircraft. The only casualty is stewardess Gwen
Meighen, who is caught in the blast and ends up with splinters in her
eye. How wise she was to tell the captain, Vernon Demerest, that
she is pregnant with his child just before takeoff. Trying not to
be distracted by Gwen's desperate need for eye surgery and the fact
that a large crack has suddenly appeared in the fuseslage, Demerest
takes charge and attempts to guide the stricken aircraft to the nearest
open airport, which just happens to be the one from which it took
of. As luck would have it, the only runway that is safe to land
on is the one that is still being blocked by the stranded
aircraft. It is going to be one of those days...
© James Travers
The above content is owned by filmsdefrance.com and must not be copied.