Airport (B or 3/4 stars)
'Airport' (directed by George Seaton & Henry Hathaway) is the granddaddy of disaster flicks; the 1st of many epic blockbusters with sprawling casts & soapy melodrama that would give way to some major catastrophe (The Poseidon Adventure, The Towering Inferno, Earthquake, other Airport movies, and so on). The narrative unfolds with a series of escalating issues at Nebraska's Lincoln International Airport, where a severe snowstorm has struck; disabling a jet that is blocking the main runway and has to be moved due to the other runway being too short for take-offs. The exasperated airport manager, Mel Bakersfeld (Burt Lancaster), has his hands full; forcing him to call genius chief mechanic, Joe Patroni (George Kennedy), to aid in this emergency.
All the while, Mel’s ill-natured wife, Cindy (Dana Wynter), tears into him for missing yet another dinner event and, subsequently, asks him for a divorce. Mel's woman-on-the-side is the younger, widowed Trans Global Airlines PR director, Tanya (Jean Seberg), who threatens to relocate to San Fran unless he fully commits to her. Mel's expert pilot brother-in-law, Vernon Demarest (Dean Martin), tries to get him fired by filing a negative report on him to the board. Vernon must also contend with his pregnant flight attendant lady friend, Gwen (Jacqueline Bisset), whom he realizes that he now loves more than his wife, Sarah (Barbara Hale).
Adding to the Mel's issues at hand is Ada Quonsett (Helen Hayes), a sweet, if eccentric old lady who is caught as a stowaway on an incoming plane & somehow gets on a flight to Rome. That Boeing 707 is piloted by an enraged Vernon, who blames Mel for his flight's delay & having to use the unsafe shorter runway. What's more? A former mental patient named D.O. Guerrero (Van Heflin), whose excavation business went bankrupt, is aboard with a bomb in his briefcase; aiming to blow up the jet so that his wife, Inez (Maureen Stapleton), can collect on his lucrative life insurance policy. A decision is made by Mel to turn that plane around back to the airport and, have stowaway Ada sit next to the suspect in an attempt to get the bomber's briefcase. But pilot Vernon distresses the bomber when he confronts him and, he bolts for the restroom to set-off the bomb. Mayhem ensues including a race against the clock to clear the main runway & land the plane without tragedy.
At a time of radical change & a new decade (1970), 'Airport' proved that there was still a high demand of Hollywood glitzy & glamoury, all-star entertainments; this film became the most successful box office story of the year. Really, this is a superficial film that doesn't dig deep into its characters. But on the whole, the script (based on a novel) keeps things humming along at a decent pace. Oddly, the 'airborne thrills' part of this 'disaster film' don't really kick into gear until the last 3rd of the film. Before that, we are introduced to the never-ending plethora of characters played by some of Hollywood's best of yesteryear & of the then-now.
Burt Lancaster - who did not care for this film, by the way - gives a sturdy performance as airport manager, Mel Bakersfeld. Dean Martin - someone I always felt should have just stuck to singing - is surprisingly effective as the main pilot. Van Heflin - who would die soon after this film - is appropriately unnerving as the deranged bomber. Maureen Stapleton is excellent as his wife Inez; providing a necessary emotional core to the story {i.e., her rushing through the airport agonizingly apologizing for what her husband did is something to see}. George Kennedy is indispensable as the crack engineer, Joe Patroni. And Helen Hayes steals every scene she's in with cheeky levity. She even won the Best Supporting Actress Oscar for her performance.
'Airport' was nominated for 10 Academy Awards, in total; including Best Picture, a slew of technicals, & nabbing the acting win for Hayes. Many thought that Karen Black should have won for her role in Five Easy Pieces, but Hollywood went for legendary Hayes. Others in the cast, such as Jean Seberg, Jacqueline Bissett, Jessie Royce Landis, Lloyd Nolan {as head of customs}, & Gary Collins aid the proceedings. As I mentioned above, this film was THE template for the 'introduce a ton of characters, get to know them, let some melodrama hit the fan, and then level them with a catastrophic event' disaster genre. I was entertained by this film greatly, while acknowledging some of its script deficiencies. Some tinkering could've made it great.
All the while, Mel’s ill-natured wife, Cindy (Dana Wynter), tears into him for missing yet another dinner event and, subsequently, asks him for a divorce. Mel's woman-on-the-side is the younger, widowed Trans Global Airlines PR director, Tanya (Jean Seberg), who threatens to relocate to San Fran unless he fully commits to her. Mel's expert pilot brother-in-law, Vernon Demarest (Dean Martin), tries to get him fired by filing a negative report on him to the board. Vernon must also contend with his pregnant flight attendant lady friend, Gwen (Jacqueline Bisset), whom he realizes that he now loves more than his wife, Sarah (Barbara Hale).
Adding to the Mel's issues at hand is Ada Quonsett (Helen Hayes), a sweet, if eccentric old lady who is caught as a stowaway on an incoming plane & somehow gets on a flight to Rome. That Boeing 707 is piloted by an enraged Vernon, who blames Mel for his flight's delay & having to use the unsafe shorter runway. What's more? A former mental patient named D.O. Guerrero (Van Heflin), whose excavation business went bankrupt, is aboard with a bomb in his briefcase; aiming to blow up the jet so that his wife, Inez (Maureen Stapleton), can collect on his lucrative life insurance policy. A decision is made by Mel to turn that plane around back to the airport and, have stowaway Ada sit next to the suspect in an attempt to get the bomber's briefcase. But pilot Vernon distresses the bomber when he confronts him and, he bolts for the restroom to set-off the bomb. Mayhem ensues including a race against the clock to clear the main runway & land the plane without tragedy.
At a time of radical change & a new decade (1970), 'Airport' proved that there was still a high demand of Hollywood glitzy & glamoury, all-star entertainments; this film became the most successful box office story of the year. Really, this is a superficial film that doesn't dig deep into its characters. But on the whole, the script (based on a novel) keeps things humming along at a decent pace. Oddly, the 'airborne thrills' part of this 'disaster film' don't really kick into gear until the last 3rd of the film. Before that, we are introduced to the never-ending plethora of characters played by some of Hollywood's best of yesteryear & of the then-now.
Burt Lancaster - who did not care for this film, by the way - gives a sturdy performance as airport manager, Mel Bakersfeld. Dean Martin - someone I always felt should have just stuck to singing - is surprisingly effective as the main pilot. Van Heflin - who would die soon after this film - is appropriately unnerving as the deranged bomber. Maureen Stapleton is excellent as his wife Inez; providing a necessary emotional core to the story {i.e., her rushing through the airport agonizingly apologizing for what her husband did is something to see}. George Kennedy is indispensable as the crack engineer, Joe Patroni. And Helen Hayes steals every scene she's in with cheeky levity. She even won the Best Supporting Actress Oscar for her performance.
'Airport' was nominated for 10 Academy Awards, in total; including Best Picture, a slew of technicals, & nabbing the acting win for Hayes. Many thought that Karen Black should have won for her role in Five Easy Pieces, but Hollywood went for legendary Hayes. Others in the cast, such as Jean Seberg, Jacqueline Bissett, Jessie Royce Landis, Lloyd Nolan {as head of customs}, & Gary Collins aid the proceedings. As I mentioned above, this film was THE template for the 'introduce a ton of characters, get to know them, let some melodrama hit the fan, and then level them with a catastrophic event' disaster genre. I was entertained by this film greatly, while acknowledging some of its script deficiencies. Some tinkering could've made it great.