Airplane! (1980) Paramount/Comedy RT: 87 minutes Rated PG (language, crude and vulgar sexual humor, brief nudity, comic violence, brief drug use) Director: Jim Abrahams, David Zucker and Jerry Zucker Screenplay: Jim Abrahams, David Zucker and Jerry Zucker Music: Elmer Bernstein Cinematography: Joseph Biroc Release date: July 2, 1980 (US) Cast: Robert Hays, Julie Hagerty, Leslie Nielsen, Peter Graves, Lloyd Bridges, Robert Stack, Lorna Patterson, Stephen Stucker, Kenneth Tobey, Barbara Stuart, Frank Ashmore, Jonathan Banks, Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, Barbara Billingsley, Norman Alexander Gibbs, Al White, Joyce Bulifant, Nicholas Pryor, Lee Bryant, Rossie Harris, Maureen McGovern, Jill Whelan, David Hollander, Michelle Stacy, Jason Wingreen, David Leisure, Ethel Merman, Otto. Box Office: $83.4M (US)
There’s no two ways about it, Airplane is one of the most insanely funny movies of all time. It’s a landmark in the comedy genre. It put Team ZAZ (writer-directors Zucker-Abrahams-Zucker) on the map and for good reason. It’s brilliant! At once, it’s a spoof of the disaster movies of the 70s (the Airport series, in particular) and the 1957 adventure drama Zero Hour. It’s rightfully considered a high-water mark in the spoof genre. Nobody has managed to duplicate the comedic perfection it achieves in the four decades since its release. That goes for the 1982 sequel as well.
Most of the action is set aboard a TWA Boeing 707 plane flying from Los Angeles to Chicago. Ex-fighter pilot Ted Striker (Hays, TV’s Angie) hasn’t been near an airplane since he lost almost all of the men he was leading on a mission during some unnamed war. His girlfriend, stewardess Elaine Dickinson (Hagerty, What About Bob?) has just left him because she can’t deal with his problems anymore, especially his “drinking problem”. Determined to get her back, he buys a ticket and boards the flight even though the thought of flying terrifies him.
Soon after takeoff, the entire crew and several passengers are stricken with food poisoning. With nobody else on board capable of flying a plane, Ted is forced back into the pilot’s seat in order to land safely and get the sick passengers to a hospital. To do this, he’ll need the help of the crew at Chicago’s control tower. Upon learning who’s piloting the aircraft, supervisor Steve McCroskey (Bridges, High Noon) calls in Ted’s former CO Rex Kramer (Stack, The Untouchables) to talk him through the crisis.
It sounds like a standard disaster scenario, but Team ZAZ takes it to dizzying new heights with their zany brand of humor. They take all of the familiar conventions and turn them upside down with positively hilarious results.
One of the best things about Airplane is its impressive roster of supporting actors similar to the genre its spoofing. Most filmmakers would fill the roles with actors known to be funny. Not Team ZAZ! They cast actors known for serious roles and have them play it completely straight. It’s a big gamble that pays off in a big way. It’s a hell of a lot funnier watching serious actors do comedy than their comedic counterparts. Leslie Nielsen (Forbidden Planet) is cast against type as a doctor with the most deadpan bedside manner you’ve ever seen. Near the end, he delivers a pep talk right out of Knute Rockne All American. PLUS, we mustn’t forget his immortal line “And don’t call me Shirley.”
In the cockpit, you’ll find Peter Graves (Mission: Impossible) at the wheel and basketball legend Kareem Abdul-Jabbar sitting beside him in the co-pilot’s seat. Graves asking a young boy visiting the cockpit a series of inappropriate questions is as funny as it is wrong. Maureen McGovern, whose theme from The Poseidon Adventure (“The Morning After”) won the Oscar for Best Song, plays a nun with a guitar. Jill Whelan of The Love Boat is a young heart transplant patient heading to Chicago for the procedure. Barbara Billingsley (Leave It to Beaver) is an old lady fluent in jive which comes in handy in dealing with two black dudes (Norman Alexander Gibbs and Al White) speaking in subtitled jive. Did she learn it from Wally or the Beaver? David Leisure, better known as future TV spokesman Joe Isuzu (“He’s lying!”), plays a happy Hare Krishna. They’re all great, but the zaniest of them all is flamboyant air traffic controller Johnny played to nutty perfection by the late, great Stephen Stucker (The Kentucky Fried Movie). His scenes will have you rolling on the floor, laughing your ass off! Whether he’s pulling the plug on the runway’s landing lights (“Just kidding.”) or getting excited about a sale at Penney’s, this guy is a riot!
As you can see, there’s a lot going on in Airplane. Team ZAZ crams a lot of humor into 87 minutes. They’re good enough to make it all seem so effortless. The same goes for Hays who’s perfectly cast as the reluctant hero of the farce. He too takes the goofy material seriously. Hagerty delivers her melodramatic dialogue with just the right amount of OTT.
As great as the cast is, it’s the LPH (Laughs Per Minute) that really fuels Airplane. It’s a collection of sight gags, puns, sexual humor, corny jokes and goofs on other movies- e.g. Saturday Night Fever, Casablanca, From Here to Eternity, Jaws, etc. Everybody has their favorite bit. Mine involves the inflatable autopilot Otto. He should have won on Oscar for his work here.
To be fair, not every single joke lands, but for every one that doesn’t, there’s a dozen that hit the mark dead-on. They come at you fast and with a vengeance. There are so many jokes and gags that the movie demands multiple viewings. I guarantee you’ll always spot something you missed before. The jokes don’t even stop when it’s over. Watch the end credits carefully for joke titles (Worst Boy- Adolph Hitler). There’s even a post-credits scene to top it all off.
Even though it isn’t on my Top 10 list, Airplane is a comedy masterpiece. It hits the ground running and doesn’t stop. Team ZAZ doesn’t know when to stop. They maintain a perfect momentum throughout. By the end, you’ll be completely exhausted from giggling, chuckling and laughing out loud. It’s one of the greats, but I’m sure you already know this.
