Airplane! [1980]

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

PRODUCTION
Production Company: Paramount Pictures
Executive Producers: Jim Abrahams, David Zucker, Jerry Zucker
Producers: Jon Davison
Associate Producer: Hunt Lowry
Unit Production Manager: Maurice Vaccarino
Production Coordinator: Wally Graham

SCRIPT
Script: 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
Director: Jim Abrahams, David Zucker, Jerry Zucker
1st Assistant Director: Arne Schmidt
2nd Assistant Director: Ken Collins
DGA Trainee: Dan Attias

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

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

MUSIC
Music: Elmer Bernstein; John Williams [theme from Jaws [1975]]; Michael J. Shea, J.H. O'Donnell, John F. Shea [Notre Dame Victory March]
Songs: Barry Gibb, Maurice Gibb, Robin Gibb [Stayin' Alive]; Peter Yarrow [River of Jordan]; Stephen Sondheim, Jule Styne [Everything's Coming Up Roses]; Otis Redding [Respect]
Song Performed By: The Bee Gees [Stayin' Alive]
Orchestrator: David Spear
Music Editors: Kathy Durning, Jeff Carson, La Da Productions

SOUND
Recording Mixer: Tom Overton
Boom Operator: Dennis Jones
Re-Recording Mixer: 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

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

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

VISUAL EFFECTS
Visual Effects: Motion Pictures Incorporated / Blalack and Shourt; Visual Concept Engineering / Kuran and casady; Magic lantern / Bill Hedge; Special Projects / Chris Walas; Robert Keith and Company Inc
Process Supervisor: Donald Hansard
Effects Unit Gaffer: Brink Brydon
Effects Unit Grip: Jerry Deats
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 Property Master: Tom Crowl
Lead Person: Mike Higelmire
Title Designer: Dan Perri

MISCELLANEOUS
Script Supervisor: Nancy Hansen
Supervisor of Production Administration: Betty Moos
Transportation: Tom Baker, Glenda Baker
Airport Arrangements: Steve Kramer
Choreographer: Tom Mahoney
1st Aid: Dave Miller
Wranglers: Dick Webb, J.L. Mitchell
Unit Publicist: Art Sarno
Magic Consultant: Larry Wilson
Craft Service: Adam Culunga
Generally In Charge of a Lot of Things: Mike Finnell
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: 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 [uncredited]

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

CAST
Robert Hays [Ted Striker]
Julie Hagerty [Elaine Dickinson]
Lloyd Bridges [McCroskey]
Leslie Nielsen [Doctor Rumack]
Robert Stack [Captain Rex Kramer]
Peter Graves [Captain Clarence Oveur]
Lorna Patterson [Randy]
Stephen Stucker [Johnny]
Kareem Abdul-Jabbar [Roger Murdock]
Otto [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 [1st 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]
Larry Blake [upside-down man - uncredited]
Susan Breslau [ticket agent - uncredited]
Leslie Hoffman [passenger in terminal - uncredited]
Kitten Natividad [woman in tight shirt - uncredited]
Dr Robert Nevin [other doctor / plane passenger - uncredited]

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]

CENSORSHIP HISTORY

Finland
Rating: K-12

Ireland
Rating: 12

Netherlands
Rating: AL

Norway
Rating: 11

UK
Rating: A [theatrical]; PG [video]; 15 [DVD]

USA
Rating: PG

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]

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!

L'aereo più pazzo del mondo - 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
Die Unglaubliche Reise in einem Verrückten Flugzeug - 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
An American Werewolf in London [1981]
Chicken Park [1994]
The Hamster Factor and Other Tales of Twelve Monkeys [1996]
Independence Day [1996]
Jaws [1975]
The Kentucky Fried Movie [1977]
Pinocchio [1940]
Shriek If You Know What I Did Last Friday the 13th [2000]
Spy Hard [1996]
Toy Story 2 [1999]
The Wizard of Oz [1939]

FOOTAGE INCLUDED IN
AFI's 100 Years, 100 Laughs: America's Funniest Movies [2000]
Precious Images [1986]

KEYWORDS

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

Last Updated: 6 March, 2007