Airport (movie)

Airport , or Airport in Quebec, is anAmerican filmdirected byGeorge Seaton, released in1970. This is one of the first successes of the wave ofdisaster moviesof the 1970s.

Synopsis

Following a snowstorm, a plane gets bogged down on the main runway of Lincoln’s (fictitious) international airport near Chicago and blocks traffic. Managing Director Mel Bakersfeld calls on Joe Patroni to lead the rescue teams. Meanwhile, pilot Vernon Demarest, Bakersfeld’s brother-in-law, prepares for the flight of his Boeing to Rome . He does not know that a desperate wants to take advantage of the flight to commit suicide by blowing up the plane.

Technical sheet

  • Original title and french: Airport
  • Quebec title: Airport
  • Director: George Seaton
  • Scenario: George Seaton based on Arthur Hailey’s novel
  • Artistic direction: Alexander Golitzen and E. Preston Ames
  • Costumes: Edith Head
  • Photography: Ernest Laszlo
  • Editing: Stuart Gilmore
  • Music: Alfred Newman
  • Production: Ross Hunter
    • Associated Production: Jacques Mapes , Gordon Cornell Layne (uncredited)
  • Production Company (s): Universal Pictures and Ross Hunter Productions
  • Distribution Company (s): Universal Pictures , Universal Pictures France
  • Budget: US $ 10,000,000 1
  • Country of origin: United States
  • Original languages: English and Italian
  • Format: color ( Technicolor ) – 70 mm – 2.20: 1 – sound: Stereo 4 tracks (magnetic prints 35 mm ) / 70 mm 6 tracks (Westrex Recording System) (copies 70 mm ) / Mono (optical copies 35 mm )
  • Genre : disaster
  • Duration: 137 minutes
  • Release dates:
    •  United States :
    •  France :
  • Classification: France: All ages / Canada: PG (Ontario) / USA: G

Distribution

  • Burt Lancaster (VF: Claude Bertrand ) : Mel Bakersfeld
  • Dean Martin (VF: Jean-Claude Michel ) : Capt. Vernon Demerest
  • Jean Seberg (VF: Jeanine Freson ) : Tanya Livingston
  • Jacqueline Bisset (VF: Évelyn Selena ) : Gwen Meighen
  • George Kennedy (VF: André Valmy ) : Joe Patroni
  • Helen Hayes (VF: Henriette Marion ) : Ada Quonsett
  • Van Heflin (VF: Serge Nadaud ) : DO Guerrero
  • Maureen Stapleton (TV: Jacqueline Ferrière ) : Inez Guerrero
  • Barry Nelson (VF: Marc Cassot ) : Capt. Anson Harris
  • Dana Wynter (VF: Claude Gensac ) : Cindy Bakersfeld
  • Lloyd Nolan (VF: Pierre Leproux ) : Harry Standish
  • Barbara Hale (VF: Nicole Maurey ) : Sarah Bakersfeld Demerest
  • Gary Collins : Cy Jordan
  • John Findlater (VF: Serge Lhorca ) : Peter Coakley
  • Jessie Royce Landis : me Harriet DuBarry Mossman
  • Larry Gates (VF: Yves Brainville ) : Ackerman Commissioner
  • Peter Turgeon : Marcus Rathbone
  • Whit Bissell (VF: Jacques Mauclair ) : Mr. Davidson
  • Paul Picerni (VF: Jean Shepherd )r . Compagno
  • Eileen Wesson : Judy Barton
  • Robert Patten (VF: Jean-Claude Balard ) : Capt. Benson
  • Clark Howat (VF: Jacques Harden ) : Bert Weatherby
  • Lew Brown : Reynolds
  • Dick Winslow : Mr. Schultz
  • Virginia Gray : me Schultz
  • Lou Wagner (VF: Bernard Tiphaine ) : Schuyler Schultz
  • Albert Reed : Lt. Ned Ordway
  • Jodean Lawrence : Marie Patroni
  • Ilana Dowding : Roberta “Robbie” Bakersfeld
  • Lisa Gerritsen : Libby Bakersfeld
  • James Nolan (VF: Georges Hubert ) : Father Steven Lonigan

And, among the uncredited actors:

  • Eve Brent : me David Corman, a transient
  • Robert Brubaker : r . Nash
  • Nick Cravat : Nick Valli, a passenger
  • Harry Harvey : r Avery Smith, a passenger
  • Celia Lovsky : me Williams, a transient
  • Eve McVeagh : me Henry Bron, transient
  • Belle Mitchell : Bertha Kaplan, a passenger
  • Kathleen O’Malley : me Chuck Beale, a transient
  • Pat Priest : me Jerry Copeland, a transient
  • Quinn K. Redeker (VF: Vincent Davy ) : John Reindel, ground steward
  • Ron Stokes (VF: Jacques Ferrière ) : the taxi driver
  • Frederick Worlock : Frederick Williams, a passenger

To note

  • This film triggered a wave of air disaster movies in the 1970s . It was parodied in 1980 by brothers David and Jerry Zucker with Is there a pilot on the plane? . The concept of the depressive bomb will be particularly taken in Is there finally a pilot on the plane? . Instead of an unemployment problem, it will be a problem of sexual impotence.
  • This is the latest film by Van Heflin and composer Alfred Newman .
  • Christopher Lloyd makes two appearances in the film: First in the role of the boss of the restaurant where DO Guerrero leaves his wife, then in that of a bus passenger.
  • Three films followed, all with George Kennedy as Joe Patroni
  • 1974 : 747 at risk of Jack Smight
  • 1977 : The Shipwrecked 747 of Jerry Jameson
  • 1979 : Airport 80 Concorde by David Lowell Rich

Quote

“The Boeing 707 is able to do everything … except read! ”

Awards

  • Winning the Academy Award for 1971’s Academy Award for Best Supporting Actress ( Best Actress in a Supporting Role ) for Helen Hayes (who was not present at the ceremony, and that’s who received the Rosalind Russell price)
  • Winning the Golden Globe 1971 for a Golden Globe for best supporting actress ( Best Supporting Actress ) for Maureen Stapleton (shared with Karen Black for Five Easy Pieces 1970).
  • Award winning Laurel Awards 1971 with a Golden Laurel for the best supporting actress ( Best Supporting Performance, Female) for Helen Hayes
  • Winner of the 1971 Golden Reel Award for Motion Picture Sound Editors for Best Recording Dialogues ( Best Sound Editing – Dialogue)

Notes and references

  1. ↑ http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0065377/business  [ archive ]

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