Airport (1970)
Directed by George Seaton, Henry Hathaway

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...

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...