Airplane!

Year:

1980

Duration:

88 min

Genres:

Comedy

IMDB rate:

7.8

Director:

Jim Abrahams

Awards:

Nominated for Golden Globe. Another 2 wins & 5 nominations

Details

Country: USA

Release Date: 1980-07-02

Filming Locations: Culver City, California, USA

Earnings

Budget: $3,500,000

Gross: $83,453,539 (USA) (30 June 2012)

Cast

Actor

Character

Peter Graves

Airplane!

Mary Mercier

Lorna Patterson

Airplane!

Lee Terri

Kareem Abdul-Jabbar

Murdock

Lloyd Bridges

McCroskey

Julie Hagerty

Elaine

Robert Hays

Ted Striker

Leslie Nielsen

Dr. Rumack

Robert Stack

Kramer

Stephen Stucker

Johnny

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

First Jive Dude

Amy Gibson

Soldier's Girl

Marcy Goldman

Mrs. Geline

Bob Gorman

Striped Controller (as Bobby Gorman)

Rossie Harris

Joey

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

First Krishna

Zachary Lewis

Religious Zealot #3

Barbara Mallory

Religious Zealot #2

Maureen McGovern

Nun

Nora Meerbaum

Cocaine Lady

Ethel Merman

Lieutenant Hurwitz

Len Mooy

Reporter #1

Ann Nelson

Handing Lady (as Ann M. Nelson)

Laura Nix

Mrs. Hurwitz

John O'Leary

Reporter #2

Cyril O'Reilly

Soldier

Bill Porter

Hospital Contortionist

Nicholas Pryor

Mr. Hammen

Conrad E. 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

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

Second Jive Dude

John David Wilder

Second Krishna (as John-David Wilder)

Windy

Horse

Jason Wingreen

Dr. Brody

Louise Yaffe

Mrs. Jaffe

Charlotte Zucker

Make-up Lady

David Zucker

Ground Crewman #2

Jerry Zucker

Ground Crewman #1

Larry Blake

Upside-Down Man (uncredited)

Susan Breslau

Ticket Agent (uncredited)

William Duell

Reporter #1 (uncredited)

Sandra Lee Gimpel

Girl Scout in Bar (uncredited)

Leslie Hoffman

Passenger in Terminal (uncredited)

Bill Kirchenbauer

Capt. Geline (uncredited)

Joyce Mandel

Woman on Flight (uncredited)

Paula Marie Moody

Girl Scout in Bar (uncredited)

Kitten Natividad

Bouncy Topless Woman on Plane (uncredited)

Robert Nevin

Other Doctor (uncredited)

Patrick Reynolds

Third Krishna (uncredited)

Herb Vigran

Reporter #2 (uncredited)

Did you know?

Trivia

The 1988 house record "Break 4 Love" by Raze interpolates a sample of what sounds like a woman having an orgasm when in fact it's Lorna Patterson's character Randy crying when she confesses to Dr. Rumack (Leslie Nielsen) that she's 26 and never been married.

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Lloyd Bridges as Steve McCroskey spoofs his role as airport manager Jim Conrad in the TV series San Francisco International Airport (1970). Also, Robert Stack appeared as an airline pilot whose nerve fails him during an in-flight disaster in The High and the Mighty (1954). Peter Graves appeared in a similar "airplane disaster" TV movie, SST: Death Flight (1977).

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In an interview, Kitten Natividad revealed that her uncredited cameo was for the shot showing gelatin dessert wiggling on a tray below her jiggling breasts. She was not the nude that jumped into camera range.

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Goofs

When the captain notifies Chicago of the emergency, he said nothing about food poisoning, however, the air traffic controller orders all meal services canceled. This could simply be because the character never did like the food on meal services, a way to comment on how lousy airline food really is, and not because of the food poisoning on the aircraft.

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When Ted first boards the plane, Lisa's I.V. bag is hung up beside her stretcher. A few shots after that her mother is hanging the bag above her.

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Although the plane clearly has jet engines, the engine noise heard inside the cabin throughout the film is of a piston-engined propeller plane. This engine noise is taken from the film Zero Hour! and is a long-running gag: Airplane! is a spoof of disaster films such as Zero Hour and Airport.

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Quotes

Captain Oveur: What is it, Doctor? What's going on?

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Steve McCroskey: I need the best man on this. Someone who knows that plane inside and out and won't crack under pressure.

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Steve McCroskey: Gunderson, check the Radar Range. Anything yet?

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Faq

Q

What is the movie based on?

A

The film is a comedic remake of Zero Hour! as well as spoof of the various airplane disaster movies of the 1970s. Paramount made both this film and Zero Hour! so this film features the same exact plot with many names kept and much of the dialogue taken almost verbatim.

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