This article is my contribution to the Classic Movie Blog Association's Blogathon, "Planes, Trains and Automobiles." Click here to find all the wonderful bloggers and their articles! http://clamba.blogspot.com/2015/10/its-time-for-cmba-fall-blogathon-trains.html
Sitting in the audience for the 1980 premiere of Airplane, waves of laughter began with the first few seconds and continued throughout the whole movie.
(I didn't realize until my second viewing that the jet airliner was making propeller noises!)
Airplane is one of the best comedy films ever made -- every one of us at that premiere laughed so hard we all had sore throats at the end ... those of us who stayed through the credits got even more laughs, particularly with the ending threats of penalites of prison and all that, which ends with "So There!"
Airplane was a first of its kind -- the types of jokes and slapstick comedy it created have been copied many times over the years. I wonder if it isn't rather difficult for generations of kids since that time to understand just how funny this movie was. A great deal of it is dated with references to politics and culture of the time, which subsequent generations would probably not understand unless they had a mother like me who raised my kids with the classics and the best of the modern. Another huge part of the film's comedy which younger audiences would not understand, was seeing previously famous leading men and women, none of whom had ever done comedy, appear in these roles. A particular favorite of mine is Robert Stack, one of the most straight-backed, monotonal, stiff upper lip actors ever. I loved him as Eliot Ness on TV, and he was always a straight drama man. It took just a few seconds to change his persona forever with one of the biggest laughs for me....
Robert Stack
The handsome, straight-laced, Leslie Nielsen found a new and prolific career simply by appearing in Airplane. He went on to do Naked Gun, Dracula Dead and Loving It, and many more comedies.....
Peter Graves, another actor who had never done comedy, had made his mark also hosting TV series. It was such a fabulously funny shock to see him play the role of Captain Oveur....
Lloyd Bridges, father of Beau and Jeff, known to TV audiences from Sea Hunt, with a prolific film career behind him, all drama, was another wonderful pick....
The jive guys and Barbara Billingsley--June Cleaver, the Beaver's mother! Who knew? Another huge laugh...
Kareem Abdul Jabbar -- sports fans everywhere still know about this one!
And a very, very special appearance by the fabulous Ethel Merman! What a treat!
To end this tribute to a wonderful movie, here's a shout-out to the relatively unknown young stars, Julie Hagerty and Roberts Hays, performing one of the best known scenes -- disco love in a sleazy waterfront bar!
