Actors - Airport

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	Actors - Airport

Airport is a 1970 film which tells the story of an airport manager trying to keep his fictional Chicago airport open during a snowstorm, whilst a bomber plots to blow up an airplane (a Boeing 707 in this movie).

Although it had a complex plot, Airport paved the way for the disaster movie genre and established many of the conventions for that genre.

The movie was adapted by George Seaton from the novel of the same name by Arthur Hailey. It was directed by Seaton and Henry Hathaway. It would be the last film scored by Alfred Newman before his death.

The majority of the filming was done at Minneapolis-Saint Paul International Airport, which stood in for the fictional Lincoln International Airport, which was supposedly in Chicago. Only one Boeing 707 was used in the filming: N324F, a 707-349C, was leased from Flying Tigers by Universal Studios and sported an El Al cheatline over its bare metal finish, with the fictional Trans Global Airlines (TGA) titles and tail.

Cast

It stars Burt Lancaster as Mel Bakersfeld, Dean Martin as Vernon Demarest, Jean Seberg as Tanya Livingston, Jacqueline Bisset as Gwen Meighen, George Kennedy as Joe Patroni, Helen Hayes as Mrs. Quonsett, Van Heflin as D. O. Guerrero, Maureen Stapleton as Mrs. Inez Guerrero, Barry Nelson as pilot Anson Harris, Dana Wynter as Cindy Bakersfeld, Lloyd Nolan as Standish, the head of Customs, Barbara Hale as Sarah Demarest and Gary Collins as the third officer of Flight 2, Cy Jordan.

Awards

It won the Academy Award for Best Supporting Actress (Helen Hayes), and was nominated for Best Actress in a Supporting Role (Maureen Stapleton), Best Art Direction-Set Decoration, Best Cinematography, Best Costume Design (Edith Head), Best Film Editing, Best Music, Original Score, Best Picture, Best Sound and Best Writing, Screenplay Based on Material from Another Medium.

Further Comment and Plot Outline, Airport (1970)

The one actor appearing in all four films is George Kennedy in the key role of airline mechanic Joe Patroni, although the sequels seem to have confused his wife's name and how many children he had. (Marie is the wife in the first movie, an absolutely solid marriage indicated, but Helen is his wife in the second movie. Joseph Patroni Jr. is in the second movie. Whoever his wife is, she is deceased by 1979.) Also, his position changes in each film, Senior Mechanic in Airport, VP of Operations in Airport 1975, Co-Pilot in Airport 1979).

Like its novel namesake, the movie gives some insight to the operations of a modern airport of its day, although the book is, of course, far more detailed with narrative about some functions that may persist to this day and others that may have been computerized. Some details are inexplicably changed between novel and screenplay: runway identification, for example. One learns about conga lines, noise abatement, stowaways, pilots going onto oxygen masks when one leaves the cockpit, and so forth. In the book, one learns about the delicate details of how an aircraft's freight is to be loaded. One also learns that public places like airports have methods of alerting their police without the public knowing: "Attention, Mr. Lester Mainwaring".

"Airport" has begun to show its age at the dawn of the 21st century: in 1970, Trans Global's passengers encounter no security check-in posts and may freely board their Rome-bound flight without any inspection of their carry-on baggage. The film evokes a nostalgia for a simpler, more trusting time in which one did not fear the consequences of catastrophic terrorist actions. Had even 1980s security measures been in place, much less the security restrictions imposed (in the U.S.) after the terrorist attacks upon the United States on September 11th, 2001, the chief antagonist of the story would have been stopped long before he could have boarded the ill-fated Boeing 707.

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Actors - Airport

Cast

Awards

Further Comment and Plot Outline, Airport (1970)

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