Movies - Airport 1975

Home > Listing Index > Movies > Airport 1975

	Movies - Airport 1975

Airport 1975 is a 1974 disaster film and the first sequel to the successful 1970 hit Airport
. Unlike the original film, Airport '75 was a bona fide "blockbuster" disaster film, with an "all-star" cast and extensive promotional campaign. The film is notable for being the prototype for the campy 70s air disaster. Its plot devices and shallow characterizations, including a singing nun (Helen Reddy), a former glamorous star (Gloria Swanson), an alcoholic (Myrna Loy), a child in need of an organ transplant (Linda Blair), and a chatterbox (Sid Caesar) were parodied in 1980's Airplane!
. The characteristics of Airport 1975 were also used in numerous similar films to come, including the film's own sequels: Airport '77
and The Concorde: Airport '79
.

Though derided by the critics upon its release, Airport 1975 was ultimately a success. With a budget of $3 million, the film made over $23 million at the box office. Helen Reddy was nominated for a Golden Globe Award for Most Promising Newcomer - Female. The film was included, however, in the popular book The Fifty Worst Films of All Time
three years later in 1978. Notable from a modern perspective is the film's blatant sexism and contrived plot and characters.

Plot

While flying his small private plane, businessman Scott Freeman (Dana Andrews) suffers a fatal heart attack and crashes into the cockpit of commercial Boeing 747 airliner. With the flight crew either dead or dying, stewardess Nancy Pryor (Karen Black) takes control of the plane with the help, over the radio, of chief training pilot Alan Murdock (Charlton Heston). As the time comes for the plane to attempt a landing, the risk of having Murdock board the plane midair is undertaken.

Trivia

Columbia Airlines is the name of a fictional airline used in the film. The plane used in the film was an American Airlines Boeing 747, registration number N9675, which was redressed as the notional "Columbia Airlines" plane. The aircraft's operator is United Parcel Service under the registration number N675UP and, as of 2005, is now stored at Roswell, New Mexico.

The Beech Baron in the film uses the callsign 232 Zulu, which implies that its registration would be N232Z. Exterior shots show the registration as N9750Y. In a tragic coincidence this plane was involved in a fatal midair collision with a Cessna 180 near Stockton, California on August 24, 1989 killing both pilots.

Footage of the Boeing 747 featured in "Airport 1975" has been re-used numerous times as stock footage in various other films.

Cast

Charlton Heston
as Alan Murdock
Karen Black
as Nancy Pryor
George Kennedy
as Joe Patroni
Efrem Zimbalist Jr. as Pilot Stacy
Susan Clark
as Mrs. Patroni
Gloria Swanson
as Gloria Swanson
Martha Scott
as Sister Beatrice
Helen Reddy as Sister Ruth
Guy Stockwell as Col. Moss
Jerry Stiller
as Sam
Roy Thinnes
as Co-Pilot Urias
Erik Estrada
as Navigator Julio
Dana Andrews
as Scott Freeman
Sid Caesar
as Barney
Linda Blair
as Janice Abbott
Nancy Olson
as Mrs. Abbott
Kip Niven as Lt. Thatcher
Ed Nelson
as Maj. Alexander
Beverly Garland
as Mrs. Freeman
Myrna Loy
as Mrs. Devaney

[ Visit the complete Wikipedia entry for Airport 1975 ]

This page is based on the copyrighted Wikipedia article Airport 1975; it is used under the GNU Free Documentation License. You may redistribute it, verbatim or modified, providing that you comply with the terms of the GFDL.

Searches on eBay