Lois Larson
The 1970 film Airport, starring Burt Lancaster, Dean Martin, Jean Seberg, and Jacqueline Bisset, is considered a classic example of the 1970s disaster film genre. Based on Arthur Hailey's 1968 novel of the same name, the film revolves around an airport manager's attempts to keep his airport open during a snowstorm, while a suicide bomber plots to blow up a plane in flight. The film combines elements of fiction and non-fiction, with a fictional plot and setting but attention to detail in depicting day-to-day airport operations. The film was a commercial success, grossing over $100 million at the box office, but received mixed reviews, with Lancaster himself calling it a piece of junk. The success of Airport led to three sequels and inspired numerous parodies and spoofs, including the 1980 film Airplane!.
| Characteristics | Values |
|---|---|
| Genre | Action, Drama, Thriller |
| Based on | Arthur Hailey's 1968 novel, Airport |
| Film series | Airport, Airport 1975, Airport '77, The Concorde... Airport '79 |
| Plot | Response to a snowstorm, environmental concerns, and an attempt to blow up an airliner |
| Main character | Airport manager |
| Cast | Burt Lancaster, Dean Martin, Maureen Stapleton, Van Heflin, George Kennedy |
| Awards | Academy Award for Best Supporting Actress for Helen Hayes |
| Nominations | 10 Academy Award nominations |
| Rating | 6.6 on IMDB, 75% on Rotten Tomatoes, 42/100 on Metacritic |
| Gross earnings | $45.3 million in North America, $387.5 million worldwide |
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What You'll Learn
The 1970 film 'Airport' was based on a novel
The 1970 film Airport was based on a novel of the same name by Arthur Hailey. Published in 1968, the novel spent 64 weeks on the New York Times bestseller list, 30 of which were at #1, and became the biggest-selling novel of that year. Hailey's novel was adapted into a screenplay by George Seaton, who also directed the film.
The film follows the events of the novel, focusing on the response to a paralysing snowstorm at Lincoln International Airport, a fictional airport located near Chicago. The plot intertwines personal stories of various characters, including an airport manager trying to keep the airport open during the storm and a suicide bomber plotting to blow up a Boeing 707 airliner in flight.
The film starred Burt Lancaster, Dean Martin, Jean Seberg, Jacqueline Bisset, and George Kennedy. Despite Lancaster's negative opinion of the film, calling it "a piece of junk", it was one of the most profitable of his career. The film grossed over $128 million worldwide and was a commercial success, surpassing Spartacus as Universal Pictures' biggest moneymaker at the time.
The film received mixed reviews from critics, with a Rotten Tomatoes rating of 75% and a Metacritic score of 42/100. However, it was nominated for ten Academy Awards, including Best Picture, and won Best Supporting Actress for Helen Hayes' role as an elderly stowaway.
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The film's success led to a series
The success of the 1970 film Airport, based on Arthur Hailey's 1968 novel of the same name, led to a series of films in the disaster film genre. The film earned over $128 million with a budget of $10 million and won an Academy Award for Best Supporting Actress for Helen Hayes, who played an elderly stowaway. It was also nominated for nine other Academy Awards, including Best Picture, Best Cinematography, and Best Costume Design.
The film's success led to three sequels, with the first being Airport 1975, followed by Airport '77 and The Concorde: Airport '79. The sequels continued the trend of combining disaster with drama and comedy, with Airport 1975 featuring a plot about an airplane that has to make an emergency landing due to engine trouble. Airport '77 revolves around an airplane that is hijacked by terrorists, while The Concorde: Airport '79 centres on a plot to sabotage the Concorde's first flight from Paris to New York.
In addition to the official sequels, the success of Airport also inspired numerous parodies and spoofs, including Airplane!, a 1980 comedy film that blended elements of the airline disaster film genre with humour. The success of Airport and its sequels also contributed to the proliferation of "disaster movies" in the 1970s, with films such as The Poseidon Adventure (1972) further popularising the genre.
The impact of the Airport film series extended beyond the realm of cinema, with the films influencing various aspects of popular culture. The films' portrayal of aviation and airport operations, albeit with dramatic licence, captured the public imagination and contributed to a growing fascination with air travel. Additionally, the films' memorable characters and quotable lines have endured in popular culture, finding their way into various forms of media and everyday conversations.
Overall, the success of the original Airport film and its subsequent series solidified its place in cinematic history and helped define the disaster film genre, influencing both Hollywood and popular culture at large.
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The film's genre
The Airport film series is a set of four airplane-themed disaster films: *Airport* (1970), *Airport 1975*, *Airport '77*, and *The Concorde... Airport '79*. They are based on the 1968 novel *Airport* by Arthur Hailey. The films are known for their influence on the disaster genre and their "camp value".
The first film, *Airport*, centres on an airport manager trying to keep his airport open during a snowstorm while a suicide bomber plots to blow up a Boeing 707 airliner in flight. The film is characterised by personal stories intertwining while decisions are made by the airport and airline staff, operations and maintenance crews, flight crews, and Federal Aviation Administration air traffic controllers. The suspenseful plot and the snow effects were well-received, although the performances of Dean Martin and Burt Lancaster were criticised. The film was a commercial success and received ten Academy Award nominations. However, Lancaster himself called it "the worst/biggest piece of junk ever made".
The subsequent films in the series were not as well-received by critics. *Airport 1975* was described as "cut-rate swill, produced on a TV-movie budget by mercenary businessmen" by *The New Yorker* film critic Pauline Kael. Vincent Canby of *The New York Times* called it "a silly sequel with a 747". A critic for *The New York Times* wrote of *Airport '77* that it "looks less like the work of a director and writers than like a corporate decision".
The 1980 comedy *Airplane*! was a successful parody of the disaster film genre, including plot points inspired by *Airport '75* and other airline disaster films.
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The cast of the film
The 1970 film Airport is based on Arthur Hailey's 1968 novel of the same name. The film was directed by George Seaton and starred Burt Lancaster, who played the main character, Mel Bakersfeld, the general manager of Lincoln International Airport. Lancaster reportedly thought the film was "a piece of junk", despite it being one of the most profitable of his career.
The film also starred Dean Martin, who plays a pilot, although his performance was criticised for being too casual. The supporting cast features Jean Seberg, Jacqueline Bisset, George Kennedy, Helen Hayes, Van Heflin, Maureen Stapleton, Barry Nelson, Lloyd Nolan, Dana Wynter, and Barbara Hale. Stapleton plays the worried wife of the bomber, played by Van Heflin, who was in his last film role.
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The film's critical reception
The 1970 film "Airport" received mixed reviews from critics. While the film was a commercial success, grossing $45.3 million in North America alone, its star, Burt Lancaster, called it "the worst piece of junk ever made".
The film was praised for its attention to detail in depicting day-to-day airport and airline operations, and for its strong production values and cast. It was also recognised for its influence on the disaster genre and its "camp value". Review aggregator Rotten Tomatoes gives the film a rating of 75%, based on 16 reviews, with an average rating of 6.3/10. On Metacritic, the film holds an average rating of 42/100, based on 5 critics, indicating "mixed or average reviews".
However, some critics found the film dated, overwrought, and predictable. Vincent Canby of The New York Times called it "a silly sequel with a 747", while The New Yorker's Pauline Kael characterised it as "bland entertainment of the old school", noting that "there's no electricity in it". Roger Ebert gave the film two stars out of four, faulting its predictable plot and characters that "talk in regulation B-movie clichés like no B-movie you've seen".
Despite the mixed reviews, "Airport" was nominated for ten Academy Awards, including Best Picture, Best Cinematography, and Best Costume Design. It also spawned three sequels and numerous spoofs, becoming a true piece of Americana.
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Frequently asked questions
The 1970 film "Airport" is a work of fiction. The film is based on the 1968 novel "Airport" by Arthur Hailey and is the first of four airplane-themed disaster films in the "Airport" series.
The "Airport" film series is about the heroic efforts of airport personnel to keep the airport functioning under extreme weather conditions. The series is characterized by personal stories intertwining while decisions are made minute-by-minute by various airport and airline staff, operations and maintenance crews, flight crews, and Federal Aviation Administration air traffic controllers.
The "Airport" film series was commercially successful, grossing $387.5 million worldwide. The first film in the series, "Airport" (1970), was a huge hit and surpassed "Spartacus" as Universal Pictures' biggest moneymaker. However, despite the financial windfall, the film's star, Burt Lancaster, called it "the worst piece of junk ever made."
