Airport (1970)

A bomber on board an airplane, an airport almost closed by snow, and various personal problems of the people involved.

Directors:

George Seaton, Henry Hathaway (uncredited)

Writers:

Arthur Hailey (from the novel by), George Seaton (written for the screen by)

Stars:

Burt Lancaster, Dean Martin, George Kennedy

Won 1 Oscar. Another 3 wins & 19 nominations.

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Burt Lancaster	...	Mel Bakersfeld
Dean Martin	...	Vernon Demerest
Jean Seberg	...	Tanya Livingston
Jacqueline Bisset	...	Gwen Meighen
George Kennedy	...	Patroni
Helen Hayes	...	Ada Quonsett
Van Heflin	...	D.O. Guerrero
Maureen Stapleton	...	Inez Guerrero
Barry Nelson	...	Anson Harris
Dana Wynter	...	Cindy
Lloyd Nolan	...	Harry Standish
Barbara Hale	...	Sarah Demerest
Gary Collins	...	Cy Jordan
John Findlater	...	Peter Coakley
Jessie Royce Landis	...	Mrs. Harriet DuBarry Mossman

Storyline

This precursor to later "epic" 70's disaster films illustrates 12 hours in the lives of the personnel and passengers at the "Lincoln Airport." Endless problems, professional and personal, are thrown at the various personnel responsible for the safe and proper administration of air traffic, airline management and aviation at a major US airport. Take one severe snowstorm, add multiple schedules gone awry, one elderly Trans Global Airlines stowaway, shortages, an aging, meretricious pilot, unreasonable, peevish spouses, manpower issues, fuel problems, frozen runways and equipment malfunctions and you get just a sample of the obstacles faced by weary, disgruntled personnel and passengers at the Lincoln Airport. Toss in one long-suffering pilot's wife, several stubborn men, office politics and romance and one passenger with a bomb and you have the film "Airport" from 1970.

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Plot Keywords:

boeing 707 | airport | bomb | aviation | airplane | 

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Taglines:

The #1 novel of the year - now a motion picture!

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Genres:

Action | Drama | Thriller

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Certificate:

G

Details

Country:

USA

Language:

English Italian

Release Date:

25 March 1970 (West Germany)

Also Known As:

Aeropuerto

Filming Locations:

Minneapolis-Saint Paul International Airport, Minneapolis, Minnesota, USA

Box Office

Budget:

$10,000,000 (estimated)

Gross USA:

$100,489,150

Company Credits

Production Co:

Universal Pictures,Ross Hunter Productions

Technical Specs

Runtime:

137 min

Sound Mix:

4-Track Stereo (35 mm magnetic prints) 70 mm 6-Track (Westrex Recording System) (70 mm prints) Mono (35 mm optical prints)

Color:

Color (Technicolor)

Aspect Ratio:

2.20 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

Maureen Stapleton had a fear of flying and always took trains and ships. She refused to ride in elevators as well. While appearing in this, her character's feet stayed firmly on the ground.

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Goofs

When the security code announcement is made, "Would Mr. Lester Mainwaring and all members of his travel party..." (to summon security over the public address system without creating a panic using 'Lester Mainwaring' as the code signal), the code/name is lifted from the original novel, written by Arthur Haley--a British novelist. But the announcer using the name is speaking American English and is not aware that the name 'Mainwaring' is British and like many British names and words is, in fact, properly pronounced much differently than it's written. The correct pronunciation is "mannering."

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Quotes

Cindy Bakersfeld: And we don't have a home anymore. We have a waiting room. A place where I can walk the floor and wonder whether you're going to leave this damn airport long enough to drop by for a few minutes.
Mel Bakersfeld: Why you have to pick tonight, to come out here and fight with me...
Cindy Bakersfeld: I came out here to tell you that Roberta left home.
Mel Bakersfeld: I suppose I'm like a lot of men. A bigamist. Married to both a woman and a job.
Cindy Bakersfeld: And I can't be number 2 wife any longer.

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Crazy Credits

"Cosmetics by Universal Pictures Professional Cosmetics"

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Connections

Featured in Boom! Hollywood's Greatest Disaster Movies (2000)

User Reviews

A Great Film with Great Actors

Airport is a classic film that was one of the films that began the disaster film genre. It contains great actors like Burt Lancaster, Dean Martin, Helen Hayes, George Kennedy and Jaquline Bissett. Helen Hayes won the films only Oscar for Best Supporting Actress for her comic role as the Stow away. I have one question. Where was George Kennedy's Oscar? I think he should have recieved an Oscar for his role as Joe Patronni. To recieve 10 Oscar nominations is an incredible achievement for a film of this Genre. Alfred Newman gives an upbeat and suspenseful music score and Ernest Laszlo's cinematography is good. Altogether, this film is a great one and there isn't any down spots that I noticed. Dean Martin was great as the smart mouthed airline pilot and Burt Lancaster as Bakerfeld, the airport manager. Van Hefiln was also good because he made you believe that his character had problems. A great film, worth your time to watch.