Airport '77 (1977)

Art thieves hijack a 747, hit fog and crash into the ocean, trapping them and the passengers under one hundred feet of water.

Director:

Jerry Jameson

Writers:

Arthur Hailey (novel), Michael Scheff (screenplay)

Stars:

Jack Lemmon, Lee Grant, Joseph Cotten

Nominated for 2 Oscars.

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Jack Lemmon	...	Don Gallagher
Lee Grant	...	Karen Wallace
Brenda Vaccaro	...	Eve Clayton
Joseph Cotten	...	Nicholas St. Downs III
Olivia de Havilland	...	Emily Livingston
Darren McGavin	...	Stan Buchek
Christopher Lee	...	Martin Wallace
Robert Foxworth	...	Chambers
Robert Hooks	...	Eddie
Monte Markham	...	Banker
Kathleen Quinlan	...	Julie
Gil Gerard	...	Frank Powers
James Booth	...	Ralph Crawford
Monica Lewis	...	Anne
Maidie Norman	...	Dorothy

Storyline

Mr. Phillip Stevens is flying in a load of V.I.P.s to the grand opening of his art collection when a trio of hijackers knock out the passengers with gas and try to steal the priceless cargo of art treasures. But everything goes wrong for the hijackers when the 747 crashes in the Bermuda triangle. While the passengers remain alive in the shallow water, a daring rescue operation is planned to bring the plane up without breaking it in two.

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Plot Keywords:

repeat sequel | plane | rescue | hijack | flooding | 

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Taglines:

Flight 23 has crashed in the Bermuda Triangle... passengers still alive, trapped underwater...

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Genres:

Action | Drama | Thriller

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Certificate:

PG

Details

Country:

USA

Language:

English Hungarian

Release Date:

11 March 1977 (USA)

Also Known As:

Airport 1977

Filming Locations:

Stage 27, Universal Studios - 100 Universal City Plaza, Universal City, California, USA

Company Credits

Production Co:

Universal Pictures

Technical Specs

Runtime:

114 min 182 min (TV)

Sound Mix:

Mono (Westrex Recording System)

Color:

Color (Technicolor)

Aspect Ratio:

2.35 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

The closing epilogue states: "The incident portrayed in this film is fictional; the rescue capabilities utilized by the Navy are real."

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Goofs

The sleeping gas canister shows "CR-7". CR is actually a tear gas, not a sleeping gas agent.

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Quotes

Steve: Beauty is in the eyes of the beholder.

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Crazy Credits

Before the end credits, this text appears. "The incident portrayed in the film is fictional; the rescue capabilities utilized by the Navy are real".

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Alternate Versions

Network TV version features one hour of additional footage not included in either the theatrical release or home video release. Footage only seen in the network version includes:

• Alternate opening credit sequence involving Banker and Wilson breaking into a laboratory.
• A flight attendant cabin mock-up where the crew practice an evacuation using an escape slide. Shortly after, Anne introduces the crew to Joe Patroni.
• Dialogue between Patroni and Anne.
• A scene where Joe Patroni introduces Anne to Don Gallagher, who's working on a flight simulator of the plane he will fly.
• Flashbacks of several characters. including Martin and Karen Wallace, Steve and Julie, Jane and Bonnie Stern, and Lisa with Ralph Crawford.
• Extended dialogue throughout the film.
• Gallagher and Eve discovering the plane's navigator is dead.
• Scene involving Joe Patroni and his son, Joe. Jr. Patroni has been informed of the disappearance of the 747 and has to cancel plans to attend Joe Jr's graduation ceremony.
• Brief additional footage of Martin Wallace's body floating outside the plane.
• Emily attempts to console Karen, after the drowning of Martin.
• As Gallagher and the scuba team make their underwater preparations to raise the plane, they discover Banker's body.
• Amount of time for the plane to rise to the surface is longer than the theatrical version.
• After the plan has risen, Gerald Lucas attempts to get out of the plane first, only to be stopped and pushed back by Buchek.
• Dialogue between Philip Stevens and Eddie aboard the USS Cayuga. Stevens hands Eddie a piece of paper, which reveals Eddie's wife has given birth to twins. Stevens hands Eddie a cigar to celebrate the occasion.
• Dialogue between Stevens and Buchek aboard the USS Cayuga.

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Connections

Referenced in Ebert Presents: At the Movies: Classics from the Vault: Movies that Changed the Movies (2011)

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Soundtracks

Beauty Is In The Eye Of The Beholder
Composed and sung by Tom Sullivan

User Reviews

Mid Air Ocean Caper Gone Awry

Gazillionaire James Stewart is shipping his collection of art to a museum and he's using his private jet to fly the collection and a few friends down to meet him in Florida.

Of course this attracts the attention of a few crooks who have a pretty well thought out plan and the copilot, Robert Foxworth, working with them. Of course all good plans go awry and they go down in the Bermuda Triangle into some relatively shallow area of the Atlantic.

Hey they could have gone down and been lost for decades like the Titanic was.

That's essentially the plot here and in true Seventies disaster film tradition you load the screen with big names, dress them fashionably and put them in harm's way. The rest of the film is devoted to their rescue.

Incidentally the footage devoted to the air sea rescue is the best thing about Airport 77. No member of the audience will not go away impressed with the U.S. Navy's capabilities in that regard.

Jack Lemmon is the pilot and in an action role which is normally against type for him, he does quite well. Almost twenty years before he supported James Stewart in Bell, Book,and Candle and now the billing is most definitely reversed.

My favorites in the film are Joseph Cotten and Olivia DeHavilland, a classy and elegant pair of passengers who so typify the glamor of old Hollywood.

Christopher Lee also performs against type, he's not the villain here in fact he turns out quite the hero among the passengers. Lee Grant is his trollop of a wife and I remember seeing this in theaters and the shouts for joy from the audience when Brenda Vaccaro punches her out.

I'm not sure which is a wilder rescue this one or that other James Stewart film The Flight of the Phoenix. There's no way any of them should survive.

But this is a Hollywood disaster epic, so all things are possible.