Airport is a 1970 film based on the 1968 Arthur Hailey novel of the same name. This film, which earned over $100,000,000[1] at the box office, centers around an airport
manager trying to keep his airport open during a snowstorm, while a suicidal bomber plots to blow up a Boeing 707 in flight.
Airport paved the way for the disaster film genre and established many of the
conventions for that genre.
The movie was written for the screen and directed by George Seaton. Seaton was assisted
by Henry Hathaway, and Ernest Laszlo photographed
it in 70 mm Todd-AO. It was the last film scored by Alfred
Newman before his death.
The story takes place at the fictional Chicago-area Lincoln International Airport. The majority of the filming was done at
Minneapolis-Saint Paul International Airport. Only one
Boeing 707 was used in the filming: N324F, a 707-349C, was leased from Flying Tiger Line 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
- Burt Lancaster as Mel Bakersfeld, airport manager
- Dean Martin as Captain Vernon Demarest, check-ride pilot on Trans Global Flight Two
- Jean Seberg as Tanya Livingston, public relations agent for Trans Global Airlines
- Jacqueline Bisset as Gwen Meighen, chief
stewardess on Flight Two
- George Kennedy as Joe Patroni, chief mechanic for TWA
- Helen Hayes as Mrs. Quonsett, stowaway
- Van Heflin as D. O. Guerrero, former contractor, in bankruptcy
- Maureen Stapleton as Mrs. Inez Guerrero
- Barry Nelson as pilot Anson Harris, Captain on Flight Two
- Dana Wynter as Cindy Bakersfeld, wife of Mel Bakersfeld
- Lloyd Nolan as Standish, the head of Customs at Lincoln Int'l Airport
- Barbara Hale as Sarah Demarest (sister of Mel Bakersfeld, wife of Vernon Demarest)
- Gary Collins as Cy Jordan, the second officer/flight engineer of Flight
Two
- Ena Hartman as Ruth, tourist class stewardess
- Patty Poulsen as Joan, tourist class stewardess
- Marion Ross as Passenger "Can we get a blanket?" (uncredited)
Awards
The film won the Academy Award for Best Supporting Actress
(Helen Hayes), and was nominated for:
Plot synopsis
Like the novel, 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. (In fact, one of the
runway designations, 4/22, is in reality a runway at the Minneapolis-St. Paul International Airport, where the movie was filmed.)
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 by using code phrases such as:
"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 before the rise of air terrorism. Had even 1980s security measures been in place,
much less the security restrictions imposed in the United States after the terrorist attacks of September 11, 2001, the chief antagonist of the story would have been stopped long before he
could have boarded the ill-fated Boeing 707.
Several personal dramas find their way woven together on board the prestige flight of Trans Global Airlines (Trans America in
the novel) - Flight Two, The Golden Argosy, flying from Chicago to Rome. The flight is leaving on an evening when the
American Midwest has been struck with the worst winter storm in several years. Lincoln International Airport (a fictional airport
that clearly takes the place of Chicago's O'Hare) is struggling to stay open, a feat made more difficult after a Boeing 707 (an
incoming Trans-Global in the movie, an outgoing Aéreo-Mexico in the novel) gets stuck in such a way that its tail is blocking the
main runway, 29 (30 in the novel).
Pilot Vernon Demerest (Dean Martin) is one of the two pilots on the trip, officially flying as check pilot on Anson Harris
(Barry Nelson) for his periodic check flight to make sure he "hasn't picked up any bad habits". (In the novel, Harris has decided
to become an international captain and requires one more check flight before he is certified to be captain of international
flights.) Demerest is married to Sarah Bakersfeld (Barbara Hale), sister of Lincoln's general manager, Mel Bakersfeld (Burt
Lancaster). Besides being an arrogant, self-absorbed boor, Demerest is also an unfaithful husband,
having taken up with the chief stewardess, Gwen Meighen (Jacqueline Bisset). Just before the flight, Gwen tells Demerest she is
pregnant, and he is the father (the two immediately begin discussions about an abortion, which
is later spoofed as a discussion between two P.A. announcers at LAX in the movie Airplane!.)
In the novel, everybody but Sarah knows Demerest is unfaithful; in the movie, it is not clear whether everyone knows, but
Sarah tells her brother that her husband uses his wedding ring to ward off advances by interested stewardesses. At the end of the
film she overhears Dr. Milton Compagno, who was on the flight, telling another doctor that Gwen is pregnant and Demarest walks
along her stretcher holding her hand: Mrs. Bakersfield finally realizes then that he is the father.
Demerest is outspokenly critical of the airport's snow management, naming the airport general manager, Mel Bakersfeld, as the
one responsible for the shortcomings. Bakersfeld, a wartime pilot, has his own problems. He is in an unhappy marriage, and his
wife Cindy (Dana Wynter) is intent on climbing the social ladder; Mel is a problem for her because his frequent absence from
social affairs hurts her attempts to gain social favour. (He also doesn't want to get involved in her father's business, even
though they keep trying to twist his arm, so the movie version shows.) He was due at a charity event that evening, but he decided
he couldn't attend because of the problems that escalated when the runway became blocked. In the book, Bakersfeld has not been
unfaithful, but Tanya Livingston (Jean Seberg) is a good friend with whom he enjoys talking and having lunch; there is an obvious
mutual attraction. Tanya works for Trans Global, the airline involved with the flight to Rome (and in the movie only, the airline
involved with the stuck plane as well).
Mrs. Ada Quonsett (Helen Hayes) is a widow who lives in San Diego; she has a married
daughter who lives in New York. She cannot afford plane tickets, but when she feels lonely, she goes to LA Airport and boards a
plane for New York, flying as a stowaway; she has become quite skilled at it, knowing exactly
how to get on a plane and forge an acceptable boarding pass. She was caught this time, and
Tanya Livingston finds her rather formidable by her quaintly disarming attitude; even Bakersfeld is impressed by Mrs. Quonsett.
Nonetheless, she is to be sent back to Los Angeles on Trans Global flight 103.
D.O. Guerrero (Van Heflin), who served in World War II as a demolition expert, ran his
own contracting business for many years, but he has fallen on hard times, and had to sell his heavily-mortgaged home. His wife
Inez (Maureen Stapleton) barely keeps them afloat by working as a waitress in a shabby diner. The two live in a terrible South
Side apartment; they had to send their children to live with Inez's sister. Out of money, unable to hold down a job due to his
temper, and desperate, Guerrero has decided to provide for his family by insuring himself heavily and then killing himself.
Guerrero has purchased a ticket on The Golden Argosy, although he could only make a partial down-payment on the ticket. He
has fashioned a simple, briefcase-mounted bomb using dynamite (left over from his contracting
days in the novel, stolen from a previous employer in the movie), and he plans to explode the bomb when the flight is over the
Atlantic Ocean, killing himself and allowing Inez to reap the proceeds of the insurance
policy.
Guerrero is among the passengers taking a bus from downtown to the airport, and also on the bus is a passenger, Marcus
Rathbone (Peter Turgeon), whom we will come to know as "the complainer". (In the novel, we do not meet Mr. Rathbone until the
middle of the flight.) The bus is caught in traffic, delaying the departure of The Golden Argosy. At the same time, Inez
arrives at home and finds a letter referring to her husband's Rome ticket purchase. She realizes
that he had lied to her when said he was going to Milwaukee, and after calling the
airline and learning of the delay, she heads for the airport with the small amount of money she had intended to appease the
landlord with.
Mrs. Quonsett, who has been accompanied by a passenger agent, Peter Coakley, gives him the slip and heads for the gate for
The Golden Argosy.
Guerrero arrives at the airport and purchases a life insurance policy which is to be
paid, on his death, to Inez. With minutes to spare, he boards the plane, and Mrs. Quonsett watches, waiting for Tanya to leave
the gate. As Tanya leaves, US Customs Officer Standish (Lloyd Nolan), who is going to have dinner with her and Bakersfeld, says
that Guerrero was acting nervous, holding the attaché case under his arm. Mrs. Quonsett uses one of her regular tricks to get
onto that plane. Inez Guerrero arrives only to see the plane departing from the gate.
Meanwhile, Joe Patroni (George Kennedy), a mechanic for TWA, finally arrives at
the airport (in the novel, he helped clear a jackknifed truck from the road so he could
continue to the airport) and begins to personally direct efforts to clear the stuck jetliner. Patroni becomes frustrated because
the pilot doesn't give the engines enough power, and the plane gets stuck even deeper. He takes over the plane from its pilot and
concocts his own plan for getting the plane unstuck; Mel bets him a box of cigars (against a pair of baseball tickets) that he
can't get the job done.
The loss of the main runway has forced Lincoln to route departures on a shorter runway (22 in the movie, 25 in the novel)
which passes over Meadowood, a residential neighbourhood on land that dishonest real estate agents sold years earlier, not
revealing the jetliner noise that was coming with the "jet age". The residents have been complaining for years, and the airport
and FAA agreed to minimize take-offs on 22/25 in that direction. Pilots are also advised to follow "noise-abatement procedures"
when using 22/25 that make take-offs, in good weather, dangerous. In the storm, the pilots are ignoring the
"noise-abatement procedures" due to their inherently unsafe nature; unfortunately, this has made the din in Meadowood nearly
unbearable. The residents are furious with the night's racket, and they have hired a lawyer within the last few days.
Tanya Livingston finds Coakley at her office, and they begin calling every airline's gate to ask about Mrs. Quonsett. Tanya
figures out that Mrs. Quonsett is on board Flight Two to Rome, and the pilots are notified. Demerest has Gwen go aft to spot Mrs.
Quonsett, but not to disturb her.
Cindy Bakersfeld comes to the airport to speak to Mel, not to argue with him. Their oldest daughter left home because of their
marital fighting, and he finally agrees that the only sensible answer is a divorce, to stabilize the home. Although Cindy is
still appalled by Mel's seeming obsession with the airport, they are no longer fighting, she holds out the olive branch of
visiting the girls, and she leaves the office after their discussion is done.
Inez was wandering around, and a policeman (Albert Reed) takes her to Tanya, pointing out that she had Trans Global
correspondence in her purse. Tanya has been worried about Guerrero, and she persists in investigating the man. She has some
concern, and when Bakersfeld questions Inez, they learn her husband is desperate, possibly mentally unbalanced, and has an
explosive device. The pilots of Flight Two are warned.
Harris turns the plane around to return to Chicago, but in a gentle turn that nobody should notice (a smart kid (Lou Wagner)
does notice, but Demerest gives him double-talk). Demerest decides the way to get the bomb -
Guerrero is in a window seat, past two people, one of whom is Mrs. Quonsett - is to use Mrs. Quonsett. He sends Gwen Meighen to
fetch Mrs. Quonsett on the pretext that she is in trouble for stowing away. Once Gwen and Mrs. Quonsett are in the cockpit with
Harris and second officer Cy Jordan, he tells Mrs. Quonsett to forget all that. Gwen and Mrs. Quonsett return, both now acting as
Demerest instructed, both keeping up the fiction that the plane is still headed for Rome, Mrs. Quonsett fearing being turned over
in a foreign country.
With the distraction of being held by Mrs. Quonsett, Guerrero's hands are off the attaché case and Gwen sweeps it away, but
before Demerest can take it, "complainer" Rathbone intervenes and gives it back to Guerrero, who is then cornered in the back of
the plane. Demerest seems able to talk Guerrero into handing over the case, when someone comes out of the toilet and (in the
movie) Rathbone spoils things again, screaming, "He's got a bomb!" Guerrero enters the toilet, and as Gwen is yanking on the
door, Guerrero sets off the bomb.
The plane decompresses, but only Guerrero is sucked out; Guerrero has misjudged the physics of setting off an explosion in a
pressurized aircraft, and the main force of the blast is sucked out of the plane
when it decompresses. Gwen absorbs part of the force of the blast and is gravely injured, but becomes wedged in a manner that
prevents her from being sucked out of the airplane. Harris, risking destruction of the damaged plane, dives the aircraft from the
rarefied atmosphere and killing cold of 28,000 feet to 10,000 feet, where the air is breathable and the temperatures
survivable.
In the movie, the airport commissioners want Bakersfeld to shut down Runway 22 (meaning the whole airport) until morning.
Bakersfeld receives this instruction, but he is armed with information about Flight Two. The only airports they could reach are
closed due to the storm - Toronto, Detroit - although Detroit could clear a runway that is covered in ice. They have to return to
Lincoln, and Bakersfeld tells Commissioner Ackerman (Larry Gates) that they have to remain open.
Demerest gets ornery (with his worry about Gwen's injuries not helping), telling controllers in Cleveland that they must land
on 29, and that if they have to land on 22, there'll be "a broken airplane and dead people". Bakersfeld must act to clear the
stuck jet... one way or another. Patroni insists he'll drive the plane out, while Bakersfeld is ready to have snowplows clear the
plane away. Ignoring Bakersfeld's warnings that he was out of time, Patroni pushes the jet engines to the limit and forces the
plane out of the way. Frank, the conroller at Lincoln's tower tells Flight Two that Runway 29 is open.
The jet makes a PAR approach through the clouds and finally sees the runway,
which they must land on with several difficult factors. They are heavy with fuel for the flight to Rome, and they didn't risk
dumping fuel because of the possibility of electric sparking due to the damage. The "power-steering" equivalent for their rudder
is inoperative. The tail section might break off when they touch down, or even sooner in the buffeting of the blizzard. And even
though the runway is Lincoln's longest, they might still run out before being able to brake.
In the movie, Rathbone is now scared, and wails that they are doomed. The Roman
Catholic priest across the aisle from him lifts his head from the crash position
to pray for forgiveness for what he's about to do, crosses himself, but in finishing the cross, slaps Rathbone across the face to
get him to get a hold of himself.
Using precision guidance from the tower, Flight Two lands safely and stops right at the end of the runway, then taxis to the
gate. Upon Flight Two's arrival at the gate, Inez breaks through the security barriers and wanders in tears among the passengers,
apologizing for her husband. Demerest goes with Gwen to the hospital, and it becomes evident to his wife that he is the one
responsible for the stewardess's pregnancy, a detail she heard from the physician attending Gwen on the plane.
Demerest does keep his promise to Mrs. Quonsett: a first class ticket to New York. She laments that it was much more fun to
stow away.
The storm is lifting by morning. His divorce with Cindy now agreed by both, Mel suggests Tanya cook breakfast for them at her
place, Patroni leaves with the box of cigars Mel promised him, and Harris wants to send a thank-you to Boeing for the aircraft
that held up to Guerrero's bomb.
The one actor appearing in all four "Airport" 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).
Trivia
- The storyline is perhaps influenced by Continental Airlines Flight
11, a Boeing 707-124 that crashed in Unionville, Missouri on May 22, 1962 following a bomb detonating in or near the rear
lavatory.[2]
- Trans Global Airlines has been seen in many other Universal Studios productions,
such as the television program Emergency!, when a fictional airline is needed.
- In this film, flight 2 is a Boeing 707, flying from Chicago to Rome and its registration was N324F. The real aircraft Boeing 707-349C (msn/ln 19354-503) was delivered to
Flying Tiger Line on June 21, 1966. After the film, the
real 707 had the following registrations: EI-ASO, VH-EBZ, G-BAWP, 9J-AEC, S2-ACG, and finally PT-TCS, on Transbrasil Airlines. On
March 21, 1989, it crashed while making a final approach at São
Paulo's Guarulhos International Airport. The three occupants
of this freight flight, plus 18 people on the ground died.[3]
- Photos of the plane used in the movie can be seen at airliners.net
- At one point the captain informs the cabin that they are traveling at 610 mph ground speed at 35,000 feet. This translates to
a speed of Mach 0.86 which is slightly faster than the plane's maximum capability.
- At the Minneapolis-Saint Paul International Airport, where the movie was filmed, a display, along with stills from the field
and from the film itself told the story thusly: "Minnesota's legendary winters attracted Hollywood here in 1969, when portions of
the film Airport were shot in the terminal and on the field. The weather remained stubbornly clear, however, forcing the
director to use plastic 'snow' to create the appropriate effect." Closer examination of the opening "Conga Line" scene in the
film clearly show freshly fallen snow on the ground, but also show a clear blue sky and shadows from the arcs of snow being
cleared by the ground equipment.
- In one scene you see Burt Lancaster and Lloyd Nolan (customs agent Standish) using primitive pagers, about the size of a
stapler. The devices hang from their belts, and the only feature is a loud buzzing sound from what was then standard consumer
technology.
- Also, in reality, there is a Trans Global freight company named "Aerly Bird Trans Global" situated in Dublin.[4] Their logo is yellow, white and red, unlike the gold and red
seen in Airport.
- Lancaster and Martin made quite a lot of money, as they both had a percentage share of the box-office receipts for this
windfall picture for Universal.
- This film is the final film of composer Alfred Newman. Newman's health was failing at
the time and so was unable to conduct the sessions for the commercially-released recording of his music (this duty was handled by
Stanley Wilson); Newman did conduct the sessions for the music heard in the film.
- The comedy "Airplane!" is not based off of the plot of "Airport" as much as it is based
off the sequel, "Airport 1975".
Sequels
The success of Airport spawned three sequels, of which the first two were box office hits.
Notes
- ^ See The Numbers site [1]
- ^ Accident Photo at AirDisaster.com[2]
- ^ See aviation safety[3]
- ^ See home page[4]Aerly Bird Trans Global
External links
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