Airport (1970)
This has such a stellar cast, and such hype (left over from the day), it's hard to remember that this is also a over-the-top kind of polished production not so terribly different than "Ben Hur" and other big studio product.
But does it work? Yes, overall. It's fast, enjoyable, and not really serious, even though it's gripping at times. Don't confuse this with "Airplane," for sure, though the comedy gets part of its inspiration here, for sure.
When I say stellar cast, I don't just mean Burt Lancaster who is terrific (and who called it the biggest piece of junk ever made). He plays the determined leading man (running the airport) very well. Not just Dean Martin, Jean Seberg, and Jacqueline Bisset, either. These all play fairly thin roles, and very well, if you can play a thin role well. I'm thinking not even of every larger George Kennedy who is in charge of keeping the runways running (and that's the core of the crisis here, as a plane has turned too soon and gotten stuck in the snow), nor Helen Hayes, who plays a terrific batty old woman who sneaks onto planes (she won the Oscar for best supporting actress).
Maybe most impressive are the two actors playing a troubled couple, the man an actor I think is always underrated, Van Heflin. This is his last role, and he's still a master at subtle believability. His wife is played by the really impressive Maureen Stapleton, pouring out a small but moving performance as a worried, disenchanted, sad woman who suddenly realizes her husband is going to do something terrible. She won a Golden Globe for best supporting actress, well deserved.
The production? Glossy and sterile. The plot? Sterile, for sure, and predictable. Subplots (of which there are many)? Forced and absurd. (One example—Martin and Bisset, playing pilot and stewardess, are having an affair. And she's pregnant. And they get serious in the aisles about what do to. But then she gets hurt in the big crisis in the air later on, and so on.)
I hate to admit I enjoyed this movie. It really is a big piece of junk. But all these actors are fascinating in some way or another. And the crappy plot is still exciting and interwoven in that way airport novels are. Yes, that kind of book you pick up to read on the place because it's distracting and not demanding. That's it, said and done.
This has such a stellar cast, and such hype (left over from the day), it's hard to remember that this is also a over-the-top kind of polished production not so terribly different than "Ben Hur" and other big studio product.
But does it work? Yes, overall. It's fast, enjoyable, and not really serious, even though it's gripping at times. Don't confuse this with "Airplane," for sure, though the comedy gets part of its inspiration here, for sure.
When I say stellar cast, I don't just mean Burt Lancaster who is terrific (and who called it the biggest piece of junk ever made). He plays the determined leading man (running the airport) very well. Not just Dean Martin, Jean Seberg, and Jacqueline Bisset, either. These all play fairly thin roles, and very well, if you can play a thin role well. I'm thinking not even of every larger George Kennedy who is in charge of keeping the runways running (and that's the core of the crisis here, as a plane has turned too soon and gotten stuck in the snow), nor Helen Hayes, who plays a terrific batty old woman who sneaks onto planes (she won the Oscar for best supporting actress).
Maybe most impressive are the two actors playing a troubled couple, the man an actor I think is always underrated, Van Heflin. This is his last role, and he's still a master at subtle believability. His wife is played by the really impressive Maureen Stapleton, pouring out a small but moving performance as a worried, disenchanted, sad woman who suddenly realizes her husband is going to do something terrible. She won a Golden Globe for best supporting actress, well deserved.
The production? Glossy and sterile. The plot? Sterile, for sure, and predictable. Subplots (of which there are many)? Forced and absurd. (One example—Martin and Bisset, playing pilot and stewardess, are having an affair. And she's pregnant. And they get serious in the aisles about what do to. But then she gets hurt in the big crisis in the air later on, and so on.)
I hate to admit I enjoyed this movie. It really is a big piece of junk. But all these actors are fascinating in some way or another. And the crappy plot is still exciting and interwoven in that way airport novels are. Yes, that kind of book you pick up to read on the place because it's distracting and not demanding. That's it, said and done.