Airplane! (titled Flying High!

in Australia, New Zealand, South Africa, Japan an

d the Philippines) is a 1980 American satirical disaster comedy film directed an
d written by David Zucker, Jim Abrahams, and Jerry Zucker and released by Paramo
unt Pictures. It stars Robert Hays and Julie Hagerty and features Leslie Nielsen
, Robert Stack, Lloyd Bridges, Peter Graves, Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, and Lorna Patt
erson. The film is a parody of the disaster film genre, particularly the 1957 Pa
ramount film Zero Hour!, from which it borrows the plot and the central characte
rs,[4] as well as many elements from Airport 1975. The film is known for its use
of surreal humor and its fast-paced slapstick comedy, including visual and verb
al puns and gags.
Airplane! was a critical and financial success, grossing over US$83 million in N
orth America alone, against a budget of just $3.5 million.[5] The film's creator
s received the Writers Guild of America Award for Best Adapted Comedy, and nomin
ations for the Golden Globe Award for Best Motion Picture
Musical or Comedy and
a BAFTA Award for Best Screenplay.
In the years since its release, Airplane!'s reputation has grown substantially.
The film was ranked sixth on Bravo's 100 Funniest Movies.[6] In a 2007 survey by
Channel 4 in the United Kingdom, it was judged the second greatest comedy film
of all time, after Monty Python's Life of Brian.[7]
In 2008 Airplane! was selected by Empire magazine as one of The 500 Greatest Mov
ies of All Time and in 2012 was voted No. 1 in The 50 Funniest Comedies Ever pol
l.[8] In 2010 it was selected for preservation in the National Film Registry by
the Library of Congress.[9][10]
Contents [hide]
1 Plot
2 Cast
3 Production
3.1 Casting
3.2 Score
4 Release
5 Reception
5.1 American Film Institute lists
6 Influences
7 Sequel
8 References
9 External links
Plot[edit]
Ex-fighter pilot and taxi driver Ted Striker (Robert Hays) became traumatized du
ring an unnamed war, leading to a pathological fear of flying. As a result, he i
s unable to hold a responsible job. His wartime girlfriend, Elaine Dickinson (Ju
lie Hagerty), now a flight attendant, leaves him. Striker nervously boards a Boe
ing 707 (Trans American Flight 209) from Los Angeles to Chicago on which she is
serving, hoping to win her back, but she rebuffs him.
After dinner is served, many of the passengers fall ill, and fellow passenger Dr
. Rumack (Leslie Nielsen) deduces that the passengers have contracted food poiso
ning from the fish. The cockpit crew, including pilot Clarence Oveur (Peter Grav
es) and co-pilot Roger Murdock (Kareem Abdul-Jabbar), have also been affected, l
eaving no one to fly the plane. Elaine contacts the Chicago control tower for he
lp, and is instructed by tower supervisor Steve McCroskey (Lloyd Bridges) to act
ivate the plane's autopilot, a large inflatable pilot doll (listed as "Otto" in
the end credits), which will get them to Chicago, but will not be able to land t
he plane. Rumack convinces Ted to fly the plane, though Ted feels unable to hand
le the pressure and the unfamiliar aircraft.
McCroskey knows that he must get someone else to help take the plane down and ca

lls Rex Kramer (Robert Stack). Kramer was Ted's commanding officer in the war, a
nd despite their hostile relationship he would be the best choice to instruct St
riker. As the plane nears Chicago, Ted is overcome by stress and can land the pl
ane only after a pep talk from Dr. Rumack. With Kramer's advice, Ted is able to
land the plane safely with only minor injuries to some passengers. Ted's courage
rekindles Elaine's love for him, and the two share a kiss. "Otto" takes off in
the evacuated plane after inflating a female companion.
Cast[edit]
Robert Hays as Ted Striker
Julie Hagerty as Elaine Dickinson
Leslie Nielsen as Dr. Rumack
Peter Graves as Capt. Clarence Oveur
Lloyd Bridges as Steve McCroskey
Robert Stack as Capt. Rex Kramer
Lorna Patterson as Randy
Stephen Stucker as Air Traffic Controller Johnny Henshaw-Jacobs
Frank Ashmore as Victor Basta
Jonathan Banks as Gunderson
Kareem Abdul-Jabbar as Roger Murdock
Craig Berenson as Paul Carey
Barbara Billingsley as Jive Lady
Lee Bryant as Mrs. Hammen
Nicholas Pryor as Jim Hammen
Joyce Bulifant as Mrs. Davis
Maureen McGovern as Nun
Kenneth Tobey as Air Controller Neubauer
Marcy Goldman as Mrs. Geline
Barbara Stuart as Mrs. Kramer
Rossie Harris as Joey Hammen
Norman Alexander Gibbs as 1st Jive Dude
Al White as 2nd Jive Dude
David Leisure as First Krishna
Jill Whelan as Lisa Davis
Ethel Merman as Lt. Hurwitz
Lee Terri as Mrs. Oveur
Jimmie Walker as Windshield Wiper Man
James Hong as Japanese General
Howard Jarvis as the Man in the Taxi
Otto as Himself
Production[edit]
Jerry Zucker, Jim Abrahams, and David Zucker (collectively known as ZAZ), wrote
Airplane! while they were performing with the Kentucky Fried Theatre, a successf
ul small theatre they founded in 1971. The trio came to the idea of spoofing air
plane disaster films when they accidentally taped the 1957 film Zero Hour!, whil
e they were looking for commercials to spoof.[4] Abrahams later described Zero H
our! as "... the serious version of Airplane!". It was the first film script the
y wrote, and was originally called The Late Show. The original script contained
spoofs of television commercials but people who proofread the script advised the
m to shorten the commercials, and, eventually, ZAZ removed them. When their scri
pt was finished they were unable to sell it.[11]
The trio knew director John Landis, who encouraged them to write a film based on
their theatre sketches. They managed to put the film, called The Kentucky Fried
Movie, in production in the late 1970s, and entered a movie set for the first t
ime. David Zucker explains: "[...] It was the first time we had ever been on a m
ovie set. We learned a lot. We learned that if you really wanted a movie to come
out the way you wanted it to, you had to direct. So on the next movie, Airplane
!, we insisted on directing."[11]

Filming took 34 days,[citation needed] mostly during August 1979. Zucker stood b
eside the camera during shooting, while David Zucker and Abrahams would be watch
ing the video feed to see how the film would look; they would confer after each
take.[12]
During filming, Leslie Nielsen used a fart toy to keep the cast off-balance. Hay
s said that Nielsen "played that thing like a maestro".[13]
Casting[edit]
David Zucker explained that "the trick was to cast actors like Robert Stack, Les
lie Nielsen, Peter Graves, and Lloyd Bridges. These were people who, up to that
time, had never done comedy. We thought they were much funnier than the comedian
s of that time were." David Zucker felt Stack was the most important actor to be
cast, since he was the "linchpin" of the film's plot.[11] Stack initially playe
d his role in a way that was different from what the directors had in mind. They
showed him a tape of impressionist John Byner impersonating Robert Stack. Accor
ding to the producers, Stack was "doing an impression of John Byner doing an imp
ression of Stack."[4] Stack was not initially interested in the part, but ZAZ pe
rsuaded him. Bridges' children advised him to take the part.[11] Graves' agent r
ejected the script at first: "His agent got him the script, and he was totally t
urned off by it. He thought it was tasteless trash." On the DVD commentary, Abra
hams said, "I don't understand. What did he think was tasteless about pedophilia
?"[13] They cast a relatively unknown Robert Hays, who was a co-star of Angie, a
nd Julie Hagerty to round out the cast, whom the directors advised to play it st
raight.[12]
The film's writers and directors, as well as members of their family, showed up
in cameo appearances. David and Jerry appear in the beginning as the two groundcrew members who accidentally cause a 747 to taxi into a terminal window. Abraha
ms is one of many religious zealots scattered throughout the film. Charlotte Zuc
ker (David and Jerry's mother) is the woman attempting to apply makeup in the pl
ane while it experiences turbulence. Their sister Susan Breslau is the second ti
cket agent at the airport. Jim Abrahams' mother is the woman initially sitting n
ext to Dr. Rumack.
Several other cameos add to the humor by casting actors against type. Barbara Bi
llingsley, best known as June Cleaver from Leave It to Beaver, makes an appearan
ce as a woman who announces she speaks jive and can translate for two black pass
engers who are otherwise unintelligible. Maureen McGovern appears as Sister Ange
lina, a spoof of the nun in Airport 1975, and a poke at her involvement as the s
inger of the Oscar-winning songs for the disaster films The Poseidon Adventure (
1972) and The Towering Inferno (1974). Jimmie Walker cameos as the man opening t
he hood of the plane and checking the oil before takeoff; Walker also had a mino
r role in the air-disaster film, The Concorde ... Airport '79. Howard Jarvis, th
e property-tax rebel and author of California Proposition 13, plays the taxi pas
senger who is left at the curb with the meter running in the film's opening and
closing scene. Ethel Merman in her last film appearance plays a shell-shocked male s
oldier who is convinced he is Ethel Merman. NBA star Kareem Abdul-Jabbar plays c
o-pilot Murdock, who is later revealed in dialogue to actually be Abdul-Jabbar l
iving a secret double life. In the DVD commentary the Zuckers and Jim Abrahams r
evealed that Kareem Abdul-Jabbar's role of co-pilot Roger Murdock was originally
intended for baseball star Pete Rose. Due to Rose's schedule and his commitment
to baseball, he had to decline the role.
For the "red zone/white zone" send-up of curbside terminal announcements in which
public address announcers "Betty" and "Vernon" argue over the red and white zone
s, ZAZ went through the usual process of auditioning professional voice actors,
but failed to find ones who could provide the desired verisimilitude. Instead, t
he filmmakers ultimately sought out and hired the real-life married couple who h
ad recorded the announcement tapes which were then being used at LAX. [14]

Score[edit]
In 1980 an LP soundtrack for the film was released by Regency Records, and inclu
ded dialog and songs from the film. It was also narrated by Shadoe Stevens, and
only featured one score track, the "Love Theme from Airplane" composed by Elmer
Bernstein. The soundtrack was altered for the European 'Flying High' release, wi
th several of the featured tracks swapped for pieces original to the LP.
On April 28, 2009 La-La Land Records announced that it would release the first o
fficial score album for Airplane!, containing Bernstein's complete score.[15]
The soundtrack was released digitally on February 19, 2013, by Paramount Music.[
16][17]