Airplane! (film, 1980)

Airplane!

Directed by  |  Jim Abrahams
David Zucker
Jerry Zucker
Produced by  |  Jim Abrahams
David Zucker
Jerry Zucker
Howard W. Koch
Written by  |  Jim Abrahams
David Zucker
Jerry Zucker
Starring  |  Robert Hays
Julie Hagerty
Leslie Nielsen
Lloyd Bridges
Music by  |  Elmer Bernstein
Cinematography  |  Joseph Biroc
Editing by  |  Patrick Kennedy
Distributed by  |  Paramount
Release date(s)  |  July 2, 1980
Country  |  USA
Language  |  English
Budget  |  $3,500,000
Gross revenue  |  $83,000,000

Airplane! is a 1980 film from Paramount Pictures written, produced, and directed by Jim Abrahams, David Zucker, and Jerry Zucker. A spoof of airport disaster movies in general, and the 1957 film Zero Hour in particular, Airplane! has received or was nominated for several awards, and was placed in the top ten of the American Film Institutes' most recognized comedy films. [1]

## Plot[edit]

An ordinary flight to Chicago turns into a crisis as the flight crew is incapacitated by the in-flight meal, and the only hope of saving the plane and passengers rests with a nervous young man who hasn't flown since the war, a stewardess who wants to break up with him, and an air traffic controller who picked the wrong week to quit a number of things.

## Cast[edit]

* Robert Hays (Ted Striker)
* Julie Hagerty (Elaine)
* Lloyd Bridges (McCroskey)
* Peter Graves (Captain Oveur)
* Robert Stack (Rex Kramer)
* Leslie Nielsen (Dr. Rumack)
* Lorna Patterson (Randy)
* Kareem Abdul-Jabbar (Roger Murdock)
* Stephen Stucker (Johnny)
* David Zucker (ground handler)
* Jerry Zucker (ground handler)
* Jim Abrahams (religious zealot)
* David Leisure (religious zealot)
* Frank Ashmore (Victor Basta)
* Barbara Billingsley (Jive Lady)
* Strom Thurmond (man waiting forever in the cab)
* Otto (Himself)

## Films parodied[edit]

In addition to Zero Hour, the following films were parodied in numerous scenes within Airplane!:

* Airport (1970)
* Airport 1975 (1974)
* The High And The Mighty (1954)
* Jaws (1975)
* Silver Streak (1976)
* Knute Rockne, All-American (1940)
* From Here To Eternity (1953)
* Casablanca (1942)
* Saturday Night Fever (1977)