| Airport 1975 | |
|---|---|
 Theatrical release poster by George Akimoto[1] | |
| Directed by | Jack Smight |
| Written by | Don Ingalls |
| Based on | Airport byArthur Hailey |
| Produced by | William Frye |
| Starring | |
| Cinematography | Philip H. Lathrop |
| Edited by | J. Terry Williams |
| Music by | John Cacavas |
| Color process | Technicolor |
Production company | Universal Pictures |
| Distributed by | Universal Pictures |
Release date |
|
Running time | 106 minutes |
| Country | United States |
| Language | English |
| Budget | $3 million[2] |
| Box office | $103 million |
Airport 1975 (also known asAirport '75) is a 1974 Americanair disaster film and the firstsequel to the successful 1970 filmAirport. It was directed byJack Smight, produced byWilliam Frye, executive produced byJennings Lang, and written byDon Ingalls.[3] The film starsCharlton Heston,Karen Black,George Kennedy andGloria Swanson – as a fictionalized version of herself – in her final film role.[4]
The plot concerns the dramatic events aboard an airborneBoeing 747 when a small aircraft crashes into thecockpit, causing the fatalities of the First Officer and Flight Engineer and the blinding of the Captain, leaving no one aboard qualified to take the controls.Airport 1975 was the seventh highest-grossing movie of 1974 at the US and Canada box office.
Columbia Airlines Flight 409 is aBoeing 747-100 on ared-eye flight fromWashington Dulles International Airport toLos Angeles International Airport, while Scott Freeman is a businessman flying his privateBeechcraft Baron to a sales meeting in Boise, Idaho. However, anoccluded front has the entire West Coast of the United States socked in, with Columbia 409 and Freeman's Beechcraft both diverted toSalt Lake City International Airport.
Salt Lake air traffic control assigns Columbia 409 to land ahead of Freeman's Beechcraft. As Columbia 409 is about to start its descent, First Officer Urias unlocks himself from his seat to check out a vibration. Just then, Freeman suffers a heart attack and uncontrollably ascends into the approach of Columbia 409. The Beechcraft slams into Columbia 409 just above the co-pilot seat, ripping a hole through which Urias is ejected from the jet, while killing the flight engineer and sending debris that blinds the jet's pilot, Captain Stacy. Stacy is able to engage the autopilot and the altitude hold switch before losing consciousness. Nancy Pryor, the First Stewardess, rushes to the flight deck.
Nancy informs the Salt Lake control tower on the status of the cockpit crew, and that there is no one to fly the plane, while also giving an assessment of the damage. Joe Patroni, Columbia's Vice President of Operations, whose wife and son are amongst the passengers, is apprised of Columbia 409's situation. He seeks the advice of Captain Al Murdock, Columbia's chief flight instructor, who also happens to be Nancy's boyfriend, though their relationship was "on the rocks" at that time.
Patroni and Murdock take the airline's executive jet to Salt Lake. En route, they communicate with Nancy, learning that the autopilot is keeping the aircraft in level flight, but it is inoperable for turns. The jet is heading into the mountains of theWasatch Range, so Murdock starts to guide Nancy by radio on how to perform the turn manually. Shortly thereafter, radio communications are interrupted and the Salt Lake tower is unable to restore contact.
Realizing that there is no way they would be able to talk Nancy down through the mountains to a safe landing into Salt Lake, an air-to-air rescue attempt is undertaken from anHH-53 helicopter flown by the US Air ForceAerospace Rescue and Recovery Service. Before the Rescue Helicopter arrives, Nancy realizes that the aircraft is too low as it is heading towards the mountains. She remembers when Murdock was talking to her before, that there was a drop in airspeed whenever a climb in altitude is attempted. She asks for Captain Stacy's help, who says that she must accelerate the engines by moving the thrust levers forward in order to have the power needed to climb over the mountains. Nancy goes back to the cockpit and successfully performs this maneuver. After Columbia 409 has leveled off, the rescue helicopter arrives and the replacement pilot is released towards the stricken airliner. Just as Nancy is helping him in, the release cord from his harness becomes caught in the jagged metal around the hole, which unhooks him from the tether, and he falls from the aircraft.
The only other person on the helicopter who can land a 747 is Murdock. He is tethered to the helicopter, lowered to the jet, and successfully enters it through the hole in the cockpit. He then lands the plane safely at Salt Lake City International Airport. However, he is forced to make high speedtaxiing maneuvers, as a drop in brake pressure hampers his efforts to stop. Once the plane stops, the flight attendants successfully conduct an emergency evacuation of the passengers via theevacuation slides, as Nancy and Murdock reconcile.
In addition,NFL player and future (1980, 1983)Super Bowl-winning quarterbackJim Plunkett has an uncredited cameo as himself.
_(OD-AGM)_at_London_Heathrow_Airport.jpg)
Airport 1975 used aBoeing 747-123 (s/n 20390. Registration N9675), rented fromAmerican Airlines when it was temporarily taken out of passenger service at the start of American's restructuring away from the fleet of Boeing jumbo jets in mid-1974.[5] The aircraft was leased toTrans Mediterranean Airways briefly in 1976, before returning and being converted into an "American Freighter" variant. In 1984, the aircraft was sold toUPS, where it continued to serve as a freighter for over 20 years before being retired to desert storage in 2005, then scrapped in 2011.
The film was shot on location at Salt Lake City International Airport. Aerials shots over Heber City, Utah and the Wasatch Mountains are included.[6] The airport interior scenes were shot extensively atWashington Dulles International, which features heavily in the opening credits and the early portion of the film. In the film, Dulles is depicted in its original, unextended form, showing the mobile lounges which originally took all passengers to and from the main terminal building directly to the aircraft - this arrangement has largely been replaced with satellite concourses served by an underground people mover system.
As Sister Ruth, Helen Reddy performs a solo acoustic version of her song "Best Friend" (originally on her 1971 debut albumI Don't Know How to Love Him) to an ailing Linda Blair. The song was written by Reddy andRay Burton, who also co-wrote her hit single "I Am Woman".
Airport 1975 was a massive commercial success. In its first week of release from 144 theatres, it grossed $2,737,995.[7] With a budget of $3 million,[2] the film grossed $47.3 million in the United States and Canada[8] at the box office, making itthe seventh highest-grossing film of 1974 and the year's third highest-grossing disaster film, behindThe Towering Inferno andEarthquake. The film grossed $55.7 million internationally for a worldwide total of $103 million.[9]
Critical reception was mainly unfavorable, withThe New Yorker magazine's film criticPauline Kael calling the picture "cut-rate swill," "produced on a TV-movie budget by mercenary businessmen." Kael also thought the audio problems gave Karen Black's voice a metallic sound that was grating and that the main character, a stewardess, was constantly being patronized by men.[10]Roger Ebert was less condemnatory, awarding two-and-a-half stars out of four and describing it as "corny escapism," although he made a similar observation about Black's character - that she is made to seem incompetent simply because she is a woman.[11]Gene Siskel also gave the film two-and-a-half stars out of four, calling the collision scene "both a surprise and well executed," but the scenes afterward "both implausible and dull."[12]Vincent Canby ofThe New York Times called the film "silly" and suffering from "a total lack of awareness of how comic it is when it's attempting to be most serious."[13] Kevin Thomas of theLos Angeles Times wrote "Whatever its flaws, 'Airport' generated plenty of suspense and was lots of fun; 'Airport 1975' is too much a rehash to seem anything but mechanical and finally silly in its predictability."[14] Gary Arnold ofThe Washington Post stated, "It may get by at the box-office, but it's a hasty, superfluous job of formula moviemaking."[15]David McGillivray ofThe Monthly Film Bulletin wrote that "despite a sterling performance from Karen Black, convincingly petrified as the stewardess expected to negotiate the plane through the mountains, the tension never coalesces."[16]Airport 1975 currently holds a 30% rating on Rotten Tomatoes based on 20 reviews.[17]
Airport 1975 was included in the bookThe Fifty Worst Films of All Time published in 1978. The film is listed inGolden Raspberry Award founderJohn J.B. Wilson's bookThe Official Razzie Movie Guide as one of The 100 Most Enjoyably Bad Movies Ever Made.[18]
American Film Institute nominated the film inAFI's 100 Years... 100 Thrills.[19]
This is one among many of a class of disaster films that became a popular craze during the 1970s. Its plot devices and characterizations, including a singing nun (Helen Reddy), a former glamorous star (Gloria Swanson as herself), an alcoholic (Myrna Loy), a child in need of an organ transplant (Linda Blair) and a chatterbox (Sid Caesar) were parodied in1980'sAirplane! and onThe Carol Burnett Show as "Disaster '75".
| Award | Category | Nominee(s) | Result |
|---|---|---|---|
| Golden Globe Awards | Most Promising Newcomer – Female | Helen Reddy | Nominated |
