by M. Roca
“This guy has no flying experience at all. He’s a menace to himself and everything else in the air… yes, birds, too.”
Released during the first year of the 1980s, Airplane couldn’t help but look back at all the disaster movies made in the previous decade for some madcap inspiration. Sending up films like The Poseidon Adventure, Airport, and The Towering Inferno was a stroke of brilliance because it catered to an audience finally ready to laugh at the overt melodrama those corny features provided. It also gave the comedic team of Jerry Zucker, David Zucker, and Jim Abrahams a huge hit at the box office (for a reported 80 million gross on a skimpy 4 million dollar budget). For many excited filmgoers, the witnessing of possible death at 30,000 feet never seemed so hilarious and worthwhile. Sure, the end result might be painful and horrifyingly tragic, but you may possibly die laughing before either the spoiled fish or impending impact actually gets to anyone on board.
Airplane took slapstick comedy to the farthest reaches of absurdity. The subtle (and not so subtle) verbal puns and sight gags are unleashed at such a rapid pace that getting them all the first time around is not always a given. Its nonsensical charm never wears off or feels strained, instead it increases with every ticking minute to reveal more and more hilarity. Every scene has an unhinged quality that walks a tightrope between achingly funny and total surreal anarchy. Leslie Nielsen’s career about-face into these spoof roles starts right here. His classic deadpan delivery and clueless facade was never bettered than this opening salvo. Along with the first Naked Gun: From The Files Of Police Squad, Airplane was his best work in this type of picture (something he would mine from here on out with frequent regularity). Yeah, one could argue that Airplane is not very deep and indulges in some lowbrow humor, but when it comes to generating real laughs (the true barometer of comedy), very few films can best it pound for pound.
There’s really no point in bothering with a plot synopsis. The overall story, which is purposely clichéd and formulaic, is really just to serve the untold numbers of gags ZAZ can barrage the viewer with before the closing credits arrive. Instead, I figured I’d list some of my favorite moments here. Deciding which scenes are the funniest is never an easy task when it comes to Airplane, but number one has to be June Cleaver herself, Barbara Billingsley, jive talking to two black passengers when one of them becomes ill post fish dinner—their shocked expressions coupled with her parting shot never ceases to amuse me. Another moment that always leaves me in stitches is when Elaine Dickinson asks if anyone on board knows how to fly a plane. The ensuing melee of all the passengers flipping out—including nuns choking Krishnas and some impromptu fencing—is unforgettable. Back-up “pilot” Otto receiving some much-needed inflation is another great bit as is the conga line of “consolers” equipped with whips, boxing gloves, pistols, and pipes to help out a fellow panic-stricken flyer remain cool. And who can’t sympathize with Rex Kramer karate chopping and elbowing panhandlers at the airport? Most of all, though, I would like to highlight the secret weapon in the whole film: air traffic receptionist-slash-administrative aide-slash-typist Johnny. His nonstop quips and overall mischievousness, which include his imaginative new uses for the weather bulletin (a hat, a brooch, an origami pterodactyl) and his snarky jabs (“Bad news: The fog’s getting thicker.” “And Leon’s getting laaaaarger.”) bring the zaniness up another notch. He’s the rapidly beating heart of the whole enterprise, equipped with enough hot air for any automatic pilot to safely guide a plane out of danger.
The sheer number of jokes employed by the creators of Airplane guarantee that a couple won’t stick there landing perfectly, and the movie’s not without some bumpy turbulence in spots. One must also contend with the fact, that like Mel Brooks, most of the humor can border on crude and politically incorrect at times. To be sure, subtleness is not the desired effect here. Everything is stuffed and oversized to get a maximum jocular reaction. The deployment of innuendoes, stereotypes, and lampooning symbols of profundity to be ridiculed and mocked incessantly harken back to those loveable Dadaists decades ago. In fact, Airplane is adding another link to the comedy evolutionary chain that also includes the Marx Brothers, Three Stooges, and Laurel and Hardy. They are just super-sizing the buffoonery to the outer limits of decency and respectability perhaps, but always with whimsical flair and the noble wish to have the audience chortle with delight.
You might say, surely parodies of this variety are not in short supply these days. They’re not. And don’t call me Shirley. But seriously (sort of), Airplane has become a harbinger of all the really lame copycat films to come. When considering all the cinematic atrocities it spawned, including its much weaker sequel—Meet The Spartans, Scary Movie, Hot Shots! Part Deux, and Dracula Dead and Loving It (also starring Mr. Nielsen)—one might pause to wonder if it was all worth it in the end. Some of these follow-up spoofs are absolute comic nadir…not just scraping, but tearing up the bottom of the barrel. Still, you could argue that making these kinds of pictures are actually very hard. The critical success rate would seem to be relatively low (only this, Naked Gun, and two or three Mel Brooks films are worthy) when all is said and done. Besides, nothing screams out to stop debating such seriousness more than Airplane. It’s just a good time, chockfull of laughs—the equivalent of painting a mustache on a second-rate Mona Lisa (since the films being spoofed initially weren’t exactly art anyway) or admiring the unintentional Jesus restoration painting in Spain for all its batty splendor and irrational ability to humor us all.
“Oh, it’s a big pretty white plane with red stripes, curtains in the window and wheels—and it looks like a big Tylenol.”
How Airplane made the top 100:
#5 Bob Clark
#9 David Schleicher
#10 J.D. La France
#15 Pierre De Plume
#18 Dean Treadway
#22 Jon Warner
#24 Frank Gallo
#27 Rod Heath
#32 Jason Marshall
#37 Bobby Jopsson
#39 Maurizio Roca
#51 Peter M
#59 Marilyn Ferdinand
Maurizio,
Great re-cap of this really funny film. One that has loads of belly laughs and as far as that goes, vies for the funniest film of all time. Your assertions at the end for what this film spawned are of course valid. I do also wonder whether it was more Mel Brooks though that could take more of the blame. I mean Young Frankenstein and Blazing Saddles were about 6 years earlier. Part of what makes those great still today is there is still a freshness about them and an earnestness and a crudeness that still holds up. These are films with an edge to them. When the edge ceases to be relevant or interesting, then you have films that are just crude for crude’s sake. And yes it is difficult to make these films resonate and mean something. They are not easy to do well.
I agree about the edge aspect Jon. I also think many modern day spoofs are just made by unfunny people.
Airplane took slapstick comedy to the farthest reaches of absurdity. The subtle (and not so subtle) verbal puns and sight gags are unleashed at such a rapid pace that getting them all the first time around is not always a given. Its nonsensical charm never wears off or feels strained, instead it increases with every ticking minute to reveal more and more hilarity.
I thought I had voted for this film. If not, it was a major (accidental) blunder, as I am and have always been a huge fan. You have done a fabulous job assessing this sight gag and one-liner laden laughfest, a film that to this very day I reference with family members and my youngest brother. AIRPLANE 2 is also a worthy contender for this countdown, and at time the gags in both can be confused. For example two that I laugh at every time I think of them are the scenes when the hostess tells the people on the place that severe turbulence may spell doom (the passengers do no react at all, preferring to read) and then adds: “by the way, we ran out of coffee.” Pandemonium then ensues. The other is when terrorists carrying bazookas and rifles easily get by the metal detector, and then an old woman is frisks and manhandled! You are quite right to mention the parody and the stereotyping, and I absolutely agree that some of the early icons like L & H, the Three Stooges and the Marx brothers paved teh way for what the Zuckers did here. Great stuff!
My records indicate you did not vote for this Sam. I was surprised since I know you have talked about this film fondly in the past. Then again I forgot to vote for certain films as well during the polling. I still can’t believe Tati’s Trafic was left out of my list. Thanks for the compliment.
The Japanese passenger who commits hara-kari after listening to the boring stories of our “hero” was a favorite. And the people lining up to slap some sense into the film, including a boxer and others holding weapons. And that ‘Stayin Alive’ segment near the beginning with the girl scouts trashing each other. But this one is loaded, and truly deserves to make this countdown.
M. Roca is definitely the man for the job. Great piece!
Thanks Frank. I just had a nice little chuckle remembering the Japanese suicide again.
My favorite moment is when Robert Stack calls his wife to let her know he’s on the way and the camera pans to her in bed, smoking a cigarette and refrencing to whomever is in bed with her, obviously an illicit lover..
Only to have the camera pan over and find a race horse next to her.
Yeah, I cannot deny the fact that this film just works…
Is it good?
I don’t know.
Does it say something about us through it’s humor?
God, I hope not.
Is it funny.
Uproarious.
I guess that’s all that matters.
Great comment Dennis. It’s just a really funny film.
Somehow I knew there’d be a film that I enjoyed tremendously yet would only remember when it showed up on the countdown, and this is it. Compared to all its formulaic descendants it’s like early Mad magazine. It helps a lot that Nielsen did not yet realize that he was some sort of comic genius — that set in around Naked Gun 2, I think. Here he’s in tune with his peer group, not just the rightly lauded Stack but also Peter Graves and Lloyd (“I picked the wrong day…”) Bridges. It works so well as a parody because no one (except Johnny) really acts like a clown. That’s the secret that was lost fast.
That’s a great point Samuel. You’ve gotta keep a straight face with stuff like this otherwise it doesn’t work.
Yeah one Johnny is more than enough. Pack a film with nothing but him and the movie loses its effectiveness. He’s funny precisely because everyone else is relatively straight.
This was hilarious, and makes it difficult to keep a straight face while you watch any of the films it was spoofing. I do agree that a lot of latter-day spoofs have been rubbish – my kids dragged me along to see several which had almost no laughs in them. But that doesn’t take away from the brilliance of this one! My favourite gag – “Looks like I picked the wrong day to give up smoking”. Enjoyed this a lot, Maurizio.
Thanks Judy. Yeah I would love to give Airport a whirl soon.
Great job covering a great film! One factor not mentioned yet, and one that helped ensure the film’s continuing success, is the performance of Julie Hagerty, which had just the right amount of wide-eyed sincerity and game the film the “heart factor” that people could hold onto.
As you may know, since the film was made, Peter Graves expressed regret over the homosexual overtones of his character as inappropriate. Maybe he was just expressing cold feet about the politically incorrect nature of some of his lines, but I’m glad to see that he was willing to take on a role that parodied the square-jawed boringness of so many of his other characters.
Mel Brooks’ brand of humor may pre-date Airplane, but Airplane took humor to new heights (pun intended).
Hagerty acts like she’s in a actual drama almost exclusively. Barely a hint of comedy and it works.
One of the Great Spoofs and comedies of all time, it’s a riot just to think about it and laugh at the jokes and the acting of Leslie Nielsen among many many others. I am more kind to the spoof genre, maybe I’m a softy but I do see some value in films like ‘Dracula: Dead and Loving It”, maybe because of my fascination with the history of Dracula films (and how that spoof of sorts actually counts as a faithful adaptation of the book, at least more faithful than the Lugosi version).
This was just left out of my ballot, maybe the crude jokes don’t work that much to me, hence the reason it felt in the lower 60′s in my top 100.
Yeah Leslie Nielsen was a perfect choice for these kinds of films, though I certainly don’t share your positive assessment of Drac: DALI.
Excellent essay! I love this film also and picking out a short list of some of the best gags is a tough one. I think that probably my fave recurring gag is Ted Striker’s “drinking problem” or how his long-winded stories of him and Elaine cause whoever is listening to kill themselves.
Part of what makes it work so well is that aside from Johnny, every delivers their lines with a straight-faced as if they are really doing a drama and this deadpan delivery is what makes the more outrageous lines that much funnier.
‘Just hang loose, blood’.
Barbara Billingsley’s jive is the showstopper here.