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Airport ’77Plot: Philip Stevens (James Stewart) is a nice rich guy who owns a private 747 outfitted with a bar, bedrooms and a posh lounge with a piano. He’s flying his daughter (Pamela Bellwood), grandson and some pals down to his weekend house in Palm Beach, Florida. Sounds fun, right? Well, not so much.
Universal Pictures
Also aboard is his collection of priceless art, which a few nefarious members of the crew are keen to steal. They knock out the passengers with sleeping gas and the evil co-pilot (Robert Foxworth) flies the plane low out of radar range smack in the middle of The Bermuda Triangle. Because where else?The plan is to land the plane on a remote island, take the art and disappear. But trouble comes when the 747’s wing collides with an oil platform in the middle of a fog bank. Foxworth is able to ditch in the ocean, but before the passengers can evacuate, the plane sinks to the seabed not far below the water’s surface. Things look bad, but eventually most on board are saved when the US Navy raises the 747 momentarily, using several large balloons.Believability rating: Low, though the closing credits tell viewers that the Navy rescue capabilities depicted on-screen are real. An all-star cast? Like you need to ask. Watch for Christopher Lee, Olivia de Havilland, Lee Grant, Jack Lemmon and for you fans of The Golden Girls, Monte Markham (Blanche’s gay brother) and Brenda Vaccaro (Dorothy’s sister-in-law, Angela).George Kennedy’s role? Our friend Joe now works for Stewart’s company, managing his aircraft fleet.TriviaJoan Crawford was again offered a role, but she declined. She died the same year, leaving poor Christina Crawford out of her will.It was the only movie in the series where an aircraft used in the production was not later involved in a crash.The video game <a website and an early laser-disc player both make appearances. After the filmEven camp can be respectable. The film received two Academy Award nominations: Best Art Direction and Best Costume Design.Director Jerry Jameson had a thing for raising sunken transport. He also directed the spectacularly bad Raise the Titanic, released in 1980.
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The Concorde… Airport ’79Plot: LOL. OK, try to stay with me. Kevin Harrison (Robert Wagner) is a wealthy industrialist with a dark secret: He’s selling arms to communist countries during the Cold War. His girlfriend is Maggie Whelan (Susan Blakely), a tough-as-nails TV journalist who’s about to fly to Moscow on a Concorde to cover the 1980 Olympics. At the controls are Joe Patroni, (yes, him) and actual French guy Paul Metrand (Alain Delon). Naturally, Paul is also involved with one of the flight attendants (oh la la!).
Universal Pictures
Just before she boards the flight, Maggie learns of Kevin’s secret and vows to report the truth. To stop her, he first tries to shoot down the flight with one of his company’s totally realistic drones. When that fails, he hires a fighter jet (from Avis, I assume) to do the job with heat-seeking missiles. That also fails after Joe and Paul pull a few barrel rolls and distract the missile by firing a flare gun out the window at supersonic speed. Yes, you read that correctly. When the Concorde lands safely in Paris, all seems well. But for the next flight to Moscow, one of Kevin’s henchmen programs the baggage hold door to open midflight, which should cause the plane to explosively depressurize and crash. The door does open after takeoff and the fuselage almost ruptures, but Joe and Paul manage to land on a snowfield in the middle of the Alps. The passengers live, Kevin shoots himself while watching the whole thing on TV, and Maggie goes on to present her story.Believability rating: You’re kidding, right?An all-star cast? Cuchi Cuchi! There’s Charo for starters, but also Cicely Tyson, Jimmie Walker, John Davidson, Eddie Albert and Martha Raye. Harry Shearer also lends his voice as an announcer. Oh, and did I mention Charo? She needed something to do when she wasn’t a Love Boat guest star.George Kennedy’s role? He’s finally a pilot! But frankly, knowing his record thus far, I wouldn’t go anywhere near that plane.TriviaAn early scene (skip to 1:45) references the public outcry against Concorde flights in the United States over noise and environmental concerns when the aircraft started commercial service in 1976. The film does its best to show the then-futuristic design of Washington Dulles and Paris Charles de Gaulle airports. The scene (keep watching the video I linked to above) when police pursue a bad guy across de Gaulle’s runways is a highlight.After the filmThe Concorde used in the film was the same Air France Concorde that crashed after takeoff from Paris in 2000.Despite the detente depicted on-screen, the United States would go on to boycott the 1980 Moscow Olympics over the 1979 Soviet invasion of Afghanistan.
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