Airport Collection

Burt Lancaster

Dana Wynter

Dean Martin

Barbara Hale

Jean Seberg

Jacqueline Bisset

George Kennedy

Jodean Lawrence

Helen Hayes

John Findlater

Van Heflin

Maureen Stapleton

Barry Nelson

Eileen Wesson

Robert Patten

Paul Picerni

Ilana Dowding

Lisa Gerritsen

Clark Howat

Gary Collins

Lloyd Nolan

Jessie Royce Landis

Sandra Gould

Janis Hansen

William Boyett

James Nolan

Peter Turgeon

Albert Reed Jr.

Dick Winslow

Virginia Grey

Lou Wagner

Whit Bissell

Ena Hartman

Nancy Ann Nelson

Mary Jackson

Patty Poulsen

Malila Saint Duval

Sharon Harvey

Shelly Novack

Lew Brown

Larry Gates

Chuck Daniel

Charles Brewer

Richard Mathews

Cathleen Cordell

William H. O'Brien

Leoda Richards

Ray Ballard

Chuck Bowman

Eve Brent

John Dennis

John Francis

Harry Harvey

Gordon Jump

Eve McVeagh

Pat Priest

Don Ross

Marion Ross

Mark Russell

Frank J. Scannell

Susan Seaforth Hayes

Allison McKay

John Nolan

Ron Stokes

Quinn K. Redeker

Wilma Francis

George Seaton

Alfred Newman

Ernest Laszlo

Ross Hunter

Arthur Hailey

Stuart Gilmore

Edith Head

Mickey S. Michaels

E. Preston Ames

Jack D. Moore

Jacques Mapes

Alexander Golitzen

Everett Lehman

Nick Cravat

Bud Walls

Carol Daniels

Loyal Griggs

Don Nagel

Joe Gray

Donna Garrett

Dean Smith

Bob Yerkes

Raymond Gosnell

Betty A. Griffin

Arnold Schwarzwald

Larry Germain

Ronald Pierce

David H. Moriarty

Bud Westmore

Donald Roberts

Waldon O. Watson

Action

Drama

Thriller

Airport

Ross Hunter Productions

United States of America

_**Quaint, but fairly compelling airport soap opera with a disaster element**_

During a snowstorm at Lincoln International Airport in Chicago, the manager of the airport (Burt Lancaster) works overtime to clear the main runway of a Boeing 707 that’s stuck in the snow while dealing with his failing marriage. Meanwhile the next flight to Rome piloted by his brother-in-law (Dean Martin) has a suspicious person with an attaché case on board (Van Heflin). George Kennedy plays the head mechanic, Jean Seberg a customer relations agent, Jacqueline Bisset a flight attendant and Helen Hayes a stowaway.    

"Airport" (1970) was the movie that kicked-off the disaster craze of the 70s. It’s not great like “The Poseidon Adventure” (1972), but it’s more compelling and less bloated than “The Towering Inferno” (1974). The soap operatic first half paves the way for the disaster-oriented second. It’s intentionally old-fashioned and was a huge hit at the box office. I wasn’t sure about it for the first 20 minutes, but I then found myself involved in the characters and their story, keeping my interest till the end.

After disaster films developed a bad rap years later, Lancaster panned “Airport” as the “worst piece of junk ever made,” which is ironic considering it was his most successful movie at the box office BY FAR.  

The film runs 2 hours, 16 minutes, and was shot at Minneapolis-Saint Paul International Airport, Minneapolis, and Universal Studios, Universal City, California.

GRADE: B

Italiano

English

Airport (1970) (Theatrical Trailer)