"AIRPORT" (1970) Review

"AIRPORT" (1970) Review

According to many film critics and fans, the 1970 movie, "AIRPORT", generated what is known in Hollywood as the first in the "disaster film" genre. Is this true? From a certain point of view. "AIRPORT" was not the first Hollywood disaster movie ever made. But it did kick start a whole slew of them that Hollywood churned out during the 1970s. 

Based upon Arthur Hailey's 1968 novel, "AIRPORT" told the story of the manager of a fictional airport near Chicago named Mel Bakersfield, who is trying to keep the airport open during a snowstorm. Bakerfield not only has to deal with the bad weather's effect upon the airport; but also local suburban residents, who want to permanently shut down one of the runways; an elderly lady who also happens to be a habitual stowaway; a failing marriage; a hostile brother-in-law, who is an airline pilot; and a suicidal bomber who plots to blow up a Rome-bound Boeing 707 airliner in flight. This is just the tip of the iceberg. Not only is Bakersfield's brother-in-law, Vernon Demarest, is a tool, he is having an affair with a beautiful young English-born stewardess named Gwen Meighen. And both had been assigned to the Rome-bound flight about Trans Global Airline (TGA)'s flagship, the Golden Argosy. Bakersfield's own marriage is in trouble, due to his long working habits. Even worse, he is attracted to TGA's customer relations agent, Tanya Livingston. Meanwhile, former demolitions expert D.O. Guerrero has hit hard times due to unemployment and a history of mental illness. In a desperate bid to provide for his long-suffering wife, Inez, he buys life insurance with the intent of committing suicide by blowing up the Golden Argosy over the Atlantic Ocean, so that his wife, Inez will collect the $225,000 insurance money.

I would not be surprised if many movie fans and film critics have dismissed "AIRPORT" after forty-six years. Superficially, it is the type of film that many would either dismiss today as "dated" or simply melodramatic trash. Yes, "AIRPORT" is filled with melodrama. But if I must be honest, I would regard it as classy melodrama. Mature. Yes, the movie is filled with infidelity, strained marriages and unrequited love. But all topics are treated with both class and a brutal honesty by writer-director George Seaton that I found rather surprising. 

This especially seemed to be the case in the story line regarding Vernon Demarest and his mistress, Gwen Meighen. Their discussion of her pregnancy and and a possible abortion struck me as very mature . . . and honest. I could also say the same about the story line regarding Mel and Cindy Bakersfield's failing marriage. What I liked about this story line is that despite Cindy's bitching about Mel's working habits, I realized that she had a very good reason to feel bitter. I also felt a good deal of sympathy toward Mel's attraction to customer relations agent, Tanya Livingston. More importantly, both husband and wife managed to come to the conclusion that divorce was their only option without any overblown angst. Seaton also managed to portray D.O. and Inez Guerrero with an honest eye and show how their money troubles and his emotional instability has been a strain on their marriage. Within all of this melodrama, "AIRPORT" provided some laughs in the story arc about Tanya's dealings with a charming old widow named Mrs. Ada Quonsett, and her penchant for stowing aboard many of the airline's flights. But even her story arc takes a serious turn when she decides to sneak about the Golden Argosy's flight to Rome and finds herself in a seat next to Guerrero. 

The movie also benefited from attention paid to the detail of day-to-day airport and airline operations, the response to a paralyzing snowstorm, a runway blocked by a disabled airplane, environmental concerns over noise pollution, and an attempt to blow up an airliner. What I find really interesting is how the film's plot allowed the main characters' personal stories to intertwine with scenes that featured decisions being made minute-by-minute by the airport and airline staffs, operations and maintenance crews, flight crews, and Federal Aviation Administration air traffic controllers. This balancing act seemed to be at its supreme in the story arc featuring D.O. Guerrero's attempt to bomb the Rome flight. I was amazed at how the other arcs featuring Mrs. Ada Quonsett, Vern Demerest and Gwen Meighen's affair, and the disabled plane blocking the runway managed to seamlessly intertwine with Guerrero's story. Not only does one have author Arthur Hailey to thank, but also George Seaton, who made this happen on screen due to his Oscar nominated screenplay and excellent direction.

Was there anything about "AIRPORT" that I disliked? Or found wanting? I had nothing against Edith Head's costumes for the film. Quite frankly, I found them very attractive. But for the likes of me, I cannot understand why her work for this film was nominated in the first place. Her designs were not that mind boggling. But my real complaint about this movie were some of the performances. I have nothing against the performances by the movie's stars and major supporting cast members. But I found those performances by many of the minor supporting cast either wooden or hammy. Their performances reminded me of those I had encountered among the minor cast members in the 1982 miniseries, "THE BLUE AND THE GRAY".

As I had stated earlier, I had no problems with those performances of the movie's stars and major supporting cast members. The movie featured solid performances from the likes of Gary Collins, Barry Nelson, Lloyd Nolan, and Barbara Hale. Jean Seberg gave an excellent performance as customers relations agent Tanya Livingston, especially in her major scene with Helen Haynes. The latter received a Best Supporting Actress Oscar for her performance as the charming, yet cunning Ada Quonsett. Star Burt Lancaster held the movie together with a commanding performance and at the same time, was perfectly emotional in his scenes with Dana Wynter, who portrayed his wife. Speaking of Ms. Wynter, she did an excellent job of conveying Cindy Bakersfield's emotional turmoil as an estranged wife. Jacqueline Bisset was spot on as stewardess Gwen Meighen, who not only found herself pregnant, but also in love with her unborn baby's married father. Maureen Stapleton received several nominations and a Best Supporting Actress Golden Globe Award as Guerrero's long-suffering wife. Although I admired her performance very much, I found her last scene a bit on the hammy side.

However, my favorite performances came from three cast members - Van Heflin, George Kennedy and especially Dean Martin. I am amazed that Heflin did not receive an acting award or nomination as the emotionally damaged D.O. Guerrero, who had decided to solve his problems with an act of violence. Heflin did an excellent job of portraying a man barely able to keep his emotions in check, yet beaten down by the bad luck in his life. George Kennedy received several acting nominations as the gregarious, yet very intelligent airline mechanic, Joe Patroni. In fact, I believe he gave the most entertaining performance in the movie. But if there is one performance I believe deserved an acting nomination or award, it came from Dean Martin. His portrayal of pilot Vern Demerest struck me as the most complex character in the movie. He conveyed the different aspects of Demerest's personality - arrogance, temperamental, competency, compassionate and loving - with such great skill that it seemed a crime that he was never acknowledged for his work.

After my recent viewing of "AIRPORT", I found myself wondering why I had ignored it for so long. It really is a first-rate movie, thanks to George Seaton's adaptation of Arthur Hailey's novel and skillful direction. The movie was also blessed with a first-rate cast that included Burt Lancaster, Helen Haynes, George Kennedy and Dean Martin. "AIRPORT" might have a few flaws, but after forty years or so, I still believe it is one of the best disaster films I have ever seen . . . period. And at the moment, I cannot even think of any other film that might be its equal or superior.

"AIRPORT" (1970) Photo Gallery

Below are images from "AIRPORT", the 1970 adaptation of Arthur Hailey's 1968 novel. Directed by George Seaton, the movie starred Burt Lancaster, Dean Martin, Jean Seberg, Jacqueline Bisset and George Kennedy: 


"AIRPORT" (1970) Photo Gallery

"SHENANDOAH" (1965) Review

"SHENANDOAH" (1965) Review

During my recent viewing of the 1965 movie, "SHENANDOAH", I came to the surprising conclusion that it proved to be entirely different than what I had assumed it would be. But it is not surprising that it would take several years for the movie to be appreciated by today's audiences than it was back in 1965. 

Like I said, "SHENANDOAH" is an unusual film. Set in 1864, during the U.S. Civil War, the movie is about the efforts of a sardonic Virginia farmer and widower named Charlie Anderson to prevent his sons from fighting in the war. Although, he is sympathetic toward the travails his neighbors face from the Union Army's presence in the Shenandoah Valley, he feels no obligation to fight on behalf of a state he believes had never help him maintain his farm. Nor does he support the Confederacy's pro-slavery stance. His neighbors seem willing to tolerate his pacifist stance, although a few like Pastor Bjoerling occasionally make barbed comments. 

Not long after his only daughter's wedding to neighbor and Confederate Army officer Sam and the birth of his first grandchild, Charlie's family fortunes take a turn for the worse. His youngest son, 16 year-old Boy, is captured by Union soldiers, while playing with his close friend Gabriel, a neighbor's slave. Boy had been wearing a Confederate Army kepi cap he had earlier found. When Gabriel informs the Anderson family of the news; Charlie, most of his sons and daughter Jennie leave to look for Boy. They leave James and his wife Ann at the farm with their young baby.

While watching the first twenty to thirty minutes of "SHENANDOAH", one gets the impression of watching a warm family comedy-drama with a Civil War setting. I almost felt as if I were watching "THE WALTONS" in a 19th century setting. There are very few characters in uniform. The movie featured the Anderson family at home, at work and a mildly amusing scene of them arriving late at church during the beginning of the sermon. And when the war did infringe upon their lives, the family usually responded in humorous ways - namely their boisterous fight with a state official and soldiers trying to acquire horses for the army, and a stand-off between Anderson's sons and a group of army recruiters. By the time Charlie and his family set out to find the missing Boy, I felt certain that their adventures would be exciting, topped by a happy ending. Charlie and the rest of the Andersons got their happy ending. . . but at great costs, thanks to the Union Army, the Confederate Army and a group of deserters. The movie's growing dark tones and anti-war sentiments really took me by surprise, considering its earlier tone. But what really took me by surprise is that the movie's changing tone had been gradual, thanks to director Andrew V. McLaglen and screenwriter James Lee Barrett.

There were scenes in "SHENANDOAH" that really impressed me. I enjoyed those scenes with Charlie's conversations with his future son-in-law, Sam, and his daughter-in-law Ann; due to their heartwarming nature, Charlie's outlooks on both his family dynamics and dealing with marriage, and fine performances from James Stewart, Doug McClure and Katherine Ross. However, his conversation with Union Army officer Colonel Fairchild really impressed me, thanks to Stewart and George Kennedy's performances, and the way the two men managed to emotionally connect on the horrors of war and fear of losing their sons. Boy's escape with a group of Confederate soldiers from a riverboat struck me as rather exciting. In one of the movie's earlier scene, Jennie Anderson had encouraged Gabriel to run away from his master. Not only did Gabriel run, he eventually joined the Union Army. This is probably why I found Gabriel's reunion on the battlefield with a wounded Boy emotionally satisfying. The friendship and warmth the two boys felt for each other had not wavered, despite finding themselves within the ranks of the opposite armies. And I was amazed at how both Philip Alford and Eugene Jackson Jr. managed to convey the close friendship of the two characters with hardly any words. However, I feel that the movie's two best scenes were featured in the Andersons' local church. The first church scene proved to be a very funny affair, thanks to actor Denver Pyle's skillful conveyance of Pastor Bjoerling's irritated reaction to the Andersons' late arrival in the middle of his sermon. The second church scene, which ended the film, was a beautifully acted and emotional that surprisingly left me in tears. It had the perfect mixture of relief, happiness and a little pathos that followed the emotionally draining aspects of the movie's second half. Even after nearly five decades, many people still talk about it.

Despite my satisfaction with "SHENANDOAH", there were some aspects of it that I found troubling. Most of my dissatisfaction came from the movie's historical portrait of its setting. One of the Union soldiers that captured Boy proved to be black. The Union Army was not integrated in 1864. In fact, I do not believe it was ever integrated during the four years of the Civil War. And for the likes of me, I could not see how all of Charlie's six sons could have avoided military service during the war's first three years. His sons, especially Jacob, seemed to have minds of their own. I figured if they really wanted to fight in the war - whether for the Confederacy or the Union - they would have left the farm and join the military. I could not understand how someone as strong-willed as Jacob (who was the oldest) could have allowed his father to prevent him from joining the Confederate Army. And even if all the boys had wanted to remain on the farm, they would have been subjected to the military draft. The Confederacy had enacted the military draft about a year before the Union. And the Andersons were not rich or owned any slaves. I have one last complaint - a minor one at that. Some of the acting by the supporting characters in minor roles sucked. Period. I found their performances rather wooden and could not understand how they managed to get roles in an "A" production like "SHENANDOAH" in the first place.

Flaws or not, I can honestly say that "SHENANDOAH" is one of the better Civil War movies I have ever seen. Instead of telling the story of the war from one side or the other, it told the story about a family that desperately tried to avoid being dragged into the chaos and tragedy of war . . . and failed. Thanks to a well-written script written by James Lee Bennett and a talented cast led by the even more talented James Stewart, director Andrew V. McLaglen crafted an excellent story about the Civil War that proved to be more emotional and surprising than I could ever imagine.

"SHENANDOAH" (1965) Photo Gallery

Below are images from "SHENANDOAH", a Civil War movie released in 1965. Directed by Andrew V. McLaglen, the movie starred James Stewart: 


"SHENANDOAH" (1965) Photo Gallery