Airport 1975

Year releasted: 1974

by Keith Phipps
July 17th, 2002

Like most glamorous professions, a career as a flight attendant has its drawbacks. Sure, if Airport 1975 serves as any indication, they get to fly with sexy co-pilots like Erik Estrada, but what of the woman ready to enter a phase of her life characterized more by stability and love than cockpit double entendres? As Airport 1975 opens, this dilemma has reached a crucial phase for maturing flight attendant Karen Black. When her pilot boyfriend Charlton Heston disembarks from a European jaunt, she greets him with a warm kiss, but also a demand for a few hours of his time so they can have a serious talk about their relationship. "I can do wonders in 30 minutes," Heston replies. Black greets this response coolly before she boards a Los Angeles-bound 747 filled with colorful characters, including a singing nun (Helen Reddy), a guitar-toting transplant patient (Linda Blair), an aging aspiring actor (Sid Caesar), a hard-drinking old woman (Myrna Loy), a trio of drunken businessmen (Norman Fell, Jerry Stiller, and Conrad Janis), and Gloria Swanson, playing the part of Gloria Swanson. (The script, which features such lines as "You've gotta see Gloria Swanson. She looks terrific!" might have helped attract her to the film.) Apart from an impromptu performance by Reddy, the flight starts off well, but hits a major snag when a small plane piloted by an unconscious Dana Andrews rips a hole in the cockpit. The accident leaves two crewmembers dead and renders pilot Efrem Zimbalist Jr. able to speak only in short, cryptic sentences. Soon, it's up to a panicky Black to pilot the plane to safety, guided by Heston's knowing voice. Eventually, however, Heston and airline executive George Kennedy decide that the job calls for a professional. After one man dies in the rescue attempt, Heston himself tethers across to bring the plane down just as the passengers' panic begins to reach a boil. As an ambulance rushes Blair to the hospital, the drunks start to sober up, Heston and Black ride the inflatable emergency exit to a brighter future, and a terrific-looking Swanson smiles knowingly.