Tuesday, October 18, 2022

"Airport 1975" released 1974


I suppose the success of Airport in 1970 was the main impetus behind the making of this movie, to which the only connection to Airport 1975 is George Kennedy as Joe Patroni.  Airport 1975, released October 18, 1974, was a box office blockbuster, becoming the third largest grossing film of 1974 behind The Towering Inferno and Earthquake, which starred both George Kennedy and Charlton Heston (Alan Murdock in Airport 1975).

Critics were not impressed, and the movie has been inducted into the Razzie Awards' Hall of Shame (along with its two sequels).

Dana Andrews plays Scott Freeman, the pilot of a twin-engine private Beechcraft Baron, who has a heart attack in flight and crashes into the cockpit of a 747, killing two crew members and blinding the captain.  Airport 1975 was heavily parodied in Airplane!, a comedy taken from Zero Hour! which also starred Dana Andrews.

The cast was star-studded with big names like Gloria Swanson, Karen Black, Efram Zimbalist, Jr., Susan Clark, Linda Blair, and Helen Reddy.

Reddy garnered the only award nomination as she was nominated for the Golden Globe for Most Promising Newcomer - Female.


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