We all experience but a few constants while walking this planet. Death is one of them. It is going to come for us all at some point. Taxes, unless you can slime your way out of them, is another. The taxman will find you. One other constant might not be well known or the source of a famous saying, but it is just as valid as the other two I mentioned. The other constant in life is that “Airplane!”, the 1980 spoof of the disaster movie genre from directors Jim Abrahams, David Zucker, and Jerry Zucker, is still the funniest movie ever made. It is the funniest movie ever made because it clearly understands comedy is not one size fits all. Different styles of jokes take different routes to the punchline. Some require a direct path. Others need a winding and curvy road before the payoff. “Airplane!” demonstrates this throughout its 87 minute runtime and does so better than any other comedy film that came before or after. 

The plot of “Airplane!” is lifted directly from the 1957 film, “Zero Hour”, a film the three directors bought the rights to in order to skewer and spoof it so masterfully. Both films deal with the character of Ted Striker (Stryker in “Zero Hour” and played by Robert Hays in “Airplane!”), a former pilot in the “war”, who recently finds out his relationship to flight attendant Elaine Dickinson (Julie Hagerty) has ended. Striker follows her onto a flight from Los Angeles and heading to Chicago. It is on this flight where the passengers and flight crew become ill due to food poisoning. Striker, still haunted by what happened in the “war”, is the only person qualified to fly the plane and save everyone from a certain doom.

That is the barebones description of the plot of “Airplane!” without mentioning any of the sight gags (An arrow hitting a watermelon for no reason comes to mind), wordplay (Two young passengers “talking” about coffee, the names of the flight crew, etc.), slapstick (Striker’s “drinking problem” in action, how a panicked passenger is “handled, etc.) cameos (Barbara Billingsley talking jive, an Ethel Merman appearance, Kareem Abdul-Jabbar in the role played by “Crazylegs Hirsch in “Zero Hour”, etc.), and other elements ZAZ (The accepted acronym for Zucker, Abrahams, and Zucker) throws into “Airplane!” to make this film a timeless comedy classic. The directors let loose not only spoofing the serious tone of “Zero Hour” but the entire disaster genre, one that ruled the box office 1970s. They do so with a childlike glee, whimsically dismantling every element and aspect of disaster films.

ZAZ is able to do this primarily because of the casting. Even though some comedians appear in small cameo roles, the directors wisely selected actors known for serious and dramatic roles. This choice only elevates the comedy because the expectations of the audience are tempered until the wackiness takes hold. Leslie Nielsen is the famous example of this casting strategy. He plays Dr. Rumack, the only medical professional on the flight and the one who diagnoses what is happening to the passengers. Before and up to “Airplane!”, no one would have ever expected Nielsen in a comedic role. You do not expect him to be funny even when he appears on the screen as he deadpans his lines. His tone really never changes, but the zaniness that comes out of his mouth works so well. Whether it’s the running joke about calling him “Shirley” or his nose growing like Pinocchio as he lies to the the passengers or really any other scene where he appears, Nielsen establishes that he is an incredibly gifted comedic actor. He does so well that his career post “Airplane!” is marked by roles in other spoof comedies, most notably “The Naked Gun” and its sequels, also directed by ZAZ.

The two other key casting choices ZAZ makes in establishing “Airplanes!” particular comedic tone are that of Lloyd Bridges as airport tower supervisor Steve McCroskey (One of the funniest shots in the movie comes when he is behind a self portrait) and Robert Stack as Captain Rex Kramer, Ted’s former commanding officer and a pilot for the airline who comes in to help Striker get the plane down successfully. Neither actor would have been known for comedic roles going into “Airplane!”, but ZAZ blesses the audience with some genuinely hilarious moments from the other. The running joke about McCroskey picking the wrong week to give up something as the tension builds is amplified by Bridges’ haggard delivery. Stack plays Kramer as totally in command of the situation, but the genius of his performance is that he understands the true joke is himself. A favorite story from the production of “Airplane!” comes from a moment when Bridges did not understand why a particular scene was funny. Stack just laughed and told Bridges to say the line, it did not matter if he understood it because “WE are the joke”. Stack’s awareness of this element makes every line he says as Kramer so much funnier and effective.

Before I get off this subject, I must note that another great casting choice is Peter Graves as Captain Clarence Oveur, the original pilot of the plane and a character who takes a “special” interest in a young boy on the plane. He delivers these incredibly out there lines with such confidence and purpose. It was also said that Graves’ wife absolutely found the role hilarious even when Graves did not particularly agree. 

I have no apologies or regrets about first seeing “Airplane!” when I was way younger than “police society” would have deemed appropriate. The exact age escapes me, but it was definitely before I entered first grade. MANY of the jokes were lost on me at that young age, but I still understood the movie was funny. The fast word play, the sight gags, the literal shit hitting the fan, they all connected with me. The character of Johnny (Stephen Stucker), an air traffic controller, was so over the top and hilarious. I definitely knew what he was doing was funny. As I got older, I understood more and more of the jokes, especially the more off color and risqué ones that ZAZ were able to throw in and still get a PG rating in the days before PG-13. “Airplane” became a foundational piece of my sense of humor. It helped me understand and appreciate what else I considered funny. No film could match up to it, but many could come close. 

“Airplane!” is a film I can put on in the background and still laugh without even having to pay full attention to what is on the screen. The dialogue has been burned into my brain, and I can see the scenes without having to lay eyes on the action. The comedic genius it achieved is a part of me, and I would not have it any other way. I know some people might be saying, “Surely, you can’t be serious”. I would just respond, “I am seriously, and stop calling me Shirley”. 

This review is part of my Letterboxd 4 series showcasing my 4 all-time favorite movies.

Airplane! 
(Jim Abrahams, David Zucker, Jerry Zucker, 1980)
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