The April A to Z Challenge begins today.
For the letter A, I have chosen the Zucker Brothers’ Airplane!
Fun fact: when my family got a VCR, Airplane! was the first movie we ever rented!
Jim Abrahams and the Zucker Brothers took the plot of 1950s B movie, Zero Hour and plundered it for comic treasure.
I hadn’t watched Airplane! in more than 30 years. A lot of it still holds up, and I think it’s a comedy that succeeds because the jokes come so fast that the groaners slip by, quickly replaced by another sight gag or ‘don’t call me Shirley’ pun.
It’s gloriously politically incorrect, with jokes that wouldn’t pass muster today, but its sense of humour is so juvenile and basically harmless that it manages to get away with it.
I was surprised by how much of it I remembered – perhaps that’s because the film is a classic that has cemented its place in pop culture. I found myself uttering punchlines before the characters did, and I applauded and had a huge grin on my face when Leslie Nielsen appeared.
Actually, there are a lot of familiar faces in Airplane! As well as Nielsen, Lloyd Bridges, Peter Graves and Robert Stack, you can also see Better Call Saul‘s Jonathan Banks, as well as James Hong and of course, Ethel Merman.
My favourite Airplane! moments.
Scientologeeeeee!
I speak Jive
Have you ever seen a grown man naked?
The bar at Daiquiri
The River of Jordan
The Fluff Is Raging 
Hey, Niall, I didn’t know you were doing the AtoZ Challenge as well 🙂
I think I saw this film last time when I was a kid. I enjoyed the videos.
Thanks for sharing.
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When I saw this (at the cinema) it was a real laugh-out-loud treat, and something very new and original. I last watched it a few years back on TV, and agree that most of it is still as funny today.
Cheers mate, Pete.
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Fun, I might be the last person on earth who hasn’t watched this movie. I might need to start looking for it to stream before it’s too late! Have fun with the blog challenge.
@ScarlettBraden from
Frankly Scarlett
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cheers!
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I love Airplane – one of my favorite movies when I was kid, use to watch with my dad often! Thanks for the memories!
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Love that I speak Jive scene and so fun and clever that they were able to cast the mom from Leave it to Beaver in that spot! My husband came across the following article about this film, and the reporter was able to interview a lot of the cast as well as the film’s creators. I’m posting it here as I think you’d enjoy it. http://www.avclub.com/article/surely-you-cant-be-serious-oral-history-airplane-218043
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thanks!
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