Parodies are often seen as the easiest kind of film to make, because they often demand the least creative effort. There are however films and authors that put such notion in question, most notably Mel Brooks with his series of 1970s parodies that remain classics to this day. Another example could be found in Jerry Zucker, Jim Abrahams and David Abrahams a.k.a. ZAZ – trio of screenwriters and directors whose 1980 film Airplane! is often considered to be the greatest screen parody of all times.
Relatively simple plot begins with Ted Striker (played by Robert Hays), taxi driver and former fighter pilot, being left by his girlfriend, air stewardess Elaine Dickinson (played by Julie Hagerty), who is just about to board flight from Los Angeles to Chicago. Ted attempts to win her back and boards the same plane, which soon proves fortunate for its passengers. Food poisoning incapacitates pilot and the rest of the flight crew and Ted is the only person on board who is able to pilot a plane. He is, however, still deeply traumatised with his wartime experiences and doubts whether he can handle big passenger aircraft. Steve McCroskey (played by Llody Bridges), Chicago control tower supervisor calls Rex Cramer (Robert Stack) to encourage Ted and help him in landing the plane safely.
Airplane! is known as one of the first films that employed so-called “saturation comedy” – a style of film in which large number of gags and various jokes are presented in rapid tempo, with hope that at least some of them be effective and thus provide sufficient levels of entertainment to the audience. This technique, which would later be employed by many Hollywood film makers, including ZAZ, proved to be incredibly successful in this case. It also provided creative freedom, allowing screenwriters to apply various forms of humour (verbal, slapstick) and tackle various subjects with complete irreverence. Many jokes not only worked well during premiere, but many work great even today, at least judging by the number of video clips on Youtube and Internet memes based on many scenes from the film.
There are, of course, other ingredients for the success of this film. Behind seemingly anarchic and irreverent approach there was very disciplined and well-thought creative effort. The film has very firm structure, based on an 1957 black-and-white disaster film Zero Hour which served as a template for basic plot, and even some of dialogue lines and shot composition in Airplane! were copied from there. Another important ingredient of this film success is next to perfect casting. Authors used serious dramatic actors, specialised for roles of no-nonsense authority figures – Peter Graves, Leslie Nielsen, Lloyd Bridges, Robert Stack – and made them play in comedy and always use deadpan delivery with great effect. Film also benefits from excellent editing by Patrick Kennedy that keeps joke in the film tightly and neatly packed within 88 minutes of running time. Hollywood veteran composer Elmer Bernstein adds to the film with not particularly memorable, but quite effective musical score.
On the other hand, not everything in Airplane! is perfect. While Hays and Hagerty are very good in the roles of film’s nominal protagonists, they are overshadowed by supporting players who get the best lines and the best scenes. Some of the jokes in this, especially those inspired by 1970s films like Jaws, Saturday Night Fever or disaster epics, might not be understood by younger generation of viewers. However, this little film still contains a treasure trove of jokes that could help maintain its lofty reputation of the best parody film of all times.
RATING: 8/10 (+++)
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