Airport film: Encyclopedia II - Airport film - Further Comment and Plot Outline Airport 1970

Airport film - Further Comment and Plot Outline Airport 1970

The one actor appearing in all four films is George Kennedy in the key role of airline mechanic Joe Patroni, although the sequels seem to have confused his wife's name and how many children he had. (Marie is the wife in the first movie, an absolutely solid marriage indicated, but Helen is his wife in the second movie. Joseph Patroni Jr. is in the second movie. Whoever his wife is, by 1979, she's deceased.)

Like its novel namesake, the movie gives some insight to the operations of a modern airport of its day, although the book is, of course, far more detailed with narrative about functions that may persist to this day, others that may have been computerized. Some details are inexplicably changed between novel and screenplay: runway identification, for example. One learns about conga lines, noise abatement, stowaways, pilots going onto oxygen masks when one leaves the cockpit, and so forth. In the book, one learns about the delicate details of how an aircraft's freight is to be loaded. One also learns that public places like airports have methods of alerting their police without the public knowing: "Attention, Mr. Lester Mainwaring".

"Airport" has begun to show its age at the dawn of the 21st century: in 1970, Trans Global's passengers encounter no security check-in posts and may freely board their Rome-bound flight without any inspection of their carry-on baggage. The film evokes a nostalgia for a simpler, more trusting time in which one did not fear the consequences of catastrophic terrorist actions. Had even 1980s security measures been in place, much less the security restrictions imposed (in the U.S.) after the terrorist attacks upon the United States on September 11th, 2001, the chief antagonist of the story would have been stopped long before he could have boarded the ill-fated Boeing 707.

Several personal dramas find their way woven together on board Trans Global Airlines (Trans America in the novel) Flight Two, the Golden Argosy, from Chicago to Rome, the airline's prestige flight. The flight is leaving on an evening when the American Midwest has been struck with the worst winter storm in several years, and the airport, Lincoln International Airport (a fictional airport that clearly takes the place of Chicago's O'Hare), is struggling to stay open, even after a jetliner gets stuck in such a way that one of its wings is blocking the main runway, 29 (30 in the novel).

Pilot Vernon Demerest (Dean Martin) is one of the two pilots on the trip, officially flying as check pilot on Anson Harris (Barry Nelson) for his periodic check flight to make sure he "hasn't picked up any bad habits". (In the novel, Harris has decided to become an international captain, and requires one more check flight before he's certified to be captain of international flights.)

Demerest starts out critical of the airport's snow management, naming the airport general manager, Mel Bakersfeld (Burt Lancaster) as the one responsible for the shortcomings. Demerest is married to Bakersfeld's sister Sarah (Barbara Hale), but he's also unfaithful, having taken up with the chief "stewardess", Gwen Meighen (Jacqueline Bisset), who's pregnant.

Bakersfeld, a wartime pilot, has his own problems. He's in an unhappy marriage, and his wife Cindy (Dana Wynter) is intent on climbing the social ladder, and Mel is a problem for her because his frequent absence from social affairs hurts her attempts to gain social favour. He also doesn't want to get involved in her father's business, even though they keep trying to twist his arm. He was due at a charity event that evening, but decided he couldn't attend because of the problems that mounted up when the runway became blocked. Bakersfeld has not been unfaithful, but Tanya Livingston (Jean Seberg)is a good friend of his who he enjoys talking with and having lunch with. Tanya works for Trans Global (Trans America in the novel), the airline involved with the flight to Rome (and in the movie only, the airline involved with the stuck plane).

In the novel, Bakersfeld has an additional concern, although he is unaware of just how urgent it is to take action. His younger brother Keith is wracked with guilt over an event about three years earlier, feeling that he lingered too long on a break before returning to duty at a regional air traffic control center. He notices unmarked traffic which is about to collide with a small plane bearing a family. Keith blames himself for not getting back in time, but the investigation decided he was not to blame. Keith has since been transferred to Chicago, but he is still feeling guilt, and the strain of the job has left him looking older than Mel. Keith ends up having to handle Flight Two when it returns to Chicago.

Mrs. Ada Quonsett (Helen Hayes) is a widow who lives in San Diego, but whose married daughter lives in New York. She cannot afford plane tickets, but when she's lonely, she goes to LA Airport and gets aboard a plane for New York, flying as a stowaway, and quite skilled at it. She was caught this time, and Tanya Livingston finds her rather formidable by her quaintly disarming attitude, and even Bakersfeld is impressed by Mrs. Quonsett. She's to be sent back to LA.

D.O. Guerrero (Van Heflin), who served in World War II as a demolition expert, ran his own contracting business for many years, but has fallen on hard times. His wife Inez (Maureen Stapleton) barely keeps them afloat by working as a waitress in a shabby diner, and living in a terrible South Side apartment; they had to send their children to live with Inez' sister. Guerrero is desperate, seeing no other way out, since he can't seem to keep his temper when a boss tells him things Guerrero doesn't agree with. Guerrero has purchased a ticket on the Golden Argosy, although he could only make a partial down-payment on the ticket. He was fired from his last job because some dynamite was missing, and now he's made a bomb.

Guerrero is among the passengers taking a bus from downtown to the airport, and boarding the bus is a passenger, Marcus Rathbone (Peter Turgeon), we will come to know as the complainer. The bus is caught in traffic, and at that time, Inez gets home, finds a letter referring to her husband's ticket purchase, calls the airline, and heads for the airport with what little money she had to appease the landlord.

Mrs. Quonsett, who's been accompanied by a passenger agent, Peter Coakley, gives him the slip and heads for the gate for the Golden Argosy.

Guerrero arrives at the airport and purchases a life insurance policy which is to be paid, on his death, to Inez. With minutes to spare, he boards the plane, and Mrs. Quonsett watches, waiting for Tanya to leave the gate. As Tanya leaves, US Customs Officer Standish (Lloyd Nolan), who is going to have dinner with her and Bakersfeld, says that Guerrero was acting nervous, holding the attaché case under his arm. Mrs. Quonsett uses one of her regular tricks to get onto that plane. Inez Guerrero arrives only to see the plane departing from the gate.

The plane, already an hour late to allow passengers to reach the airport, takes off and makes course for Rome.

Meanwhile, Joe Patroni (George Kennedy), a mechanic for TWA, finally arrives at the airport (in the novel, he helped clear a jackknifed truck from the road so he could continue to the airport) and begins to personally direct efforts to clear the stuck jetliner (arriving TGA flight in the movie, departing Aeromexico flight in the novel), but is frustrated because the pilot doesn't give the engines enough power, and the plane gets stuck even deeper.

The loss of the main runway has forced Lincoln to route departures on a shorter runway (22 in the movie, 25 in the novel) which passes over Meadowood, a residential neighbourhood on land that dishonest realtors sold years earlier, not revealing the jetliner noise that was coming with the jet age. The residents have been complaining for years, and the airport and FAA agreed to minimize take-offs on 25 in that direction, and that pilots would use "noise-abatement procedures" that make take-offs, in good weather, dangerous. In the storm, the pilots are not using it. The residents are furious with the night's racket, and had just hired a lawyer in the last few days. (In the novel, the Meadowood situation is extensively played, with Bakersfeld finally gaining the residents' understanding and trust, despite the efforts of the lawyer - who saw a pot of gold at the end of Runway 25 - to ferment worse relations.)

Tanya Livingston finds Coakley at her office, and they begin calling every airline's gate to ask about Mrs. Quonsett. Tanya figures out that Mrs. Quonsett is on board Flight Two to Rome, and the pilots are notified. Demarest has Gwen go aft to spot Mrs. Quonsett, but not disturb her.

Cindy Bakersfeld came to the airport to speak to Mel, not to argue with him. Their oldest daughter left home because of their marital fighting, and he finally agrees that the only sensible answer is a divorce, to stabilize the home. Although Cindy is still appalled by Mel's seeming obsession with the airport, they're no longer fighting, and she leaves the office after their discussion is done.

Inez was wandering around, and a policeman (Albert Reed) takes her to Tanya, pointing out that she had Trans Global correspondence in her purse. Tanya's been worried about Guerrero, persisting in investigating the man. She has some concern, and when Bakersfeld questions Inez, they learn her husband is desperate, possibly mentally unbalanced, and has an explosive. The pilots of Flight Two are warned.

Harris turns the plane around to return to Chicago, but a gentle turn that nobody should notice (but a smart kid (Lou Wagner) does notice and Demarest gives him double-talk). Demarest decides the way to get the bomb - Guerrero is in a window seat, past two people, one of whom is Mrs. Quonsett - is to use Mrs. Quonsett. He sends Gwen Meighen to fetch Mrs. Quonsett on the pretext that she's in trouble for stowing away. Once Gwen and Mrs. Quonsett are in the cockpit with Harris and the second officer, he tells her to forget all that. Gwen and Mrs. Quonsett return, both now acting as Demarest instructed, both keeping up the fiction that the plane is still headed for Rome, Mrs. Quonsett fearing being turned over in a foreign country.

With the distraction of being held by Mrs. Quonsett, Guerrero's hands are off the attaché case and Gwen sweeps it away, but before Demarest can take it, "complainer" Rathbone intervenes and gives it back to Guerrero, who is cornered in the back of the plane. Demarest seems able to talk Guerrero into handing over the case, when someone comes out of the toilet and Rathbone spoils things again. Guerrero enters the toilet, Gwen's yanking on the door, and Guerrero sets off the bomb.

The plane decompresses, but nobody is sucked out, Gwen held on to something. The plane dives from the rarefied atmosphere and killing cold to an altitude with breathable air, though risking damage that may prevent them from pulling out of the dive.

The commissioners want Bakersfeld to shut down Runway 22 (meaning the whole airport) until morning. Bakersfeld is given this instruction, but he's armed with information about Flight Two.

The only airports they could reach are closed due to the storm - Toronto, Detroit - although Detroit could clear a runway that is covered in ice. They have to return to Lincoln, and Bakersfeld tells Commissioner Ackerman (Larry Gates) that they have to remain open.

Demarest gets ornery (with his worry about Gwen's injuries not helping), telling controllers in Cleveland that they must land on 29, and that if they have to land on 22, there'll be a broken airplane and dead people. Bakersfeld must act to clear the stuck jet... one way or another. Patroni insists he'll drive the plane out, while Bakersfeld is ready to have snowplows clear the plane away.

Patroni pushes the jet engines to the limit, but he succeeds, although Bakersfeld had been telling him he was out of time. The tower (Keith Bakersfeld in the novel) tells Flight Two that Runway 29 is open. The jet makes a PAR approach through the clouds and finally view the runway, which they must land on with several difficult factors.

They are heavy with fuel for the flight to Rome, and they didn't risk dumping fuel because of the possibility of electric sparking due to the damage. The "power-steering" equivalent for their rudder is inoperative. The tail section might fall off when they touch down, or even sooner in the buffeting of the blizzard. And even though the runway is Lincoln's longest, they might still run out before being able to brake.

Rathbone by now is scared, and pipes up with rantings of their doom. The Roman Catholic priest across the aisle from him lifts his head from the crash position to pray for forgiveness for what he's about to do, crosses himself, but in finishing the cross, slaps Rathbone across the face to get him to get a hold of himself.

Flight Two lands safely, and stops right at the end of the runway, then taxis to the gate. (In the novel, at this point, Keith quits his job, leaves the airport, and is about to carry out his planned suicide, when he decides to let the past be the past, accept what's happened, and go home to the wife who he's kept in the dark all these years but who's stood by him.)

Inez breaks through the security barriers and wanders in tears among the passengers, apologizing for her husband. Demarest goes with Gwen to the hospital, and it becomes evident to his wife that he's the one responsible for the stewardess' pregnancy, a detail she heard from the physician attending Gwen on the plane.

Demarest does keep his promise to Mrs. Quonsett: a first class ticket to New York. She laments it was much more fun to stow away.

The storm is lifting by morning. His divorce with Cindy now agreed by both, Mel suggests Tanya cook breakfast for them at her place, Patroni leaves with the box of cigars Mel promised him, and Harris wants to send a thank-you to Boeing for the aircraft that held up to Guerrero's bomb.

Adapted from the Wikipedia article "Further Comment and Plot Outline Airport 1970", under the G.N U Free Docmentation License. Please also see http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki