Airport '77
Short description
A luxury Boeing 747 carrying a billionaire's art collection and a planeload of wealthy guests is hijacked by thieves who want the paintings in its hold. The scheme goes wrong and the aircraft goes down in the Bermuda Triangle, settling largely intact on the ocean floor. With no radio contact and rescuers searching the wrong stretch of the Atlantic, the survivors inside face rising water, dwindling oxygen and spreading panic as a rescue attempt is mounted against the clock.
Jerry Jameson directed the film, the third entry in the Airport disaster series, between Hurricane and Raise the Titanic. Jack Lemmon heads the cast as Don Gallagher, with Lee Grant, Brenda Vaccaro, Joseph Cotten, Olivia de Havilland and Darren McGavin among the 55 credited performers; Michael Scheff and David Spector wrote the screenplay and William Frye produced. Made for about 6 million dollars, it took roughly 91 million worldwide, a strong return that placed it among the bigger hits of its year.
Audience response has been moderate: on TMDB it holds 5.6 out of 10 from 342 votes, while on IMDb-based critics' ratings it sits at 5.4 out of 10 from 10 reviews, leaving the two groups closely aligned. The film runs 114 minutes.
What's left behind the scenes
- Sir Christopher Lee (1922-2015) agreed to appear in this film mostly because it was a chance to act alongside Jack Lemmon (1925-2001).
- The role of Emily Livingston was offered to actress Joan Crawford (1905-1977), but she declined, later explaining her decision by saying that she wanted to star alongside Joel McCrea (1905-1990), and that she didn't have enough time to properly rehearse and prepare for filming with Jerry Jameson. Furthermore, she wasn't provided with costumes, being told she would have to play in her own clothes.
- In the scene where Jack Lemmon's character turns on the radio beacon, its sounds are heard by a radio operator, played by the actor's son, Christopher Lemmon.
- While preparing for the role, Jack Lemmon attended swimming school and learned to fly airplanes. As he himself explained, he wanted to know “what all the buttons and dials were for” (on the instrument panel).
- After the failure of his last film – John Corti’s 1976 melodramatic comedy “Alex and the Gypsy” – Lemmon instructed his agent to accept any film role, as long as the pay was decent, and that film turned out to be “Airport '77”. Lemmon later said he regretted his decision to appear in the film.
- Sir Christopher Lee decided to perform the stunt himself, and as a reward received a belt buckle with the emblem of the Stuntmen's Union.
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