FILMFACTS

TRIVIA

Airplane Trivia

1980

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What's slower than a speeding bullet, and able to hit tall buildings at a single bound?

Trivia

It's OK... I know what to do... ?!!?

Totally Trivia

Film facts for the 1980 Comedy movie starring Robert Hays, Julie Hagerty, Lloyd Bridges, Leslie Nielsen

Robert Stack, Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, Frank Ashmore, Jonathan Banks, Craig Berenson, Barbara Billingsley, Lee Bryant, Joyce Bulifant, Mae E. Campbell, Peter Graves, Robert Hays, Otto (III), Lorna Patterson, Stephen Stucker, David Zucker, Jerry Zucker Update Cast

We believe the following trivia is all legit. If it's bogus or you have additional info, please update us.

Thanks to Mike Martin

Update

William Tregoe, who played the commentator in the "Point/Counterpoint" segment played the exact same role in an earlier ZAZ movie, "Kentucky Fried Movie".

Rewind Archive

Update

Lloyd Bridges' character "McCroskey" is a direct spoof of his own "Jim Conrad" character from "San Francisco International Airport" (1970)

Thanks to John Edward Kilduff

Update

This movie was declared by the American Film Institute to be the 10th funniest movie of all time in their "100 Years...100 Laughs" list.

Thanks to John Baran

Update

Singer Maureen McGovern, famous for her hit "The Morning After" from "The Poseidon Adventure," appeared in "Airplane;" not as the singing flight attendant, but rather as the nun.

Thanks to Chuck Farrell

Update

The lady in the movie that "paints" her face with lipstick due to the turbulence of the plane is really one of the director's moms, Charlotte Zucker. In fact, he has included her in all of his movies. In "The Naked Gun", she was the villain's secretary who wore the watch, grabbed the gun from her desk and tried to kill Pap Smear. She also appeared in his movie "Ghost" as a bank teller.

Thanks to John Baran

Update

The actor seen washing the windows of the plane and taking Capt. Over's credit card payment is none other than Jimmie "Dyn-o-mite!" Walker.

Thanks to Patrick Fogerty

Update

The rather large pair that come into view during a scene where the plane's passengers are panicking belong to Kitten Natividad, best known for her roles in the 1970s sexploitation movies of Russ Meyer, like "Beneath the Valley of the Ultra Vixens."

Thanks to Mike Martin

Update

Towards the end, the jet knocks down a radio tower for "WZAZ - Where disco lives forever!" That was a reference to Zucker, Abrahams and Zucker, who are frequently called in the industry "ZAZ".

Thanks to Mike Martin

Update

Ethel Merman's cameo as "Lieutenant Hurwitz" was her last screen role.

Thanks to Mike Martin

Update

Jill Whelan plays the sick girl, who was more well known as Gavin MacLeod's daughter on "Love Boat". Her mother was played by Joyce Bulifant, who played Gavin MacLeod's wife in "The Mary Tyler More Show".

Thanks to Dave

Update

The name of the Robert Stack character in Airplane (Rex Kramer) is also the name of the "Danger Seeker" in Kentucky Fried Movie.

Thanks to Randy Ralston

Update

The passenger who is left in the cab for the whole movie is Howard Jarvis. It's funny because Mr. Jarvis was very outspoken against increased public taxation. Here, the costs in the TAX-i are mounting throughout the entire film!

Thanks to T. Oliver

Update

The name of the airline featured in the movie is Trans American (written on the side of the plane and, I believe, spoken once or twice). This is a parody of a now defunct airline in the eighties, Pan American. Pan American was often referred to by a shortened version - PanAm. The parody is that when you shorten the fictional airline the same way, it reads TransAm.

One visitor speculates that the inspiration for the airline name "Trans American" may also have come from a mafia associated racing information distribution service known as "Trans-American". You can read more about that here.

Thanks to Devolution

Update

Airplane, or more importantly "I just want to tell you both 'good luck' we're all counting on you" was recently immortalized in the Star Wars episode of the Family Guy. Leslie Nielsen did his own voice.

Thanks to evilash

Update

Julie Hagerty plays a somewhat similar ditz in "Just Friends" as Ryan Reynold's character's mom.

Thanks to Jonathan Lim

Update

The inflatable autopilot, "Otto," was used only for this film and is now in Jerry Zucker's private collection. By 1997 he was considerably deteriorated.

Thanks to John Baran

Update

One or both of the Zucker brothers can be seen directing the plane on the runway.

Thanks to Mike Martin

Update

One of the Hare Krishna characters was played by David Leisure. He became more famous later on in the 1980's as the car salesman "Joe Isuzu".

Thanks to Mike Martin

Update

Arthur Hailey, who wrote "Airport" and "Zero Hour" was not given writing credit.

Thanks to Anonymous

Update

The little boy in the spinning newspaper with the headline 'Boy Trapped In Refrigerator - Eats Own Foot' is producer Howard Koch's nine year old grandson Billy. He wasn't told his photo was going to be used in the movie and was quite stunned when he first saw it at the premiere.

Thanks to Chris Wicksteed

Update

An often-missed joke in the film occurs in the scene where a lackey from the airport is sent to pick up Rex Kramer. Kramer comes downstairs (oblivious to the mauling his pet dog is dealing out). We clearly see him straightening his tie in the mirror. There's a brief cut to show the dog-attack before we cut back to Rex Kramer's image in the mirror. The joke is that what *should* be his reflection steps out of the mirror into the hallway. Ingenious visual humour. Watch the scene in question and you'll get a much clearer impression of what I'm trying to describe.

Thanks to Bas Mulders

Update

The sentence "I just want to wish you both good luck, we're all counting on you", as repeatedly spoken by Leslie Nielsen in "Airplane", is also featured in "Scary Movie 3" in which Nielsen plays the president of the USA.

Rewind Archive

Update

George Zipp (the Zipper) is based on george Gipp (the Gipper) who was an outstanding football player for Nortre dame in the 20's and was later portrayed by Ronald Reagan.

Thanks to LoverswithCassie

Update

Co-director/writer Jim Abrahams can be seen in the role of Religious Zealot #6.

Thanks to Sheila Wagner

Update

Julie Bulifant (the mother of the sick girl) appeared on an episode of Three's Company. She was the wife of Lloyd Cross (Dick Sergeant's character) who was having an affair with Chrissy Snow.

Thanks to Clare

Update

In some parts of the world, the film is known under the title 'Flying High'.

Thanks to C.T.

Update

2010 was a heartbreaking year for Airplane! fans.

The 30th anniversary of this comic masterpiece has been darkly overshadowed by the passing of three of its stars:

Peter Graves (Capt. Oveur), Barbara Billingsley (Jive Lady), and the most shocking of all, Leslie Nielsen (Dr. Rumack).

I could almost see twenty years from now, when we celebrate the 50th anniversary, the only stars left are Robert Hays (Ted Striker) and Julie Hagerty (Elaine Dickinson).

Thanks to GoldTransAM

Update

Joyce Bulifant (not Julie) played the mother of the sick girl (Jill Whelan). Joyce was originally cast as Carol Brady but was dropped and Florence Henderson was then cast as Carol.

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Bogus Trivia

There's often fake stuff floating round, y'know? -Like the 'ghost boy' that can allegedly be seen in "Three Men And A Baby".

But, nothing bogus that we know yet for "Airplane".

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