Another obligatory "all-star" cast takes off for a flight into fear in AIRPORT 1975.
It's great fun to have Efrem Zimbalist Jr. piloting the giant 747, with a passenger list that includes a very annoying Sid Caesar, a drunken Norman Fell, Jerry Stiller, and a boilermaker-pounding Myrna Loy! Oh, and there's Linda Blair as the girl in need of a kidney transplant, and Helen Reddy as the guitar-twanging nun in need of a knuckle sandwich! Gloria Swanson is aboard as well, as... Gloria Swanson! George Kennedy reprises his role as the flight engineer. Dana Andrews is the pilot of the aircraft that causes the necessary mayhem. And, yes, Erik Estrada is the smarmy, sex-starved Julio!
Of course, the true heroes of this movie are the ultra-macho pilot, Alan Murdoch (Charlton Heston), and his screeching, long-suffering girlfriend / Stewardess, Nancy Pryor (Karen Black), who must team up to save the plane. Much derring-do is done as rescue attempts fail, leaving Murdoch and Nancy as the only hope! Heston is at his grimacing, brick-jawed best here, chewing scenery like a buzz saw!
Fans of the movie, AIRPLANE! will find this to be essential viewing, as it is the basic template for that film. This movie is also funnier! Extremely entertaining in every way imaginable!
For added enjoyment, try to count the number of times that Murdoch refers to Nancy as "honey"!
Ah, the 70's...