Airport

"The #1 novel of the year - now a motion picture!"

1970 2h 17m EN

👍

6.5

SOLID

★6.5TMDB · 468

DramaThrillerAction

Synopsis

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An airport manager tries to keep his terminals open during a snowstorm, while a suicide bomber plots to blow up a Boeing 707 airliner in flight.

“The #1 novel of the year - now a motion picture!”

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Cast

Burt Lancaster
Mel Bakersfeld
Dana Wynter
Cindy Bakersfeld
Dean Martin
Vernon Demerest
Barbara Hale
Sarah Demerest
Jean Seberg
Tanya Livingston
Jacqueline Bisset
Gwen Meighen
George Kennedy
Joe Patroni
Jodean Lawrence
Marie Patroni

Credits

Behind the camera

Director: George Seaton
Writers: George Seaton
Languages: Italian, English
Countries: United States of America

Want more? Switch to Cinephile mode in the header for DP, composer, budget, box office, production companies, keywords, and release history.

Did you know?

Fun facts 🍿

1 / 8

MONEY

Did you know

Grossed $100M — a 10.0× return. The kind of profit studios chase for a decade.

MoodPlayr · trivia#01

2 / 8

ERA

Did you know

56 years old — a genuine piece of film history.

MoodPlayr · trivia#02

3 / 8

WORLD

Did you know

Dialogue crosses 2 languages: Italian, English.

MoodPlayr · trivia#03

4 / 8

CINEMA

Did you know

Part of the "Airport Collection" — so the characters or world continue elsewhere.

MoodPlayr · trivia#04

5 / 8

DIRECTOR

Did you know

Directed by George Seaton, shot by Ernest Laszlo. Note their partnership — DPs and directors often return to each other across a career.

MoodPlayr · trivia#05

6 / 8

DIRECTOR

Did you know

Original score by Alfred Newman. Worth a dedicated listen after — most great films lose half their impact without the score.

MoodPlayr · trivia#06

7 / 8

DIRECTOR

Did you know

Editor Stuart Gilmore shaped the rhythm. On an edit-heavy film, the editor does more to control your pulse than the director.

MoodPlayr · trivia#07

8 / 8

CAST

Did you know

Burt Lancaster and Dana Wynter and Dean Martin carry the top of the cast.

MoodPlayr · trivia#08

Cinephile deep dive

The take

George Seaton directs. Ernest Laszlo behind the camera. Alfred Newman scores. Stuart Gilmore cuts. Made its budget back several times over at the box office. Produced in United States of America. Dialogue in Italian, English.

Trivia

Things worth knowing

1Grossed $100M — a 10.0× return. The kind of profit studios chase for a decade.
256 years old — a genuine piece of film history.
3Dialogue crosses 2 languages: Italian, English.
4Part of the "Airport Collection" — so the characters or world continue elsewhere.
5Directed by George Seaton, shot by Ernest Laszlo. Note their partnership — DPs and directors often return to each other across a career.
6Original score by Alfred Newman. Worth a dedicated listen after — most great films lose half their impact without the score.
7Editor Stuart Gilmore shaped the rhythm. On an edit-heavy film, the editor does more to control your pulse than the director.
8Burt Lancaster and Dana Wynter and Dean Martin carry the top of the cast.
9Marketing tagline: "The #1 novel of the year - now a motion picture!".
10IMDB entry: tt0065377 — still the authoritative cross-reference for credits and trivia.
11Classified under 14 themes, including "airplane", "airport", "based on novel or book", "panic".

The technical file

Cinematography: Ernest Laszlo
Original score: Alfred Newman
Editing: Stuart Gilmore
Costume design: Edith Head
Makeup / hair: Bud Westmore
Runtime: 137 min · 2h 17m
Aspect ratio (typical): 1.37:1 (Academy)
Status: Released
Budget: $10,000,000
Box office: $100,489,151
Return: 1005% of budget
Original language: EN
Certification (US): G
IMDB: Airport (1970)

Awards

Academy Award for Best Supporting Actress

Individual records documented via Wikidata; the summary above may count more.

Part of

Airport Collection

"Airport", based on the best selling novel by Arthur Hailey is an Academy Award nominated disaster film that spawned three sequels: Airport '75, Airport '77, and the campy Airport '79 (The Concorde).

Also by

George Seaton

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Trailers & featurettes

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Community reviews

What people are saying

Wuchak2021-04-09
★ 7/10
Quaint, but fairly compelling airport soap opera with a disaster element During a snowstorm at Lincoln International Airport in Chicago, the manager of the airport (Burt Lancaster) works overtime to clear the main runway of a Boeing 707 that’s stuck in the snow while dealing with his failing marriage. Meanwhile the next flight to Rome piloted by his brother-in-law (Dean Martin) has a suspicious person with an attaché case on board (Van Heflin). George Kennedy plays the head mechanic, Jean Seberg a customer relations agent, Jacqueline Bisset a flight attendant and Helen Hayes a stowaway. "Airport" (1970) was the movie that kicked-off the disaster craze of the 70s. It’s not great like “The Poseidon Adventure” (1972), but it’s more compelling and less bloated than “The Towering Inferno” (1974). The soap operatic first half paves the way for the disaster-oriented second. It’s intentionally old-fashioned and was a huge hit at the box office. I wasn’t sure about it for the first 20 minutes, but I then found myself involved in the characters and their story, keeping my interest till the end. After disaster films developed a bad rap years later, Lancaster panned “Airport” as the “worst piece of junk ever made,” which is ironic considering it was his most successful movie at the box office BY FAR. The film runs 2 hours, 16 minutes, and was shot at Minneapolis-Saint Paul International Airport, Minneapolis, and Universal Studios, Universal City, California. GRADE: B

Production companies