MovieChat Forums > Airport (1970) Discussion > Pauline Kael's very accurate pan

Pauline Kael's very accurate pan

posted 2 years ago by roreyking (635)
4 replies | jump to latest

"The No. 1 bestseller was bought by the producer Ross Hunter, who assembled a cast & crew with 23 Oscars among them. The baldness of all this might lull you into imagining that the result would be slick fun, but there's no electricity in it, no smart talk, no flair. It's bland entertainment of the old school: every stereotyped action is followed by a stereotyped reaction – cliches commenting on cliches. The actors play such roles as responsible, harried executive (Burt Lancaster), understanding mistress (Jean Seberg), spoiled, selfish wife (Dana Wynter), man who needs to care for someone (Dean Martin), and the someone (Jacqueline Bisset), with Helen Hayes doing her lovable-old-pixie act. The only performer who suggests a human being is Maureen Stapleton; she manages to bring some intensity out of herself – it certainly isn’t in the lines.”

[–] 123Guy (7827) 2 years ago

is this a NEW review? or one that happened in the 70's about it?

the world is very different now, and most old movies just don't stand up to modern expectations

[–] roreyking (635) 2 years ago

Pauline Kale - a new review? LOL! She died over 20 years ago. Her review was published in The New Yorker when the movie came out.

[–] roger1 (4026) 2 years ago

Within the critical world of 1970, Airport was seen as VERY old-fashioned, and put down accordingly.

It got a Best Picture nomination and its competition included Five Easy Pieces(with new countercultural superstar Jack Nicholson) and Robert Altman's MASH(with Donald Sutherland and new counterculture movie star Elliott Gould.)

The other two Best Picture nominees of 1970 were telling: Love Story was an "old fashioned tearjerker" and, like Airport, a giant hit. The difference: Airport with Lancaster and Dino and Helen Hayes drew an older audience, Love Story with the young Ali MacGraw and Ryan O'Neal, drew a younger audience.

The Best Picture winner "split the difference" between the hip(Five Easy Pieces, MASH) and the square(Airport, Love Story.) Patton was an "old fashioned" WWII epic with new fashioned Vietnam era cynicism about war (and an Oscar winning script largely written by Francis Coppola.)

So that was the year in which Airport appeared. Critic Judith Crist called it "the Best Picture of 1944." But it made a TON of money. Older audiences came out, "squares" came out, families came out, and it HAD been a best seller with a "disaster movie" ambiance. (But it really was NOT a disaster movie -- The Poseidon Adventure started that.)

All that said, the bottom line is that a lot of the dialogue was really, really BAD. Only the "technical airport/airline jargon" was worth listening to.

And that's why Airport survives as a blockbuster(undeniable) but not a very good movie(bad script.) Yes, Maureen Stapleton gave it a sad reality in her scenes, though.

[–] MCguy (1344) 2 years ago

Every word of the review is correct. However, the movie is still fun and watchable 50+ years later.