Airplane! (1980): 21 Weird Facts You Didn't Know!

Airplane! (1980): 21 Weird Facts You Didn't Know! Almost everything about Airplane! sounds made up. One actor had never told a joke on screen. Another negotiated his salary over a Persian rug. The script was borrowed from a forgotten disaster movie, almost scene for scene. None of it should have worked. Somehow, it became comedy history. So what are the stories behind Airplane! are real, and how did this movie become a comedy masterpiece by breaking every rule? Join us as we count down 21 facts about Airplane! that most fans have never heard. Strip away every single joke in Airplane! and what you are left with is a dramatic recounting of a 1957 Paramount film called Zero Hour!, directed by Hall Bartlett and starring Dana Andrews. The plot of Zero Hour! and the plot of Airplane! are identical.