Zero Hour!(1957) ★

: Many famous lines from Airplane! , such as the technical flight instructions, were originally delivered with complete sincerity in Zero Hour! . Key Production Details Letters from our February 2020 issue - AOPA

The 1957 film is primarily remembered today as the serious blueprint for the 1980 parody classic Airplane! . Directed by Hall Bartlett and starring Dana Andrews, the film is a straightforward disaster drama that follows a traumatized former World War II pilot forced to land a commercial airliner after the crew and many passengers are incapacitated by food poisoning. Plot and Origins Zero Hour!(1957)

: The creators of Airplane! (the Zucker brothers and Jim Abrahams) bought the remake rights to Zero Hour! for approximately $2,500 and used much of its script nearly word-for-word. : Many famous lines from Airplane

The screenplay was written by Arthur Hailey, Hall Bartlett, and John Champion, based on Hailey's 1956 television play Flight into Danger . Key Production Details Letters from our February 2020

: While on a flight with his wife and son, both pilots and half the passengers fall ill due to contaminated fish.