Airplane the Movie

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Kris Allen Critical Essay: Airplane The Movie At LAX Airport, passengers are checking in for Trans American Airlines flight 209 to Chicago. Ted Striker (Robert Hays), a cab driver and former fighter pilot, pulls over and boards a passenger (Howard Jarvis) and immediately leaves, turning on his meter. He tried catching his girlfriend Elaine Dickinson (Julie Hagerty), a flight attendant for Trans American Airlines. She just left Ted, blaming him for not being responsible enough and not getting over the aftermath of the loss of many lives during the war. Extremely shaken, and at the very last minute, he buys a ticket on flight 209, where Elaine is to work this evening. Captain Clarence Oveur (Peter Graves) is in the flight deck, with Flight Engineer Victor Basta (Frank Ashmore) and Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, uh, I mean First Officer Roger Murdock. Oveur, Victor, Roger You’ll understand why they have these colorful names later on with transmissions like: “We have clearance, Clarence. – Roger, Roger. What’s our vector, Victor?” Their aircraft looks like a Boeing 707 jet airliner from outside but flies under the constant hum of a prop plane! Ted (Robert Hays) trying to control the plane as it dives. There is a girl named Lisa Davis (Jill Whelan), on her way for a heart transplant, who exclaims herself “Oh mother, this is so exciting!”, and who gets a guitar song. However, this time, it’s not from a singing nun, but from Flight Attendant Randy (Lorna Patterson), singing Peter, Paul and Mary’s “River of Jordan" while knocking out the little girl’s I.V. endlessly! There is no Joe Patroni Jr. or Schuyler Schultz, but you do have your average little passenger, Joey Hammen (Rossie Harris) who visits the flight deck and recognizes Kareem! During the flight, Ted recounts to the old lady next to him (Ann M. Nelson) and other passengers how he met Elaine. The flashbacks are one

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