[MD Expat in PA]

Airplane! is nearly a scene by scene parody remake of the 1957 movie Zero Hour!, starring Sterling Hayden, Linda Darnell and Dana Andrews as Ted Stryker. Because Zero Hour! was owned at the time by Paramount Pictures, the makers of Airplane!, also a Paramount feature, were able to use the screenplay almost verbatim, including the hero again being named Ted Striker.

Zero Hour screenplay writer Arthur Hailey went on to write the popular 1968 novel, Airport, which revisited the air disaster genre and led to a film franchise that was also spoofed by Airplane! and its own sequel.

Side-by-side comparison: Zero Hour! (1957) Vs Airplane! (1980)

[dfwgator]

The brilliance was using actors, who primarily played serious roles, especially Leslie Nielsen.

Now you can’t watch him in his earlier serious roles without laughing out loud.