Airport

1970's Airport cleared the runway for a spate of disaster films. Decades later, it still flies high, thanks to an A-list ensemble cast, loads of hokey (in a good way) dialogue, and a gripping, page-turner of a story based on Arthur Hailey's bestselling novel. Burt Lancaster anchors the film as the unhappily married airport manager whose facility is beset by a blizzard. The venerable Helen Hayes landed an Oscar as a stowaway on an ill-fated flight. Dean Martin is the pilot whose girlfriend, stewardess Jacqueline Bisset, is pregnant. Van Heflin is a sad bomber. Stealing the show is George Kennedy as the cigar-chomping airline mechanic (“That's the great thing about a 707; it can do everything but read”). Nominated for 10 Academy Awards, including Best Picture, Airport was, even 40-plus years ago, the type of film Hollywood hardly made anymore. DVD extras add to the nostalgia appeal with a pair of featurettes that pay tribute to Universal Studio's 1970s heyday and its tourist-trafficked studio lot. Recommended. (D. Liebenson)