: While on a flight with his wife and son, both pilots and half the passengers fall ill due to contaminated fish.
The screenplay was written by Arthur Hailey, Hall Bartlett, and John Champion, based on Hailey's 1956 television play Flight into Danger . 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. : While on a flight with his wife
: 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 Zucker brothers and Jim Abrahams) bought the
: Ted Stryker (Dana Andrews), an ex-Royal Air Force squadron leader haunted by a wartime mission in Germany that resulted in the deaths of six of his men.
: Stryker must overcome his psychological trauma to land the plane safely in worsening weather, guided by a stern ground controller (Sterling Hayden). Legacy and the "Airplane!" Connection
While intended as a serious drama, the film's "classically structured" plot and intense dialogue eventually became the foundation for Airplane! .