Funny Friday-11/4/11-Don't call me Shirley

One of the funniest movies, aside from "Moving Violations," is "Airplane!" It's such a classic with so many great scenes and lines. I love quoting it whenever possible.

I wanted to talk about some of the reasons this movie is just a timeless display of humor and creativity. Why people still quote it over 30 years after its release. Why some actors put themselves on the map because of it. You get my drift.


First, there’s Johnny! Stephen Stucker owns that role and plays it so well that you think he really is Johnny instead of just an actor. He delivers some of the funniest lines in the movie, such as the classic “Leon’s getting larger!” He’s absolutely adorable and hilarious and I’m sad that the actor is no longer alive to see how many people think he’s funny and quote his lines.

Next there are just the lines and comic timing. They use a lot of play on words, such as “Hamm on five, hold the Mayo.” (Hamm is someone’s last name and Mayo is a clinic.) And a classic set of lines is “Surely, you can’t be serious.” “I am serious, and don’t call me Shirley.” I also love when they ask “what is it” and someone describes the object in question instead of the actual issue and then says “but that’s not important right now.”

There are also the bizarre things that happen throughout the movie, from a horse sleeping in someone’s bed, to a jumping heart, to Red Zone and White Zone voices arguing with each other. I love Ted’s drinking problem, which entails him pouring his drink on his face instead of actually drinking it. And we can’t forget the “autopilot” and what happens to him (which I won’t say on this blog in case children are reading it). The jive speaking lady is classic too. Too bad the actress playing her (Barbara Billingsley) is also dead now. We can’t forget about Air Israel wearing the kipah and tallis either. Too funny!

Finally, I just love certain classic scenes, like everyone lining up to slap the hysterical lady, the stewardess knocking out the sick girl’s IV but no one noticing, the news reporters talking about the plane potentially crashing (“They bought the tickets. They knew what they were getting into. I say, let them crash.”), Ted’s flashback which causes people to kill themselves, etc.

“Airplane!” is just such a funny movie and it never gets old, no matter how many times I’ve seen it. I also must mention that two other actors from the movie have passed away in recent years: Leslie Nielsen (Dr. Rumack) and Peter Graves (Captain Clarence Oveur). I also learned that Robert Stack (Rex Kramer) died in 2003. All the actors in this movie will live on through its fans though.