As a genre, comedy has never had it better at the box-office than in the 1980s, not even in the golden age of the screwball comedy during the Great Depression.
The vast majority of the decade’s blockbusters have been comedy-adventures, and the ruder and louder the comedies are the better their chances for profitability. In the 1980s, screen comedians seem to have made their mark with a vengeance. In addition to Eddie Murphy, Robin Williams scored an unexpected triumph in Good Morning Vietnam, Tom Hanks in Big and Turner and Hooch, Michael Keaton in Beetlejuice, and Steve Martin in Parenthood.
As expected, “Ghostbusters” and its sequel, “Ghostbusters II,” did well for their performers. Starring Bill Murray, Dan Aykroyd and Harold Ramis (who also wrote the script), the original was a funny “horror” film, full of skit humor and disjointed parodies that were best suited to their talents. The special effects are not always to the point of the story, but the “Ghostbuster” movies are not about coherence or structured narrative; there are too many loose ends in their screenplays.
The blockbusters that lacked A-list directors or star-performers have mostly been high-concept pictures. Behind the success of each one of them stands a hip factor, an original idea, a technological innovation, a spoof of previously made films.
For example, the 1980 comedy “Airplane” was a zany spoof of the “Airport” disaster movies. Fast-paced, laced with a nonstop string of gags, “Airplane” had three directors, Jim Abrahams, David Zucker, and Jerry Zucker, who collaborated again in “Ruthless People” (1986).
Grade: B
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The film is largely a parody of 1957’s Zero Hour, though by now it’s eclipsed the source material in popularity.
The writing-directing team hails from such broad comedies as “The Kentucky Fried Movie” and “Naked Guns.”
The first parody of the serious subgenre of disaster-in-the-air (“The Crowded Sky,” The High and the Mighty,” and of course, “Airport” and its sequels and imitators), “Airplane” is replete of slapstick comedy, silly sight gags, and some witty and campy one-liners, all of which account for a zany lampoon
The movie knows its limitations in format and running time, only 88 minutes.
Until Airplane!, Leslie Nielsen played a straight man, delivering engaging but unmemorable turns in movies like “Forbidden Planet” and “The Poseidon Adventure.”
The filmmakers cast dramatic actors in order to enhance the deadpan quality of the humor.
Bill Murray, Chevy Chase and David Letterman were considered for the part of Ted Striker, which eventually went to Robert Hays.
Mixing a cast of vet film actors (Lloyd Bridges, Robert Stack) and TV comedians also work well for this self-conscious, self-referential comedy, which makes allusions not only to Hollywood movies, but also to TV sitcoms, and pop culture.
The film is largely a parody of 1957’s Zero Hour, though by now it’s eclipsed the source material, stature and commercial appeal. Made on a budget of $3.5 million, it became an astonishing blockbuster, grossing $171 million at the box-office.
A number of sequels cashed in on the concept, but this is the only truly funny picture in the franchise.
Cast
Robert Hays as Ted Striker
Julie Hagerty as Elaine Dickinson
Kareem Abdul-Jabbar as First Officer Roger Murdock
Lloyd Bridges as Steve McCroskey
Peter Graves as Captain Clarence Oveur
Leslie Nielsen as Dr. Rumack
Lorna Patterson as Randy
Robert Stack as Captain Rex Kramer
Credits
Written, directed by Jim Abrahams, David Zucker, Jerry Zucke
Based on Zero Hour! by Arthur Hailey, Hall Bartlett, John Champion
Produced by Jon Davison
Cinematography Joseph Biroc
Edited by Patrick Kennedy
Music by Elmer Bernstein
Production and distribution: Paramount Pictures
Release dates: June 27, 1980 (Toronto); July 2, 1980 (Wide)
Running time: 88 minutes
Budget $3.5 million
Box office $171 million
