Script To Screen: “Airplane”

A scene from the 1980 comedy Airplane [written by Jim Abrahams & David Zucker & Jerry Zucker].

Setup: The flight crew has been taken down by food poisoning. Fortunately there is ex-pilot Ted Striker on board. Unfortunately he is psychologically scarred as a pilot from an event in the past…

INT. PASSENGER CABIN — ANOTHER AREA — NIGHT

Striker is sitting next to a MAN FROM INDIA in a business
suit and turban.

STRIKER
You see, the day we left the village it
was raining, so we had to take a special
jeep to the main road…

The Indian is dousing himself with a can of gasoline. In
b.g. Randy is talking to passengers.

STRIKER
In fact, we were lucky to even get a jeep
since just the day before the only one we
had broke down — it had a bad axle…

The Indian lights a match to immolate himself. Randy
approaches.

RANDY
Excuse me, sir. There’s been a little
problem in the cockpit and I was
wondering…

STRIKER
The cockpit? What is it?

RANDY
It’s the little room at the front of the
plane where the pilots sit. But that’s not
important right now. The first officer is
ill and the Captain would like someone
with flying experience to help him with
the radio. Do you know anything about
planes?

The Indian holds the match, awaiting the outcome.

STRIKER
Well, I flew in the war, but that was a
long time ago. I wouldn’t know anything
about it.

RANDY
Would you go up, please?

He has a moment of indecision. The Indian encourages Striker
with an adamant nod. Striker gets up to leave. The Indian,
relieved, blows out the match.

INT. PASSENGER CABIN — ANOTHER AREA — NIGHT

Jack is sitting across the aisle from a 65-year-old
con­servatively dressed SPINSTER. He pulls a flask from his
coat pocket and takes a swig. She eyes him dis­approvingly.

JACK
Would ya like a little whiskey, ma’am?

SPINSTER
(insulted)
Certainly not.

She inserts a two inch straw in her nose and snorts a couple
lines of cocaine off a piece of glass.

INT. COCKPIT — NIGHT

Striker enters.

STRIKER
(to Rumack and Randy)
The stewardess said…

STRIKER’S POV

Empty pilot’s seat and inflated automatic pilot.

STRIKER
Both pilots!

DR. RUMACK
Can you fly this airplane and land it?

STRIKER
Surely you can’t be serious.

DR. RUMACK
I am serious, and don’t call me Shirley!
What flying experience have you had?

STRIKER
Well, I flew single-engine fighters in the
Air Force, but this plane has four
engines. It’s an entirely different kind
of flying…all together!!!

RANDY/RUMACK
(all together)
It’s an entirely different kind of flying.

STRIKER
Besides, I haven’t touched any ­kind of
plane in six years.

DR. RUMACK
Mister Striker. I know nothing about
flying. All I know is this: you’re the
only person on this plane who can possibly
fly it. You’re the only chance we’ve got.

DRAMATIC MUSIC as Striker turns to face the controls.

STRIKER’S POV

CAMERA PANS controls. CAMERA KEEPS PANNING and PANNING as WE
SEE more and more controls ad absurdum.

I’ll see you in comments for a discussion of this scene from Airplane.

One of the single best things you can do to learn the craft of screenwriting is to read the script while watching the movie. After all a screenplay is a blueprint to make a movie and it’s that magic of what happens between printed page and final print that can inform how you approach writing scenes. That is the purpose of Script to Screen, a weekly series on GITS where we analyze a memorable movie scene and the script pages that inspired it.

For more articles in the Script To Screen series, go here.

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