Ok, surely I can't be serious, but I began humming the "Airplane!" theme the minute I read the plotline. Okay, so there's no fish or steak (or lasagna!), just lamb and chicken pot pie. and fortunately, there is a doctor (Roddy McDowall) aboard. This is an unofficial remake of "Zero Hour" which of course got spoofed as "Airplane!". Douglas McClure is the late arrival passenger who turns out to have flying experience, much needed when head pilot Kenneth Tobey reveals that he had the chicken which has made several passengers sick. Keenan Wynn, usually gruff but likeable (except when in a Disney movie), is an obnoxious passenger who keeps making demands in spite of sole stewardess Lois Nettleton's attempts to ignore him.
Certainly the situation is serious so there's plenty of tension, especially when fading pilot Tobey tells McDowall that there's no way he can land in Seattle and that on autopilot, the plane would end up crashing in the ocean. Like every other airplane disaster movie, this switches back and forth between the control tower and the plane. So if you can force yourself to put aside the memories of the infamous comic spoof (difficult with all those familiar references), you will find yourself biting your knuckles like those in the movie, in the air and on the ground.
Certainly the situation is serious so there's plenty of tension, especially when fading pilot Tobey tells McDowall that there's no way he can land in Seattle and that on autopilot, the plane would end up crashing in the ocean. Like every other airplane disaster movie, this switches back and forth between the control tower and the plane. So if you can force yourself to put aside the memories of the infamous comic spoof (difficult with all those familiar references), you will find yourself biting your knuckles like those in the movie, in the air and on the ground.