Airports in the movies
Airports are dramatic places. All those hellos and goodbyes, greetings and partings, some setting out on adventures and some arriving home at last. In the past, airports conveyed a sense of glamour; today they can conjure up a sense of tension or fear. With their great potential as a setting for emotion and action, it’s not surprising that airports are featured so often in the movies. Let’s relive some of the most iconic airport scenes of all time.
Casablanca, 1942
This film is set in Africa, in the early days of World War II. Humphrey Bogart plays Rick, an American expat, and Ingrid Bergman, Ilsa, his former lover. The pair had an affair whilst living in France, but she is now fleeing the war with her husband. The dramatic airport scene comes at the end, when Rick convinces her to get on a plane to safety. He sends her off with the famous line, “We’ll always have Paris”.
The film became a classic, and in the late 1980’s, an attraction called the Great Movie Ride was built at Walt Disney World in Florida. It contained a tableau of the famous airport scene, with what was said to be the actual Lockheed Electra 12A plane that was used in “Casablanca”. However, the movie was filmed just a few months after the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbour, when military security was at its height. Filming at an airport was absolutely out of the question. The crew had to shoot the scene on a soundstage, and it wasn’t big enough to hold a real plane. They built smaller model aircraft and hired dwarfs to move around them in the background, to give the illusion that they were full size. (You can see them in the clip above.) So the plane at Disney World cannot possibly have been used in the film, despite what the staff might tell you.
Airport, 1970
This film follows the action at an American airport which is struggling to remain open in the middle of a blizzard. At the same time, a passenger on board a Boeing 707 is planning to blow himself up mid-flight, so that his wife can benefit from an insurance policy. The movie was filmed on location at Minneapolis St-Paul Airport. It has many scenes showing the day to day running of the airport and reminds us of a more innocent time, before the current era of suicide bombers. “Airport” was a massive box office hit and paved the way for later disaster movies. Airodyssey has an article with much more information and trivia about the film.
Die Hard 2, 1990
This action film stars Bruce Willis as John McClane. The character is waiting for his wife at Washington Dulles International Airport when terrorists take over the air traffic control system. The scenes weren’t actually shot at Dulles, but at many other locations including LAX and Stapleton International. The airport setting in the film is brought alive with fantastic stunts and special effects. The last scene, where McClane lights a leaking fuel stream and blows up the baddies’ plane, was groundbreaking. It was the first to combine live-action footage with a traditionally painted background scene on a computer.
Catch Me If You Can, 2002
This film dramatises the true-life story of Frank Abagnale Junior, a master forger and con artist. By the age of 19, he had successfully posed as a pilot, doctor and prosecutor, and made millions of dollars. The story begins in 1969 and the airport scene is a reminder of the bygone glamour of air travel. Frank parades through Miami Airport, surrounded by a team of beautiful air hostesses, to the sound of Frank Sinatra singing “Come Fly with Me”. This is a turning point in the plot, as a bystander remarks, “I should’ve been a pilot,” showing that Frank has now reached a position where he is envied and respected. These scenes were actually filmed at Ontario Airport in California, in a terminal which is no longer in use. Many other directors have shot scenes here, for a range of movies including “Blow” (2001) and “Zodiac” (2007).
Love Actually, 2003
This film follows the lives of 8 couples in London in the run up to Christmas. They all have their problems and we watch their comic and touching struggles to resolve them. The movie opens with a montage of real scenes from the arrivals gate at Heathrow Airport. It shows family and friends being reunited, embracing each other with great love and joy. The scene sets out the film’s heart-warming, if slightly cheesy premise – that love actually is all around. The story returns to an airport near the end, when the youngest character chases after his sweetheart, who is leaving for America. The movie closes with another montage from Heathrow Airport.
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