Murder on Flight 502

Last updated
Murder on Flight 502
Murder on Flight 502 title card.jpg
Title card
Genre Drama
Mystery
Thriller
Written byDavid P. Harmon
Directed by George McCowan
Starring Robert Stack
Sonny Bono
Farrah Fawcett-Majors
Music by Laurence Rosenthal
Country of originUnited States
Original languageEnglish
Production
Executive producers Leonard Goldberg
Aaron Spelling
ProducersDavid Chasman
J. Bret Garwood (associate producer)
CinematographyArchie R. Dalzell
EditorAllan Jacobs
Running time97 minutes
Production company Spelling-Goldberg Productions
Original release
Network ABC
ReleaseNovember 21, 1975 (1975-11-21)

Murder on Flight 502 is a 1975 American made-for-television drama mystery thriller film directed by George McCowan. The film stars Robert Stack, Sonny Bono and Farrah Fawcett-Majors, along with an all-star ensemble television cast in supporting roles. [1] It was inspired by the success of the Airport films. [2]

Contents

Plot

TOA airlines flight 502 takes off from New York City to London. At the airport, a bomb threat in the airline's first-class passenger lounge turns out to be an elaborate prank. Safety official Donaldson receives a letter explaining that a series of murders will take place on Flight 502 before it lands.

Donaldson and his team go over the backgrounds of all the passengers to find possible suspects. At first, teenage passenger Millard Kensington is suspected because he has a history with the airline as a known prankster. Although the teenager admits he did place the fake bomb in the passenger lobby, he is clueless about the letter.

Suspicion next focuses on passenger Otto Gruenwaldt, who blames fellow passenger Dr. Kenyon Walker for failing to save Gruenwaldt's dying wife. Gruenwaldt suffers a heart attack on board and Dr. Walker rushes to aid the dying man. Dr. Walker injects Gruenwaldt with a life-saving drug. Captain Larkin demands Walker surrender the used syringe, implying it may be needed as evidence. Walker refuses.

A break in the investigation comes when a priest on board is revealed as an imposter and a known thief. Detective Myerson looks for the priest, but finds him dead in the dumbwaiter. At this point the threatening letter's contents are revealed to the passengers. Soon a second murder occurs; flight attendant Vera Franklin is found dead by the co-pilot.

Concerned that he may be at risk, passenger Paul Barons confesses to Myerson that he committed the bank robbery, and that the priest and Franklin were both involved in smuggling the money out of the country on the aircraft. Barons says he is the next target. Myerson agrees and pulls out a gun, proving he is the killer, having snapped when Barons escaped justice for his crime after no proof was found.

Myerson takes the passengers hostage and explains he murdered the priest and looked through the luggage of the crew and found the money in Franklin's bag. Captain Larkin makes a drastic move to distract Myerson by releasing the oxygen masks and going for the gun. In the ensuing struggle, Barons is killed, the cabin catches on fire, and Myerson is badly burned. The passengers extinguish the fire just as the crisis ends.

On the ground, flight attendant White expresses her gratitude for Larkin saving the passengers, but Larkin reveals White as the smuggler of the stolen money. He explains how before the aircraft took off, Franklin had dropped her bag, which had no money inside. Therefore, the money was put in the bag by the real guilty smuggler, Karen White.

Larkin accompanies Myerson down an escalator to hand him off to the waiting British police. Myerson attempts to justify his actions, claiming he will be commended for protecting the people from criminals because he brought a thief to justice when the law would not. Captain Larkin looks on as Myerson is led off by officers.

Cast

Principal cast listed alphabetically:

Production

Robert Stack, then mainly shooting in Europe, was still a television icon and was in demand for the movie-of-the-week features that were common in the 1970s. [3] In later interviews, Stack revealed that one of the prime incentives to sign on for Murder on Flight 502 was the opportunity to work with his wife Rosemarie and daughter Elizabeth. [4]

Reception

The Los Angeles Times called it "an ill-begotten 'Son of Airport' that never gets off the ground having been fogged in by trite dialogue and cliche characterisations." [5]

Reviewer Keith Bailey considered Murder on Flight 502 as typical of the 1970s disaster film. "The '70s was the era of the 90-minute (including commercials) TV movie, unlike this one; had this movie been cut down to fit a 90-minute slot, I am sure it would have been a definite improvement." Bailey considered that the film didn't work as a murder mystery but could have worked as a character study. [6]

Ratings

It was the 10th highest rated show of the week from November 17–23. [7] [8]

See also

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Pacific Southwest Airlines Flight 1771</span> 1987 aircraft hijacking and crash in Cayucos, California, United States

Pacific Southwest Airlines Flight 1771 was a scheduled flight along the West Coast of the United States, from Los Angeles, California, to San Francisco. On December 7, 1987, the British Aerospace 146-200A, registration N350PS, crashed in San Luis Obispo County near Cayucos, after being hijacked by a passenger.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Oceanic Airlines</span> Fictional airline featured in several creative works

Oceanic Airlines, and less frequently, Oceanic Airways, is the name of a fictional airline used in several films, television programs, and comic books—typically works that feature plane crashes and other aviation disasters, with which a real airline would prefer not to be associated.

<i>The High and the Mighty</i> (film) 1954 film

The High and the Mighty is a 1954 American aviation disaster film, directed by William A. Wellman, and written by Ernest K. Gann, who also wrote the 1953 novel on which his screenplay was based. Filmed in WarnerColor and CinemaScope, the film's cast was headlined by John Wayne, who was also the project's co-producer.

<i>Flightplan</i> 2005 film by Robert Schwentke

Flightplan is a 2005 mystery psychological thriller film directed by Robert Schwentke from a screenplay written by Peter A. Dowling and Billy Ray. It stars Jodie Foster as Kyle Pratt, a recently widowed American aircraft engineer living in Berlin, who flies back to the U.S. with her daughter and her husband's body. She loses her daughter during the flight and must struggle to find her while proving her sanity at the same time. It also features Peter Sarsgaard, Erika Christensen, Kate Beahan, Greta Scacchi, Sean Bean, and Matt Bomer in his film debut.

<i>Airport 1975</i> 1974 American disaster film

Airport 1975 is a 1974 American air disaster film and the first sequel to the successful 1970 film Airport. It was directed by Jack Smight, produced by William Frye, executive produced by Jennings Lang, and written by Don Ingalls. The film stars Charlton Heston, Karen Black, George Kennedy and Gloria Swanson – as a fictionalized version of herself – in her final film role.

<i>The Delta Force</i> 1986 film by Menahem Golan

The Delta Force is a 1986 American action film starring Chuck Norris and Lee Marvin as leaders of an elite group of Special Operations Forces personnel based on the real life U.S. Army Delta Force unit. Directed, co-written and co-produced by Menahem Golan, the film features Martin Balsam, Joey Bishop, Robert Vaughn, Steve James, Robert Forster, Shelley Winters, George Kennedy, and an uncredited Liam Neeson in an early role. It is the first installment in The Delta Force film series. Two sequels were produced, entitled Delta Force 2: The Colombian Connection and the direct-to-video Delta Force 3: The Killing Game. The Delta Force was "inspired" by the hijacking of TWA Flight 847.

<i>Passenger 57</i> 1992 action thriller film by Kevin Hooks

Passenger 57 is a 1992 American action thriller film directed by Kevin Hooks. The film stars Wesley Snipes and Bruce Payne, with Snipes portraying a security consultant who finds himself forced to foil a plot to free a captive terrorist during a commercial airline flight. Critical reviews were mixed, but the film was a box-office success, and made Snipes a popular action hero icon.

Clifford Tobin DeYoung is an American actor and musician.

<i>Come Fly with Me</i> (film) 1963 British comedy film by Henry Levin

Come Fly with Me is a 1963 British comedy film about three beautiful international air hostesses looking for romance and excitement. The film has dramatic or soap opera elements to it, and was a vehicle for glamorizing the Jet Age and the prestige, adventure and romance that came with being an air hostess. It is based on Bernard Glemser's 1960 chick-lit novel Girl on a Wing, which was published again in 1969 under the title The Fly Girls.

The Chinese Paymaster is the 24th novel in the long-running Nick Carter-Killmaster series of spy novels. Carter is a US secret agent, code-named N-3, with the rank of Killmaster. He works for AXE – a secret arm of the US intelligence services.

<i>The Black Room</i> (1935 film) 1935 film by Roy William Neill

The Black Room is a 1935 American horror film directed by Roy William Neill and starring Boris Karloff. Cinematography was done by Allen G. Siegler.

<i>Caprice</i> (1967 film) 1967 film by Frank Tashlin

Caprice is a 1967 DeLuxe Color comedy-thriller film directed by Frank Tashlin starring Doris Day and Richard Harris. It was Day's second and last film with Tashlin, after the previous year's The Glass Bottom Boat. This film and In Like Flint (1967) were the last movies made in CinemaScope, with most studios moving to Panavision and other widescreen processes.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Rosemarie Bowe</span> American actress

Rosemarie Bowe Stack was an American model, best known for her appearances in several films in the 1950s.

<i>13 Hours by Air</i> 1936 film by Mitchell Leisen

13 Hours by Air is a 1936 American drama film made by Paramount Pictures and directed by Mitchell Leisen. The film stars Fred MacMurray and Joan Bennett. The screenplay was written by Kenyon Nicholson and Bogart Rogers, based on story Wild Wings by Rogers and Frank Mitchell Dazey. 13 Hours by Air was also the forerunner of the disaster film, a genre featuring a complex, heavily character-driven ensemble cast, exploring the personal dramas and interactions that develop among the passengers and crew as they deal with a deadly onboard emergency.

<i>Crack-Up</i> (1936 film) 1936 film by Malcolm St. Clair

Crack-Up is a 1936 American film directed by Malcolm St. Clair. Peter Lorre plays a harmless, half-addled aircraft enthusiast who is actually a ruthless spy desperate to get his hands on the blueprints for an experimental aircraft for a trans-Atlantic flight. He faces off against Ace Martin, played by Brian Donlevy, the pilot of the aircraft, whose motives are spurred by feeling cheated by his own company. The supporting cast includes Helen Wood, Ralph Morgan and Thomas Beck.

<i>Secret Service of the Air</i> 1939 film

Secret Service of the Air is a 1939 American adventure film directed by Noel M. Smith and starring Ronald Reagan. This film was the first in Warner Bros.' Secret Service series. The series consisted of four films, all starring Ronald Reagan as Lieutenant "Brass" Bancroft of the U.S. Secret Service and Eddie Foy, Jr. as his sidekick "Gabby." It was followed up by Code of the Secret Service, Smashing the Money Ring, and Murder in the Air (1940), the last film in the series. Reagan was just starting out his film career and commented later that during that period, he was a B movie "Errol Flynn".

<i>The Crowded Sky</i> 1960 film

The Crowded Sky is a 1960 Technicolor drama film distributed by Warner Bros., produced by Michael Garrison, directed by Joseph Pevney and starring Dana Andrews, Rhonda Fleming and Efrem Zimbalist Jr. The film is based on the 1960 novel of the same name by Hank Searls.

<i>The Doomsday Flight</i> 1966 American TV series or program

The Doomsday Flight is a 1966 American thriller television film written by Rod Serling and directed by William Graham. The cast includes Jack Lord, Edmond O'Brien, Van Johnson, Katherine Crawford, John Saxon, Richard Carlson and Ed Asner. It aired on NBC on December 13, 1966.

<i>Death Flies East</i> 1935 film by Phil Rosen

Death Flies East is a 1935 American mystery film directed by Phil Rosen and starring Conrad Nagel, Florence Rice and Raymond Walburn. The action takes place on an airline flight with a murderer aboard. The film was an early example of the aviation "disaster film" genre.

<i>24 Hours to Kill</i> 1965 film

24 Hours to Kill is a 1965 British thriller film shot in Techniscope and Technicolor that was filmed in the Lebanon, then a tax haven. It was directed by Peter Bezencenet, and stars Lex Barker, Mickey Rooney and Walter Slezak.

References

Notes

  1. ↑ Elizabeth Stack was Robert and Rosemarie's daughter; she acts under the name: Elizabeth Wood Stack.

Citations

  1. ↑ NBC to Premiere 3 for Money Show Los Angeles Times 4 Sep 1975: f14.
  2. ↑ Tempo/People-Music: Tower Ticker Gold, Aaron. Chicago Tribune 30 Oct 1975: b2.
  3. ↑ Maltin 1994, p. 834.
  4. ↑ Stack and Evans 1980, p. 275.
  5. ↑ Would-Be Slayer Rides 'Flight 502' Thomas, Kevin. Los Angeles Times 21 Nov 1975: g34.
  6. ↑ Bailey, Keith. "Murder on Flight 502 (1975)." The Unknown Movies, 2014. Retrieved: December 9, 2014.
  7. ↑ CBS Pulls Ahead Carmody, John. The Washington Post 27 Nov 1975: C16.
  8. ↑ 4 Movies Shake Up Week's Nielsen List Los Angeles Times 26 Nov 1975: d15.

Bibliography

  • Maltin, Leonard. Leonard Maltin's Movie Encyclopedia. New York: Dutton, 1994. ISBN   978-0-45227-058-9.
  • Stack, Robert and Mark Evans. Straight Shooting. Amsterdam, New York: Xs Books, 1980. ISBN   978-0-02613-320-3.
  • Weaver, Tom. A Sci-Fi Swarm and Horror Horde: Interviews with 62 Filmmakers. Jefferson, North Carolina: McFarland & Company, 2010. ISBN   978-0-78644-658-2.
This page is based on this Wikipedia article
Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply.
Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.