Maureen Stapleton and Van Heflin in a scene from the film Airport, 1970. - Reprint

Airport is a 1970 American drama film starring Burt Lancaster and Dean Martin, directed and written by George Seaton,[3] and based on Arthur Hailey's 1968 novel of the same name. It originated the 1970s disaster film genre.[4] It is also the first in the Airport film series. Produced on a $10 million budget, it earned nearly $100 million.[2] The film is about an airport manager trying to keep his airport open during a snowstorm, while a suicidal bomber plots to blow up a Boeing 707 airliner in flight. It takes place at fictional Lincoln International Airport near Chicago, Illinois. The film was a critical success and surpassed Spartacus as Universal Pictures' biggest moneymaker.[5] The movie won Helen Hayes an Academy Award for Best Supporting Actress for her role as an elderly stowaway and was nominated for nine other Academy Awards, including Best Picture, Best Cinematography, and Best Costume Design for designer Edith Head. With attention paid to the detail of day-to-day airport and airline operations, the plot concerns the response to a paralyzing snowstorm, environmental concerns over noise pollution, and an attempt to blow up an airliner. The film is characterized by personal stories intertwining while decisions are made minute-by-minute by the airport and airline staffs, operations and maintenance crews, flight crews, and Federal Aviation Administration air traffic controllers. Ernest Laszlo photographed it in 70 mm Todd-AO. It is the last film scored by Alfred Newman and the last film roles for Van Heflin and Jessie Royce Landis. Maureen Stapleton (June 21, 1925 – March 13, 2006) was an American actress in film, theater and television. She was nominated for the Academy Award for Best Supporting Actress for Lonelyhearts (1958), Airport (1970) and Interiors (1978), before winning for her performance as Emma Goldman in Reds (1981). She was inducted into the American Theatre Hall of Fame in 1981. Stapleton made her Broadway debut in 1946 in The Playboy of the Western World, and went on to win the 1951 Tony Award for Best Featured Actress in a Play for The Rose Tattoo and the 1971 Tony Award for Best Actress in a Play for The Gingerbread Lady. She also won an Emmy Award for the television film Among the Paths to Eden (1967) and the BAFTA Award for Best Actress in a Supporting Role for Reds. Her other film roles included Bye Bye Birdie (1963), Plaza Suite (1971), The Fan (1981), Cocoon (1985) and The Money Pit (1986). Van Heflin (December 13, 1908[1] – July 23, 1971) was an American theatre, radio and film actor. He played mostly character parts over the course of his film career, but during the 1940s had a string of roles as a leading man. He won the Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor for his performance in Johnny Eager (1942). Heflin was born Emmett Evan Heflin, Jr. in Walters, Oklahoma, the son of Fanny Bleecker (née Shippey) and Dr. Emmett Evan Heflin, a dentist.[2][3] He was of Irish and French ancestry.[4] Heflin's sister was Daytime Emmy-nominated actress Frances Heflin (who married composer Sol Kaplan). Heflin attended Classen High School in Oklahoma City (One source says Long Beach Polytechnic High School.[1]) and the University of Oklahoma, where he received a bachelor's degree in 1932[1] and was a member of Phi Delta Theta fraternity. He earned a master's degree in theater at Yale University.[5]

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