The President's Plane Is Missing (film)

The President's Plane Is Missing

VHS box coverart
Directed by Daryl Duke
Produced by
  • Mark Carliner
  • Peter Gettinger
Screenplay by
Based on The novel of the same name  
by Robert J. Serling
Starring
Music by Gil Melle
Cinematography Richard C. Glouner
Edited by John F. Link
Production
companies
Distributed by American Broadcasting Company
Release dates
  • October 23, 1973 (1973-10-23) (United States)
Running time
 100 minutes
Country United States
Language English

The President's Plane Is Missing is a 1973 American television film directed by Daryl Duke with a screenplay by Ernest Kinoy and Mark Carliner based upon the Robert J. Serling novel of the same name. It stars Buddy Ebsen as Vice President Kermit Madigan, Raymond Massey as Secretary Of State Freeman Sharkey, Rip Torn as National Security Adviser George Oldenburg, Mercedes McCambridge as Hester Madigan, and Tod Andrews as President Jeremy Haines.[1][2]

Plot

With diplomatic tensions building and the United States facing a possible military confrontation with China, Air Force One mysteriously crashes in the desert while heading to California, killing U.S. President Jeremy Haines (Tod Andrews). While the crash is being investigated, Vice-President Kermit Madigan (Buddy Ebsen) steps up as Acting President. Unfortunately, Haines had left him uninformed of current foreign policies. Madigan must now rely on the former President's aides to fill him in on information he lacks, but the aides have their own agendas.

National Security Adviser George Oldenburg (Rip Torn) claims that Haines was preparing to go to war if the Chinese did not back down, while career diplomat Secretary of State Freeman Sharkey (Raymond Massey) asserts that Haines was pursuing a peaceful solution to the problem with China. Madigan's wife Hester (Mercedes McCambridge) sees this as an opportunity to advance his career, but the Washington political community doubts his competence. In dealing with growing tensions and conflicting advice, Madigan struggles to avoid a nuclear war with the Chinese. Meanwhile, it turns out that President Haines was not aboard the crashed plane after all.

Cast

Novel

Robert J. Serling's 1967 novel spent multiple weeks on The New York Times Bestseller List and its success enabled Serling to become a full-time writer.[3] Serling later penned a sequel to the novel entitled Air Force One Is Haunted, which centered around former President Franklin Delano Roosevelt haunting the current President whenever he boards Air Force One.[4]

Production

The President's Plane Is Missing was completed for release in 1971, but due to then-President Richard Nixon's ongoing diplomatic relationship with and planned visit to China it was decided to postpone release of a film which painted China in a negative light[5][6][7] until after Nixon's return from his visit to China.[8]


The President's Plane Is Missing was released on October 23, 1973,[9] as a period piece.[10]

Reception

In "Cinema and Nation", when comparing The President's Plane Is Missing to such films as JFK (1991) and The Manchurian Candidate (1962) reviewers noted out that while many films use a premise that actual democracy is an illusion, this one was rare in that it turned the President into an action hero.[11] In 1988, the reviewer for the Sydney Morning Herald wrote that it was a "dull film despite an excellent cast."[12]

See also

References

Notes

  1. ↑ Eder, Bruce. "Overview: 'The President's Plane Is Missing' (1972)." The New York Times (Rovi), 1972. Retrieved: December 1, 2015.
  2. ↑ Hadley, Mitchell. "How life imitates art (or, at least, television)." It's About TV, April 23, 2013. Retrieved: December 1, 2015.
  3. ↑ McLellan, Dennis. "Robert J. Serling dies at 92; one of the nation's top aviation writers." Los Angeles Times, May 20, 2010. Retrieved: December 1, 2015.
  4. ↑ "Review: Air Force One is haunted." Kirkus Reviews, February 1, 1984. Retrieved: December 1, 2015.
  5. ↑ McKenna 2013, p. 297.
  6. ↑ "Overview: 'The President's Plane is Missing' (1973)." Turner Classic Movies. Retrieved: December 1, 2015.
  7. ↑ Dudek, Duane. "Will Malaysian airliner mystery join missing plane movie genre?" Journal Sentinel, March 20, 2014. Retrieved: December 1, 2015.
  8. ↑ "Overview: 'President's Plane Is Missing' - TV Movie." The New York Times. Retrieved: December 1, 2015.
  9. ↑ "TV Scout". The Victoria Advocate, October 23, 1973. Retrieved: December 1, 2015.
  10. ↑ "Review: 'The President's Plane Is Missing' (1971)." The Harvard Crimson, October 18, 1973. Retrieved: December 1, 2015.
  11. ↑ Hjort and Mackenzie 2005, pp. 38–39.
  12. ↑ "Fine cast can't save this one." The Sydney Morning Herald, August 21, 1988. Retrieved: December 1, 2015.

Bibliography

  • Hjort, Mette and Scott Mackenzie. Cinema and Nation. London: Routledge, 2005.ISBN 978-0-4152-0863-5.
  • McKenna, Michael. The ABC Movie of the Week: Big Movies for the Small Screen. Lanham, Maryland: Scarecrow Press, 2013. ISBN 978-0-8108-9156-2.

External links

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