R.I.P. Peter Graves, scene-stealer from ‘Airplane!’

The acting world lost one of its elder statesmen this week, a true legend who first started acting in the ’40s.

Peter Graves, star of the ’60s TV series "Mission: Impossible," died Sunday of a heart attack.

To honor such an accomplished actor, it seems fitting to look at one of his silliest film roles, which came in the 1980 spoof "Airplane!"

This was a classic film, which paved the way, good or bad, for the "Scary Movie" franchise, "Family Guy" and any other TV show or film that sacrifices traditional plot structure for nonstop jokes.

The plot is largely inconsequential in "Airplane!" and involves a bad case of food poisoning incapacitating the pilots and forcing Ted Striker (Robert Hays) to land the plane safely.

Striker is a disgraced Air Force pilot who, despite now being afraid to fly, follows his girlfriend, stewardess Elaine Dickinson (Julie Hagerty), onto the aircraft to stop her from leaving him.

During the flight, an almost uncountable number of zany events and characters, like the jive-talking black passengers and jive-talking nun, share screen time. While some jokes fall flat the actors steam ahead to the next one at a near breakneck speed.

Graves, while not having one of the film’s major roles, delivered some of the best lines as Captain Clarence Oveur, with most of these lines occurring when a young boy comes into the airplane’s cockpit and talks to Graves.

Lines like "Joey, do you like movies about gladiators?" and "You ever seen a grown man naked?," which were delivered in a deadpan manner by an accomplished actor, made "Airplane!" one of the funniest films from the ’80s.

Of course Graves wasn’t the only one delivering the comedic goods in "Airplane!" Another terrific cameo was given by NBA legend Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, who played a co-pilot trying to remain incognito.

Lloyd Bridges and Leslie Nielsen, like Graves, were serious actors who took a chance on a silly movie and helped legitimatize an entire genre.

For anyone who hasn’t seen this movie and is only familiar with unbearable spoof movies like "Epic Movie," "Date Movie" or any other film from that franchise, watch "Airplane!" and delight in the unadulterated good times to be had.

Anyone who has seen "it should re-watch it, because it’s almost impossible to catch every joke with only one viewing.

Graves will keep audiences laughing, even from beyond the grave.

Grade: A
 

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