Murder on Flight 502

My husband bought a copy of this movie from a bargain bin for $2.00 so I wasn't expecting much. Actually, it was so campy it was fun. And in today's world, very naive. Danny Bonaduce, one of the passengers, leaves a package in the boarding area and after he gets on the flight the package starts to smoke. Security rushes in, takes a casual look, and pronounces it a practical joke. Times sure have changed ! Bonaduce is in a number of scenes at the beginning of the movie, but although he is in the same section as the rest of the passengers on the plane, he is not seen anymore during the second half of the film. I guess they had to cut the budget.

This film is not about a "terrorist" as we think of them today. It was about one man, planning to kill another man, just a vendetta thing. The acting was awful, for the most part, but like I said, if you don't mind that-- the movie was worth $2.00. Obviously made for TV-- every twenty minutes there was a blackout for commercial insertion. And it was strange that the plane was carrying hundreds of passengers (according to the pilot), but we only saw about a dozen. From scene to scene, the number of extras would change. The cabin would be almost empty in one scene, then the next scene, there would be someone in every seat. Oh, well. It was fun. Not funny--- just fun.

Back in the 70's all the major networks would put out these made-for-TV movies, usually featuring a collection of unknowns and a good number of well known actors and actresses and for the most part they were always enjoyable, even though they were't as sophisticated or as big budget as a major motion picture. This movie was no exception. I stumbled across it on a DVD and for $2 figured it was worth a look see. I can't remember if I ever watched in on TV in the 70's, but it brought back memories of enjoyable enough nights in the living room watching the set.

This is probably most notable for a pre-Charlie's Angels performance from a very lovely Farrah Fawcett as a stewardess on a flight from New York to London that has a murderer on board. In some ways it's rather preposterous. There are far too many coincidences - far too many people in the First Class section who just happened to know each other and have grievances with each other. The intent was obviously to give a large stable of possible suspects to keep the viewer guessing. In some ways it didn't work. I had the murderer figured out pretty early, and if you didn't figure it out well before it was revealed then you missed something pretty obvious. Mind you, the same could be said for the plot twist involving Fawcett's character at the end, and that took me off guard. I also couldn't figure out why the man who tried to kill singer Jack Marshall (played by Sonny Bono) is never restrained, but ends up back in First Class with his wife as if nothing had happened - he just tried to kill a guy with a knife!

This was clearly made by Aaron Spelling as lightly entertaining TV mystery to keep people occupied for a couple of hours in front of their TV screens. With folks like Robert Stack, Walter Pidgeon, Danny Bonaduce, etc., it's pretty good fun. 6/10

... I am referring to something Sonny Bono's agent says as they head towards his flight to board. And he says it very loud. And nobody even stops and stares. What a time capsule this is.

If you are under 40 I'm not sure you will really appreciate this. But if you remember the 1970s at all this is terrific and hilarious for reasons never intended. It is about an international flight headed for London. After take-off a smoke bomb goes off in the first class lounge. As a result of this, an airline executive gets a note a day earlier than he normally would have, and it apologizes for the murders on flight 502, the flight that just took off. So now it is a race to figure out who is the murderer before he can kill.

There are all kinds of furtive glances and obvious grudges between the first class passengers to stir the pot. There are some married couples on the flight, but there are also lots of people flying alone, and they strike up conversations with whoever is sitting next to them. It reminded me of Love Boat, and that should be no surprise since Aaron Spelling, who produced Love Boat, also produced this film. Of course, today, bothering a stranger next to you with conversation would get you rebuffed because you would be interrupting their game of Candy Crush on their phone. But in 1975 people were OK with casual conversation and were accustomed to occasionally being bored.

What's funny about it? Robert Stack as the pilot five years before Airplane, playing it straight. That setting a smoke bomb off in an airport doesn't get you shackled by the TSA upon arrival and sentenced to 40 years in the basement of a federal prison. That the killer on the plane just ASSUMES certain movements of passengers whom he targets. Farrah Fawcett as a stewardess (that is what they called flight attendents then) who at this point in her career has very limited acting talent. That changes a lot over time.

What's great for classic film buffs? Larraine Day, Dane Clarke, Walter Pidgeon, and Ralph Bellamy making appearances as passengers.

I had a hard time rating this film. I'm rating it as a time capsule that is certainly not boring. Thus my rating will probably be higher than those of other folks.

If you've seen Airplane!, enjoyed Airplane! and perhaps wondered where Airplane! got some of its inspiration from, check out Murder on Flight 502. My brother found it for the astounding price of one dollar American, and for that single bill you get Robert Stack, Farrah Fawcett, Sonny Bono, and...Danny Bonaduce? Oh, but yes. And there's more.

As the film tepidly moves along, begging you to find the murderer among the passengers before anyone is actually murdered, you'll be treated to outrageous mid-70's fashion (brown is IN!), bizarre character backgrounds, and the hottest burgeoning romance this side of Harold and Maude, an elderly Jewish woman and an elderly Methodist known only as Uncle Charlie. "Ah...I know half the story already!" says the elderly woman slyly after Uncle Charlie introduces himself, and believe me, you will know every sundry detail of Uncle Charlie's hard knock life, even though it's probably better that you didn't.

You will see Sonny Bono sing, and you will realize why Cher was much better on her own. Robert Stack will make Bruce Willis in Die Hard look bad with his endless barrage of hard-boiled, sarcastic one-liners. But most of all, you will figure out who the murderer is, and you will be satisfied when they get their comeuppance.

No, there is no singing stewardess, no jive-talkers, no inflatable auto-pilot, no Leslie Neilsen. But unless you are unable to mock the earnest, but futile work of many to make a taut murder mystery shot almost entirely on a plane full of large, orange seats, you will like Murder on Flight 502. I promise.

When watching this movie, don't watch it for suspense, or character development, or even for the mystery. This is a "make your own fun" movie. You can watch it in the Mystery Science Theater 3000 style, making fun of it as you go. You can watch it to spot all of the stars (at the time). Or you could watch it to find out what Airplane! was making fun of so much; this movie seems to have provided most of it. The pure dated-ness of this film makes it so easy to make fun of. Can you remember a time when a smoking box in an airport lounge was treated fairly lightly?

But don't hate this movie because it's, well, bad; praise it for its badness. This is one of those movies that is good to watch because it's horribly done. The acting is horrible, the script is horrible, the story is horrible. The only thing that was done right was the casting, but, as we're seeing so much these days, a good cast can't save a movie. But a good sense of humor can. Which is why I give this movie a fairly high grade: if you enjoy pretending to be a sillouette in front of a giant movie screen, you'll like this movie.