Mayday at 40, 000 Feet!

Robert Butler directed this TV movie that stars David Janssen as Pilot Captain Pete Douglass, who is having a bad day; his wife is having an operation while he must fly a passenger jet in a snowstorm from an airport that is also carrying a dangerous prisoner(played by Marjoe Gortner) in a jail transfer who of course escapes and proceeds to shoot his stolen gun in the cabin, causing all kinds of trouble. Past Oscar winners Ray Milland and Broderick Crawford costar. Good cast cannot save clichéd and predictable film that doesn't generate much interest or suspense. Mostly just a TV version of one of the "Airport" films that were popular in the 1970's.

In MAYDAY AT 40,000 FEET!, we are treated to the trio of David Jansen, Christopher George, and "Dandy" Don Meredith (as Capt. Pete Douglas; Co-pilot, Stan Burkhart; and Co-co-pilot, Mike Fuller, respectively), all sharing the cockpit of a commercial airline. Indeed, we've entered 1970's made-for-TV movie territory!

Once we get their personal, soap opera lives behind us, the title comes into play. A hard-boiled cop (Broderick Crawford) is transporting an extremely dangerous, bug-eyed criminal, named Greco (My personal lord and savior, Marjoe Gortner!) aboard the plane. Greco has other plans.

How could a cop with a bum ticker, transporting a homicidal maniac, possibly be a problem?

Horror and utter chaos ensue.

Annnd, there's a baby on board!

While this movie is cheeezier than 40,000 pizzerias, it's also extremely entertaining, especially whenever Greco gets going! Nobody goes berserk like Marjoe! Nobody!

Co-stars Ray Milland as the crankiest passenger in the galaxy, and Lynda Day George as the world's most impossibly upbeat flight attendant!

Recommended for lovers of telefilm thriller extravaganzas!...

Routine disaster movie but with a knockout cast.

With a couple of exceptions, I know the whole cast of this film from other productions of the 60s or 70s - be it be QM's The Fugitive or Earthquake or whatever! That is the appeal of this film. I joyfully walked down memory lane and turned a blind eye to some of the film's dull areas (before they all get on the plane).

But if you don't know and love the cast like me - you mind this flick too routine in plot to bother with?

My vote for most memorable character is the grumpy old doctor (played by Ray Milland).

It looks like 1976 was David Janssen's year of disaster movies as he appeared in the cinema released Two-Minute Warning in the same year.

The film features a brief racist remark that I never expected in a 70s network TV movie.

Directed by Robert Butler and this is the main talking point I have about this film. In the 60s Butler directed pilots and episodes of some of TV's greatest shows (Adam West Batman, Star Trek, QM's The Invaders) so whenever I see his name at the start of a film/show - I expect massive fireworks from what is to come. When we only get mild fireworks (as is the case here) I feel a little short changed.

Mayday at 40,000 Feet is okay.

This film is of the typical disaster films of the 70's; aircrafts that almost crash, hijacks, engine failures, terrorist acts and so on. The amazing thing about them is the great performances by great actors; in such films, we saw actors like Charlton Heston, George Kennedy, Jack Lemmon, Alain Delon, Christopher Lee and so on...

In this film, David Janssen in a great performance (one more time), as a man in his 40's that has his own problems in his life, and apart from that, he has a rendez-vous with the bullet of a prisoner that wants to escape. The film script limits the abilities of the actor to perform; however, the film is a pleasant adventure/drama.

5 out of 10.

One of many made-for-television clones of the hugely successful 70s "Airport" franchise. These are supposed to be disaster movies with a little bit of melodrama, but in reality, they are sappy and sentimental soap-opera dramas with just a tad bit of disaster movie processed into them. "Mayday at 40,000ft" has a great cast full of reliable names, and they all depict troubled characters with their own stories to tell. They're all united on a plane from LA to NY, with a short stop in snowy Salt Lake City to pick up an aggressive con artist with a silly hairdo. After a long wait of approximately 2/3 of the film, the convict eventually causes the mayhem by stealing the gun of the ailing Marshall (who's far too old to the job, anyway) and firing one bullet in the leg of the pilot, and another one in the plane's hydraulic system. "Mayday at 40,000ft" is never boring, but it could have used a bit faster pacing, more action, and a lot less heart-breaking dialogue. Worth checking out, for sure, in case you - like me - have a weakness for grumpy old men, like Ray Milland or Broderick Crawford.