Saying Goodbye To Leslie Nielsen: Airplane! At The Vic

By Steven Pate in Arts & Entertainment on Dec 3, 2010 8:20PM

You could say we are Leslie Nielsen fans here at Chicagoist. Already this week we have remembered him twice. But who isn't a fan of the Canadian actor turned icon of deadpan comedic performance, who passed away earlier this week? We are just happy the Brew and View at The Vic is showing Airplane! tomorrow night, where we can watch raise a toast to that murderers row of now-departed deadpan talent, (Nielsen, Lloyd Bridges, Rorbert Stack and Peter Graves) as they anchor one of the most epic and beloved assortment of gags and groaners ever squeezed onto celluloid. Not all of the jokes work, but the sheer density of their numbers created such a sustained manic intensity that comedic filmmakers have been trying to replicate ever since.

The film was an ensemble triumph and became one of the highest-grossing comedies of all time, but it was Nielsen who seemed to be the essential component, with the filmmakers carrying him along on their their next ventures. The discovery that some comedic alchemy had rendered his serious demeanor inexplicably hilarious promptly reinvigorated his career. As Nielsen himself said during his SNL monlogue, "I'm someone who says unfunny things in an unfunny way, and somehow it ends up funny." It also increases the enjoyment of each scene in Airplane! to imagine Nielsen just off camera, making fart noises with his whoopee cushion to keep the other actors off balance. Star Robert Hays claimed that "he played that thing like a maestro."

Airplane! took its place among the furniture of American popular consciousness through endless repetition up and down the dial of cable television (it's The Shawshank Redemption of comedy in that respect), caught in bits here and there, its fusillades of one-liners ruefully interrupted by commercials. To see it this weekend on the big screen the way it was originally intended is a fitting treat.

Airplane! plays Saturday at 10:30 pm at the Vic, 3145 N. Sheffield Ave.