''The President's Plane Is Missing'' is a 1973 American TV movie directed by

Daryl Duke Daryl Duke (8 March 1929 – 21 October 2006) was a Canadian film and television director. Biography Duke was born at Vancouver, British Columbia, where he became one of CBC Television's earliest regional producers. His career continued with ...

with a screenplay by

Ernest Kinoy Ernest Kinoy (April 1, 1925 – November 10, 2014) was an American writer, screenwriter and playwright. Early life Kinoy was born in New York City on April 1, 1925; his parents, Albert and Sarah Kinoy (formerly Forstadt), were both high-school ...

and Mark Carliner based upon the Robert J. Serling novel of the same name. It aired on the ''

ABC Movie of the Week ABC are the first three letters of the Latin script known as the alphabet. ABC or abc may also refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media Broadcasting * American Broadcasting Company, a commercial U.S. TV broadcaster ** Disney–ABC Television ...

.''

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, with President Jeremy Haines on board. While the crash is being investigated and with the president's fate yet uncertain, Vice President Kermit Madigan becomes acting president. Unfortunately, Haines had left him uninformed of current foreign policies. Madigan must now rely on Haines' cabinet and aides to fill him in on information he lacks, while the aides attempt to further their own agendas. National Security Advisor George Oldenburg claims that Haines was preparing to go to war if the Chinese did not back down, while Secretary of State Freeman Sharkey asserts that Haines was pursuing a peaceful solution to the problem with China. Madigan's wife, Hester, 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 China. Meanwhile, it turns out that President Haines was not aboard the crashed plane after all.

Cast

Buddy Ebsen Buddy Ebsen (born Christian Ludolf Ebsen Jr., April 2, 1908 – July 6, 2003), also known as Frank "Buddy" Ebsen, was an American actor and dancer, whose career spanned seven decades. One of his most famous roles was as Jed Clampett in the CBS ...

as Vice President Kermit Madigan *

Peter Graves Peter Graves (born Peter Duesler Aurness; March 18, 1926 – March 14, 2010) was an American actor. He was best known for his role as Jim Phelps in the CBS television series ''Mission: Impossible (1966 TV series), Mission: Impossible'' from 1967 ...

as Mark Jones * Arthur Kennedy as Gunther Damon * Raymond Massey as Secretary of State Freeman Sharkey *

Mercedes McCambridge Carlotta Mercedes Agnes McCambridge (March 16, 1916 – March 2, 2004) was an American actress of radio, stage, film, and television. Orson Welles called her "the world's greatest living radio actress." She won an Academy Award for Best Support ...

as Second Lady Hester Madigan * Rip Torn as National Security Advisor George Oldenburg *

Louise Sorel Louise Jacqueline Sorel (née Cohen, born August 6, 1940) is an American actress. She is perhaps best known for her role as Vivian Alamain in '' Days of Our Lives'' from 1992 to 2000, 2009 to 2011, 2017 to 2018, and 2020, Augusta Wainwright on '' ...

as Joanna Spencer *

Dabney Coleman Dabney Wharton Coleman (born January 3, 1932) is an American actor. Coleman's best known films include ''9 to 5'' (1980), '' On Golden Pond'' (1981), ''Tootsie'' (1982), '' WarGames'' (1983), '' Cloak & Dagger'' (1984), ''The Beverly Hillbillies ...

as Senator Bert Haines *

Joseph Campanella Joseph Anthony Campanella (November 21, 1924 – May 16, 2018) was an American character actor. He appeared in more than 200 television and film roles from the early 1950s to 2009. Campanella was best remembered for his roles as Joe Turino on ' ...

as Colonel Doug Henderson *

Richard Eastham Richard Eastham (born Dickinson Swift Eastham; June 22, 1916 – July 10, 2005) was an American actor of stage, film, and television, a concert singer known for his deep baritone voice, and an inventor. Early years Eastham's birth name was ...

as General Colton *

Byron Morrow William Byron Morrow (September 8, 1911 – May 11, 2006) was an American television and film actor. Early life Born in Chicago, Illinois, Morrow served in the Army in World War II, performing in theater productions during his tour of duty ...

as Admiral Phillips * Bill Walker as Thomas * Richard Bull as First Controller *

Richard Stahl Richard Stahl (January 4, 1932 – June 18, 2006) was an American actor who mostly appeared in comic roles on television and in films. Early life Born in Detroit, he studied at the American Academy of Dramatic Arts in New York City. In the 1950 ...

as Dentist * Gil Peterson as Tower Controller * Barry Cahill as Ground Crew Chief *

Lillian Lehman Lillian Lehman is an American actress. The daughter of a Lutheran minister, Lehman was born in Oak Hill, Alabama, but moved with her family to Buffalo, New York, when she was five years old. She was named actress of the year while she attended K ...

as Genesse *

James Sikking James Barrie Sikking (born March 5, 1934) is a former American actor, most known for his role as Lt. Howard Hunter on the 1980s TV series ''Hill Street Blues''. Early years Sikking was born in Los Angeles on March 5, 1934 to Andy and Sue (né ...

as Aide to Dunbar * Barbara Leigh as WAF *

George Barrows George D. Barrows (New York, February 7, 1914 – Oxnard, October 17, 1994) was an American actor known for playing Ro-Man in the film ''Robot Monster''. He was the son of actor Henry A. Barrows. He often wore a gorilla suit for his film r ...

as Mr. Meyers *

John Amos John Allen Amos Jr. (born December 27, 1939) is an American actor known for his role as James Evans Sr. on the CBS television series ''Good Times''. Amos's other television work includes ''The Mary Tyler Moore Show'', a recurring role as Admi ...

as Marine Corporal * John Ward as Major D'Andrea * Tod Andrews as President Jeremy Haines * James Wainwright as General Ben Dunbar * James B. Smith as Major Earl Foster

Novel

Robert J. Serling's 1967 novel spent multiple weeks on

The New York Times Bestseller List ''The New York Times'' Best Seller list is widely considered the preeminent list of best-selling books in the United States. John Bear, ''The #1 New York Times Best Seller: intriguing facts about the 484 books that have been #1 New York Times ...

and its success enabled Serling to become a full-time writer. Serling later penned a sequel to the novel entitled ''Air Force One Is Haunted'', which centered around the ghost of President Franklin Roosevelt haunting the incumbent president whenever he boards Air Force One."Review: Air Force One is haunted."
'' Kirkus Reviews'', February 1, 1984. Retrieved: December 1, 2015.

Production

''The President's Plane Is Missing'' was completed for release in 1971, but due to then-President

Richard Nixon Richard Milhous Nixon (January 9, 1913April 22, 1994) was the 37th president of the United States, serving from 1969 to 1974. A member of the Republican Party, he previously served as a representative and senator from California and was ...

'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 lightMcKenn
2013, p. 297.
/ref>"Overview: 'The President's Plane is Missing' (1973)."
''

Turner Classic Movies Turner Classic Movies (TCM) is an American movie-oriented pay-TV network owned by Warner Bros. Discovery. Launched in 1994, Turner Classic Movies is headquartered at Turner's Techwood broadcasting campus in the Midtown business district of At ...

''. Retrieved: December 1, 2015.Dudek, Duane
"Will Malaysian airliner mystery join missing plane movie genre?"
''

Journal Sentinel The ''Milwaukee Journal Sentinel'' is a daily morning broadsheet printed in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, where it is the primary newspaper. It is also the largest newspaper in the state of Wisconsin, where it is widely distributed. It is currently o ...

'', March 20, 2014. Retrieved: December 1, 2015. until after Nixon's return from his visit to China."Overview: 'President's Plane Is Missing' - TV Movie."
''

The New York Times ''The New York Times'' (''the Times'', ''NYT'', or the Gray Lady) is a daily newspaper based in New York City with a worldwide readership reported in 2020 to comprise a declining 840,000 paid print subscribers, and a growing 6 million paid d ...

''. Retrieved: December 1, 2015. ''The President's Plane Is Missing'' was released on October 23, 1973,"TV Scout".
''

The Victoria Advocate ''The Victoria Advocate'' is a daily newspaper independently published in Victoria, Texas. It is the second-oldest paper in Texas and the oldest west of the Colorado River, dating back to May 8, 1846, following the Battle of Palo Alto during the ...

'', October 23, 1973. Retrieved: December 1, 2015. as a period piece."Review: 'The President's Plane Is Missing' (1971)."
''

The Harvard Crimson ''The Harvard Crimson'' is the student newspaper of Harvard University and was founded in 1873. Run entirely by Harvard College undergraduates, it served for many years as the only daily newspaper in Cambridge, Massachusetts. Beginning in the f ...

'', October 18, 1973. Retrieved: December 1, 2015.

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 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.Hjort and Mackenzie (2005)
''Cinema and Nation'', pp. 38–39.
/ref> In 1988, the reviewer for the ''Sydney Morning Herald'' wrote that it was a "dull film despite an excellent cast.""Fine cast can't save this one."
''

The Sydney Morning Herald ''The Sydney Morning Herald'' (''SMH'') is a daily compact newspaper published in Sydney, New South Wales, Australia, and owned by Nine. Founded in 1831 as the ''Sydney Herald'', the ''Herald'' is the oldest continuously published newspaper ...

'', August 21, 1988. Retrieved: December 1, 2015.

References

Notes

Bibliography

* Hjort, Mette and Scott Mackenzie. ''Cinema and Nation''. London: Routledge, 2005.. * McKenna, Michael. ''The ABC Movie of the Week: Big Movies for the Small Screen''. Lanham, Maryland: Scarecrow Press, 2013. .

External links

*
''The President's Plane Is Missing''
at the

Internet Movie Database IMDb (an abbreviation of Internet Movie Database) is an online database of information related to films, television series, home videos, video games, and streaming content online – including cast, production crew and personal biographies, ...

{{DEFAULTSORT:President's Plane Is Missing, The (film) 1973 films 1973 television films 1970s action thriller films 1970s action films American aviation films American television films Action television films Films about fictional presidents of the United States Films based on American novels Films directed by Daryl Duke Films set in California Films set in Washington, D.C. Films set on airplanes Films shot in Los Angeles Films scored by Gil Mellé Political thriller films Films about the United States Air Force United States presidential succession in fiction Films about Air Force One 1970s English-language films 1970s American films