Sunday, February 19, 2006

Airplane! Stephen Stucker and Laughing with my Son


My son and I watched Airplane! the other day, He is ten and it was his first time and my tenth(maybe more) The film never fails to amuse.
The script is tight! Jim Abrahams, David Zucker and Jerry Zucker knocked this comedy right out of the park.
And for both of us, the late great Stephen Stucker stole the show as Johnny. (Tough to do amid such a strong and hilarious cast.)
The only write up of any significance on this fine actor who died too soon in 1986 is on the controversial site: FindaDeathThe amazing thing about Airplane! is how it stands up. It was funny to me in 1980 and it's still funny to both myself and my son in 2006.
One of the key elements of cinema is its ability to bond people as a shared experience. My son and I have now added Airplane! to our communal reference pool.
Later,
Paul Parducci

3 comments:

Anonymous said...

Mr. Parducci, I came across your blog quite by accident, as a friend and I were searching for information on Stephen Stucker (we were arguing over how many movies he had been in--I had NO idea he was in Trading Places!). In any event, I enjoyed my "stay" here!
:-)

I agree completely with you about the movie "Airplane", which, imho, ranks as one of my Top Five comedies of all time. It stands the test of time, and when my oldest child (currently seven years old) gets a few years older, I will be sure to watch it with him.

All the best............

Anonymous said...

HI...

That is interesting story.

Anonymous said...

Ok. I very rarely post comments but thought I'd give it a go. I enjoy Airplane! with my kids very much also but there is another reason I enjoy Stephen Stucker besides the fact that he is prretty darn funny. I'm his second cousin (I think) His mother was my grandmother's sister. I didn't really know about him until I saw Airplane with my folks and they said " oh by the way, the guy who played Johnny is your cousin" I had only heard that I had a cousin in LA who was an actor. In fact, that's one of the main reasons that my parents took us to see it. He and I corresponded a couple of times when I was in college. He was a very funny and kind man who corresponded with a 22 yr. old cousin who'd only met him a couple of times when she was very little. The last time I heard from him was after I'd sent him a long letter with notes on how much my friends had enjoyed watching him in his movies. He was so happy to get
it. Anyway, I just thought I'd post this.