''The President's Plane Is Missing'' is a 1973 American TV movie directed by Daryl Duke 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 Robert Jerome Serling (born Jerome Robert Serling; March 28, 1918 – May 6, 2010) was an American novelist and aviation writer. Biography Born in Cortland, New York and raised in Binghamton, Serling graduated from Antioch College in 1942. He ...

novel of the same name. It aired on the '' ABC Movie of the Week.''

Plot

With diplomatic tensions building and the United States facing a possible military confrontation with China,

Air Force One Air Force One is the official air traffic control designated call sign for a United States Air Force aircraft carrying the president of the United States. In common parlance, the term is used to denote U.S. Air Force aircraft modified and used ...

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 as Vice President Kermit Madigan * Peter Graves as Mark Jones *

Arthur Kennedy John Arthur Kennedy (February 17, 1914January 5, 1990) was an American stage and film actor known for his versatility in supporting film roles and his ability to create "an exceptional honesty and naturalness on stage", especially in the origi ...

as Gunther Damon *

Raymond Massey Raymond Hart Massey (August 30, 1896 – July 29, 1983) was a Canadian actor, known for his commanding, stage-trained voice. For his lead role in '' Abe Lincoln in Illinois'' (1940), Massey was nominated for the Academy Award for Best Actor. Amo ...

as Secretary of State Freeman Sharkey * Mercedes McCambridge as Second Lady Hester Madigan *

Rip Torn Elmore Rual "Rip" Torn Jr. (February 6, 1931 – July 9, 2019) was an American actor whose career spanned more than 60 years. He was nominated for the Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor for his part as Marsh Turner in '' Cross Creek'' ...

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 as Senator Bert Haines * Joseph Campanella as Colonel Doug Henderson * Richard Eastham 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 Bill Walker may refer to: Australian rules football * Bill A. Walker (1886–1934), Australian rules footballer for Essendon * Bill Walker (Australian footballer, born 1883) (1883–1971), Australian rules footballer for Fitzroy * Bill J. V. Wal ...

as Thomas * Richard Bull as First Controller * Richard Stahl as Dentist *

Gil Peterson Gil Peterson is an American former actor and singer best known for such films and television series as ''The Cool Ones'', ''The F.B.I.'' and '' Valley of the Dolls''. Early life and education Peterson was born to H. W. and Mable Peterson in Wi ...

as Tower Controller * Barry Cahill as Ground Crew Chief * Lillian Lehman as Genesse * James Sikking as Aide to Dunbar *

Barbara Leigh Barbara Leigh (born Barbara Ann Kish, November 16, 1946) is a former American actress and fashion model. Her breakthrough role came in 1972 with the film ''Junior Bonner'', which she starred alongside her then-boyfriend Steve McQueen. She later ...

as WAF * George Barrows 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 Admir ...

as Marine Corporal * John Ward as Major D'Andrea *

Tod Andrews Tod Andrews (born Theodore Edwin Anderson; November 9, 1914 – November 7, 1972) was an American stage, screen, and television actor. Early years Tod Andrews was born as Theodore Edwin Anderson in El Paso, Texas, to Henry Anderson and Lydia ...

as President Jeremy Haines * James Wainwright as General Ben Dunbar *

James B. Smith James B. Smith (born 1952) is the former United States Ambassador to Saudi Arabia. Selected by President Barack Obama, he was sworn in on September 16, 2009. He left his post on September 27, 2013. Prior to his appointment, Ambassador Smith had se ...

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 Franklin Delano Roosevelt (; ; January 30, 1882April 12, 1945), often referred to by his initials FDR, was an American politician and attorney who served as the 32nd president of the United States from 1933 until his death in 1945. As the ...

haunting the incumbent president whenever he boards Air Force One."Review: Air Force One is haunted."
''

Kirkus Reviews ''Kirkus Reviews'' (or ''Kirkus Media'') is an American book review magazine founded in 1933 by Virginia Kirkus (1893–1980). The magazine is headquartered in New York City. ''Kirkus Reviews'' confers the annual Kirkus Prize to authors of fic ...

'', 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 channel, movie-oriented pay television, pay-TV television network, network owned by Warner Bros. Discovery. Launched in 1994, Turner Classic Movies is headquartered at Turner's Techwood broadcasti ...

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

''. 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