70s Made-For-TV Movie Fun: Murder on Flight 502

I was in a dusty little old bookstore in the mining town of Miami, Arizona. I walked past rows of books not sure what I was looking for. Then, I stopped at the DVD rack. It’s always a gold mine in these nearly abandoned towns. The folks who get rid of their movies here have some of the most outdated and obscure movies in the world.

I pulled this one out because it looked like a 70s campy film and I do adore those made-for-TV types. I was astonished to find out it stars (I’m not kidding) Sonny Bono, Danny Bonaduce and Farrah Fawcett (I would love to meet the person who cast this movie!) Oh, and it also features Robert Stack. What a trio! As in the movie “Airport,” you’ll see lots of retired famous actors.

Aaron Spelling really must have cobbled this one together in a week’s time. The set and the acting and the scripting is horrid, the mic’ing a nightmare. It has the feel of one of those old-time soap operas like Dark Shadows where you can hear the actor’s heels clicking and echoing on the hard surfaces of the set.

Here’s the box’s description of this delightful 1975 gem: “Passengers attending Flight 502 don’t expect anything much except for the usual occurrences of flying from New York to London. However, as a terrifying letter is found in the airport forewarning of the many potential murders on the flight, the mystery ignites. Potential victims don’t know where to turn. Who are the killers on board? Perhaps the captain, perhaps the flight attendants or perhaps the person sitting right next to you! Lead by an all-start cast (Farrah Fawcett-Majors, Sonny Bono, Danny Bonaduce and Robert Stack), this is a must see classic mystery.”

Once I got past the campy cover and the mind-boggling cast, I popped this puppy into the DVD player asap! Don’t expect it to be slick and well acted or scripted or dramatic, but it was a fairly interesting who-dunnit. Mostly, this is about a slice of 1975 with the people who represented the time, the styles that were “in,” the colors and sets that made up the Aaron Spelling miserable follies that we all grew up on. Get this--first class on the airplane has neon yellow fur seats! Wahoo! Yeeha!

So, if you come across it in a little shop on a sale rack for nearly nothing—enjoy! If you must own every made-for-TV movie of the 70s, then go for it! I suspect the chances of running across this hilarious (but not intending to be) movie are slim. I did find it on Netflix, so it’s not completely extinct.

If you watch it, I want to hear back—the nostalgia alone will make you laugh and wince.