"10 Hilarious Secrets from ‘Airplane!’ That Will Make You See the Classic in a Whole New Light—#5 Will Blow Your Mind!"
Added on August 31, 2026 inFree CelebrityNews, Free Entertainment News
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In the world of comedy, timing is everything, and when you throw Leslie Nielsen into the mix, prepare for a masterclass in hilarity! Picture this: a simple cockpit scene from a film that changed comedy forever, where Robert faces the ultimate challenge—keeping a straight face. As Lorna Patterson sets the stage with a classic line about a ‘problem in the cockpit’ and Robert delivers his famous line, “Surely can’t be serious!” it’s not just the writing that’s legendary—it’s the spontaneous humor from Leslie’s secret weapon, a fart machine! This delightful chaos gets us thinking: under which celestial influences can we tap into the same spirit of humor and joy? Let’s take a peek behind the scenes of this iconic moment that has us all in stitches, as we explore how laughter really is the best medicine—even worthy of the stars! LEARN MORE.
Robert: It was hard to keep a straight face in almost any scene with Leslie, but especially in our first.
Lorna Patterson, who was wonderful, comes up to me and says, “There’s a problem in the cockpit.” And we do the “Cockpit, what is it? It’s a little room where the pilot sits, but that’s unimportant right now.” So I go into the cockpit for the first time, and Leslie says, “Mr. Striker, can you fly this plane?” And I say, “Surely can’t be serious!” That’s the first time I say that, and then Leslie delivers the other half of the famous exchange: “I am serious. And don’t call me Shirley.”
Leslie had a little “machine” — nobody really knew about it in Hollywood then, but now everyone does. It became legendary. It was a little thing he put in his hand and squeezed, and it was basically a fart machine. It was like a handheld whoopee cushion, and he just played it like a maestro. Your eyes would be watering, you’re laughing so hard.
Well, when I was doing my closeups, Leslie would make these fart noises off-camera, and I had to keep a straight face. It would sound like, “Mr. Striker [fart] can [fart] you land this plane?”
I’d come from the theater, and sometimes people pull stunts on you when you’re doing something that goes on for months, and you have to learn to keep a straight face. (Laughs) So I guess I was trained my whole life for that moment, and I was able to keep a straight face.
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