The death of Jim Abrahams, co-director of “Is There a Pilot on the Plane?” »

The general public probably knew his name less than the cult comedies he directed, or co-directed with brothers David and Jerry Zucker, including the essential Is there a pilot on the plane? (1980). Born on May 10, 1944 in Shorewood (Wisconsin), in the United States, the American director, screenwriter and producer Jim Abrahams died on November 26, at the age of 80, following an illness, in his residence from Santa Monica (California). He was also an actor briefly, at the very beginning of his career, then in The trouble is in the bag (1991), John Landis.

But the name of Jim Abrahams is especially associated with the acronym “ZAZ”, the name of the trio he formed with the Zucker brothers. Two “Z” and an “A” like “Abrahams”: the trio became a real trademark, a bit like the Splendid troupe was in France, founded in the 1970s by Christian Clavier, Josiane Balasko, Michel Blanc and the others.

Since the announcement of the death of Jim Abrahams, a thin face surrounded by thick glasses, film extracts have been playing in a loop, reviving the memory of this regressive and schoolboy humor which was the signature of ZAZ, such as this scene from Is there a pilot on the plane? where the flight attendant (played by Julie Hagerty) learns that she must inflate the autopilot from the ” pipe ” located “below the belt” of the man, or when a close-up of the breasts of a passenger are captured which move to the rhythm of the shaking of the plane, while it is diving – the film recorded in France nearly 3 million room entries.

A hit at the box office

Actress Julie Hagerty will return in the second part, Is there finally a pilot on the plane? (1982), directed by Ken Finkleman, in which ZAZ was not involved. Likewise, thanks to this parody of a disaster film, where he played a doctor, the American actor Leslie Nielsen (1926-2010) saw his career take off and continued to play the bumbling comic in the television series Police Squad (1982) from the same trio, then in a series of films starting with “Is there a cop…” – of which the first, Is there a cop to save the queen? (1988), was directed by David Zucker, from a screenplay by ZAZ.

Brothers Zucker and Jim Abrahams met at school in Wisconsin. The three boys continued their studies at the university of the same state then founded, in 1971, the Kentucky Fried Theater, a variation of the name of an American fast-food chain. Building on the success of their sketches (parodies of shows, advertisements, etc.), they leave for Los Angeles. Their first scenario, The Kentucky Fried Movie (1977), will finally be directed by John Landis, after many twists and turns. This sketch film with a certain number of stars (George Lazenby, Bill Bixby, Donald Sutherland, etc.) will be a hit at the box office.

Parody of “Top Gun”

It was then the Paramount studio which produced their second hit, Is there a pilot on the plane?whose screenplay is largely inspired by the air disaster film At zero hour (1957). During a flight from Los Angeles to Chicago, the story combines a love story – between the flight attendant Elaine Dickinson and a passenger, Ted Striker, a former fighter pilot during the war, who seeks to reconquer her this – and food poisoning which will harm the captain of the ship. The ZAZ collective will also be at the helm of Top Secret ! (1984), an American-British production, of which they are the directors, a parody of a spy film set against the backdrop of the Cold War between the West and the Soviet bloc.

Jim Abrahams also led part of his career solo, notably directing When twins get tangled (1988), then Hot Shots ! (1991) – parody of Top Gun (1986), by Tony Scott, with Tom Cruise. The second part will follow, Hot Shots ! 2 (1993), this time inspired in particular by Rambo 3 (1988), by Peter MacDonald, with Sylvester Stallone. He will then shoot an Italian mafia film, The Prince of Sicily (1998), the story of the rise of a godfather’s son who emigrated to the United States at the beginning of the 20th century^e century. His last film as director.