Leslie Nielsen made foolish dialogue sound like the responsible thing to say. We rate him highest when a film trusts that authority, as Airplane does, rather than expecting his straight face to do all the work.
Fi1m perspective
In Airplane (1980), Leslie Nielsen’s Dr Rumack gives foolish dialogue the calm weight of a medical opinion. He never seems to be waiting for credit for keeping his face straight; the doctor simply continues to address the emergency as though sensible behaviour might still be possible. We laughed at the conviction with which Nielsen treats nonsense as useful advice. His performance is a large part of why we recommend the film so warmly.
That authority had been established well before comedy became his main work. Forbidden Planet (1956) gave him Commander John J. Adams; in The Poseidon Adventure (1972), he was Captain Harrison, part of a dramatic career that continued through the 1970s. The comedy turn in Airplane made use of those years of serious acting. Directors Jim Abrahams, David Zucker and Jerry Zucker understood how much funnier an absurd emergency could be when the people dealing with it remained earnest. Nielsen fitted their method precisely.
Peter Graves, as Captain Clarence Oveur, and Robert Stack, as Captain Rex Kramer, supply similarly useful seriousness in Airplane. Nielsen’s delivery works within that ensemble, with the actors sustaining the emergency while the dialogue keeps giving them foolish things to say. It is a disciplined way to perform comedy, and Nielsen makes it look unforced. The limitation is in the lines themselves: some of the wordplay is painfully corny, and a measured delivery cannot make every joke worth hearing.
Police Squad (1982) introduced Lieutenant Frank Drebin, the earnest, hapless authority figure he continued to play in the Naked Gun features (1988–1994). The first feature, The Naked Gun: From the Files of Police Squad (1988), is the natural next stop, with Nielsen playing straight through increasingly ridiculous situations. Later spoof films often received poor reviews, and we would not take his presence alone as a reason to watch. There is only so much conviction an actor can lend a weak script. Begin with Airplane; approach the later spoof credits one film at a time.
Biography
Leslie Nielsen was a Canadian-American actor. Born Leslie William Nielsen on 11 February 1926 in Regina, Saskatchewan, Canada, he died on 28 November 2010 in Fort Lauderdale, Florida.
He began his career in dramatic roles, appearing in Forbidden Planet (1956) and The Poseidon Adventure (1972). His performance as Dr Rumack in Airplane! (1980) led to a series of comedic parts, including Lt. Frank Drebin in the Police Squad! television series (1982) and the Naked Gun film trilogy (1988–1994).
Nielsen was appointed an Officer of the Order of Canada in 2002.
