SKYJACKED was a popular hit back in 1972, a tense thriller centered around a subject that made more than a few headlines in the era. Remember when airplanes used to get hijacked? Between 1961 and 1973 it happened 160 times in the United States. The script by Stanley R. Greenberg (Soylent Green, The Missiles Of October) was based on the novel “Hijacked”, written by David Harper, one of four pseudonyms Edwin Corley used for 24 novels, among them “Air Force One”, later another hit film. John Guillermin (The Blue Max, The Bridge At Remagen, The Towering Inferno) directed with his foot on the momentum pedal.

“Miss! Miss! In there. Lipstick. There’s lipstick in the john.”

A lipsticked bomb-threat message on a lavatory mirror sends a Minneapolis-bound airliner on a course to Anchorage. Pilot ‘Henry O’Hara (Charlton Heston) seeks to keep passengers calm while the chief stew (Yvette Mimieux) and other crew members try to figure out who is behind the warning. Bad weather in Alaska not enough, the revealed hijacker is heavily armed and clearly unstable. He demands to go on to Moscow, and backs his threats and orders with bursts of violence.

For a good many of the 101 minutes the plot keeps a firm grip, but subplot flashbacks (Heston and Mimieux had a love affair, now she’s engaged to his co-pilot; the crackers hijacker has fantasies about being welcomed as a hero), and mini-dramas among the passengers, including the pregnant lady (Mariette Hartley) shocked into giving birth during the event (we kid you, yes) are arbitrary distractions that generate snickers rather sympathy. A small prop plane nearly collides with the jet during the stormy weather, and Soviet fighters buzz the craft when it crosses into Russian airspace. The roll call of the harried includes Walter Pidgeon, 74 and senior able as a Senator; Roosevelt Greer, 39, feature debut, as a laid back jazz cellist; Claude Akins (tough-but-fair ground control he-bull, similar to George Kennedy in Airport); Susan Dey, 19, feature debut, as a hottie representative of the hip younger generation; and Jeanne Crain, 46 in her last movie, with little to do but look upset. Thank God the pilot is Charlton Heston!

Actually, Heston is quite good, one of the strongest components in the piece, restrained in service of the material rather than engaging in grandstanding. The exterior footage of the planes is a plus, with neat shots of the captive Boeing 707 and of a quartet of North American F-100 Super Sabre’s posing as Soviet fighters.

Ah, the hijacker: no spoiler since you can get-go guess. The deranged ‘Sgt. Jerome K. Weber is James Brolin, 31, taking a big screen break from co-starring in the hit TV series Marcus Welby, M.D. Though he engages in a bit of classic wide-eyed craziness a few times (because, well the character is bananarama) it’s a compelling, full-throttle performance and fun to watch.

The $1,700,000 invested turned out to be a smart bet when $20,500,000 came back, 1972’s 20th most-seen flick. With Mike Henry (the co-pilot who has won Mimieux from Heston), Ken Swofford (navigator), Leslie Uggams (stewardess), Ross Elliott (Crane’s wimp husband-turned-tackle-the-nutjob-gallant), Nicholas Hammond (Pidgeon’s son who digs Dey; we concur), John Fiedler (dubbed for some reason) and John Hillerman.