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‘Don’t call me Shirley’: Watch five classic moments from Jim Abrahams comedies

Writer-director was involved with a string of hits, including Airplane!, Hot Shots! and The Naked Gun. Here are some of the most famous scenes

Possibly one of the most quoted lines from any film of any genre, Leslie Nielsen’s deadpan delivery is put to its best effect in Abrahams’ Airplane! Admiral Benson, a verging-on-senile US Air Force commander, played with scene-stealing hilarity by Lloyd Bridges, was the most memorable Abrahams’ creation in his Top Gun parody Hot Shots. Starring Charlie Sheen, as the Maverick-esque Topper, the film and its sequel were popular in the 90s with its send up of cultural juggernauts such as Top Gun and Rambo that took themselves very seriously.

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