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Q In Air Force One, what motivates the presidential insider who betrays Harrison Ford and helps terrorist Gary Oldman gain control of the aircraft?

A Screenwriter Andrew W. Marlowe says the character's rationale was lost in rewrites. ''It's amazing what can happen to a script, and frustrating, too,'' he says. At one point, Marlowe portrayed him as a disgruntled ex-spy, upset that the President had established friendly relations with Russia. In another version, Oldman and crew simply paid off the betrayer: ''I wanted to show the influence and access money can buy in Washington,'' says Marlowe. ''It would have been timely, considering the Lincoln Bedroom business.'' We can already see the sequel: Air Mattress One.


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Posted Aug 08, 1997 | Published in issue #391 Aug 08, 1997 | Order Article Reprints