The Towering Inferno (DVD)

It's the launch party for the newly constructed, 138 storey skyscraper in the centre of San Francisco, supposedly the world's tallest skyscraper. With loads of prominent dignitaries and celebrities invited to the gala celebration, it is going to be a night to remember as they party on the 135th floor. After some wring short circuits in one of the systems, architect Doug Roberts believes that the skyscraper has not been built to his stringent specifications ...
...attempt to bring the development in under budget. As the party gets into full swing, a fire breaks out on the 81st floor, caused by more dodgy wiring, and the fire service are called. The fire quickly spreads and although the firemen do their best to stop it, they are pretty helpless 81 floors above the ground. As more fires start appearing, the party goers find themselves trapped and helpless in the penthouse. Now it's up to the chief of the fire ... more

It's the launch party for the newly constructed, 138 storey skyscraper in the centre of San Francisco, supposedly the world's tallest skyscraper. With loads of prominent dignitaries and celebrities invited to the gala celebration, it is going to be a night to remember as they party on the 135th floor. After some wring short circuits in one of the systems, architect Doug Roberts believes that the skyscraper has not been built to his stringent specifications and that the project manager has been cutting costs in attempt to bring the development in under budget. As the party gets into full swing, a fire breaks out on the 81st floor, caused by more dodgy wiring, and the fire service are called. The fire quickly spreads and although the firemen do their best to stop it, they are pretty helpless 81 floors above the ground. As more fires start appearing, the party goers find themselves trapped and helpless in the penthouse. Now it's up to the chief of the fire service to find a way of rescuing the party goers and put out the fire.

Back in the 70's, disaster movies were a main stay of the cinemas with the likes of The Poseidon Adventure (1972) and Airport (1970) to name just two. The Towering Inferno was released in 1974 and is the culmination of 2 novels "The Tower" and "The Glass Inferno". Originally the rights to the books, were bought by two different studios, but to avoid creating two similar films, they combined there efforts and shared the budget. This is probably why the cast reads like a who's who of show business back in the 70's, I doubt if a single studio would have been able to afford all these stars and make a very credible action movie. As with a lot of disaster movies, it would be easy for it to rely on the effects to keep you engrossed, but instead the thing that keeps you engrossed the most is who, if any one will survive the inferno. The film is actually dedicated to the fire service with the following line in the opening credits "To those who give their lives so that others might live... To the fire fighters of the world... This picture is gratefully dedicated." A very poignant message when you think about the part that the fire service has played in rescuing people from recent events such as the bombings in London.

As I mentioned earlier, the cast list does read like a who's who of showbiz. The two main stars of the film are Paul Newman as Doug Roberts, the skyscrapers architect, and Steve McQueen as Chief Michael O'Hallorhan in charge of the fire service. Although Newman may not look like your typical architect, he plays the role very convincingly as it relies more on him providing action rather than technical knowledge. McQueen is brilliant as the fire chief who detests the skyscraper as it is impossible to fight the fire so high up, although this is by no means his best performance, he looks very natural as a fire chief. Both the stars ooze 70's sex appeal as they go into action mode to try and rescue the stranded party goers. Of course there are some very cheesy lines that they have too say, but remember this was made in the 70s. There was a lot of competition between the two stars off set, and they had to have equal billing, paid equally and the same amount of lines in the film. The supporting cast is headed by William Holden as James Duncan the owner of the building and has other stars such as Faye Dunaway, Richard Chamberlain and Fred Astaire playing supporting parts. All the supporting cast is brilliant and you really feel for most of them as they become stuck at the top of this huge building.

The film is directed by John Guillermin (King Kong - 1976) and Irwin Allen (The Swarm - 1978). The film is very well directed and thoroughly enjoyable to watch. The director's have done a good job in keeping the suspense of who is going to survive and how they are going to survive, the main feature of the film. They could have easily let the clever special effects or the stars to out shine the story, but have kept them all in check. In the following years Oscars, The Towering Inferno won 3 Oscars and was nominated for a further 5, being beaten for The Best Picture Oscar by The Godfather Part II.

Won Oscar Best Cinematography - Fred J. Koenekamp, Joseph F. Biroc
Won Oscar Best Film Editing - Harold F. Kress, Carl Kress
Won Oscar Best Music, Original Song - Al Kasha, Joel Hirschhorn For the song "We May Never Love Like This Again"

Nominated Oscar Best Picture - Irwin Allen
Nominated Oscar Best Actor in a Supporting Role - Fred Astaire
Nominated Oscar Best Art Direction-Set Decoration - William J. Creber , Ward Preston, Raphael Bretton
Nominated Oscar Best Music, Original Dramatic Score - John Williams
Nominated Oscar Best Sound - Theodore Soderberg, Herman Lewis

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The Cast
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Steve McQueen .... Chief Michael O'Hallorhan
Paul Newman .... Doug Roberts
William Holden .... James Duncan
Faye Dunaway .... Susan Franklin
Richard Chamberlain .... Roger Simmons
Fred Astaire .... Harlee Claiborne
Susan Blakely .... Patty Simmons
Robert Vaughn .... Sen. Gary Parker
Robert Wagner .... Dan Bigelow
Jennifer Jones .... Lisolette Mueller
O.J. Simpson .... Harry Jernigan
Susan Flannery .... Lorrie
Jack Collins .... Mayor Robert Ramsey

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Technical Details
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Certificate: PG
Length: 165 mins

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Conclusion & Rating
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Although this film is now into its thirties, it is still as good today as the first time I watched it. Yes it maybe a little bit dated and the script may be a little bit cheesy, but I cannot put my finger on a film from the last decade which can compete with this classic disaster movie. The story line is great, the effects are great, the cast is exceptional and their performances are great, and all round brilliant film. Most people will have seen this at some point as it is shown on TV at least once a year, but I doubt that many people own it, but at only £5.97 on Amazon, it is a small amount to pay for a really great film. For anyone who hasn't seen this, I really do recommend you either rent it or buy it as it truly is a bit of cinematic history.
 

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