The Towering Inferno (1974)

At the opening party of a colossal, but poorly constructed, office building, a massive fire breaks out that threatens to destroy the tower and everyone in it.

Director:

John Guillermin

Writers:

Richard Martin Stern (novel), Thomas N. Scortia (novel)

Stars:

Paul Newman, Steve McQueen, William Holden

Won 3 Oscars. Another 9 wins & 13 nominations.

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Steve McQueen	...	Chief O'Halloran
Paul Newman	...	Doug Roberts
William Holden	...	Jim Duncan
Faye Dunaway	...	Susan
Fred Astaire	...	Harlee Claiborne
Susan Blakely	...	Patty
Richard Chamberlain	...	Simmons
Jennifer Jones	...	Lisolette
O.J. Simpson	...	Jernigan
Robert Vaughn	...	Senator Parker
Robert Wagner	...	Dan Bigelow
Susan Flannery	...	Lorrie
Sheila Allen	...	Paula Ramsay (as Sheila Mathews)
Norman Burton	...	Giddings (as Normann Burton)
Jack Collins	...	Mayor Ramsay

Storyline

Doug Roberts, Architect, returns from a long vacation to find work nearly completed on his skyscraper. He goes to the party that night concerned he's found that his wiring specifications have not been followed and that the building continues to develop short circuits. When the fire begins, Michael O'Halleran is the chief on duty as a series of daring rescues punctuate the terror of a building too tall to have a fire successfully fought from the ground.

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Plot Keywords:

disaster film | firefighter | trapped | skyscraper | burning building | 

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Taglines:

One minute you're attending a party atop the world's tallest skyscraper. The next... you're trapped with 294 other guests in the middle of a fiery hell.

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Genres:

Action | Drama | Thriller

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Certificate:

PG

Did You Know?

Trivia

This film and "Earthquake" - another all-star disaster film - were both released almost a month apart in 1974. Some theaters showed both movies on a double bill promoted as "The Shake and Bake Double Feature".

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Goofs

When Doug goes to his office at the beginning, the elevator door opens and he exits, but the light on the button does not go off.

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Quotes

[Chief O'Hallorhan has just found out the fire is heading towards the elevator shaft]
Chief O'Hallorhan: You'd better call Duncan, tell him to stop those people in the car room from using that express elevator, or somebody's going to get killed.
[Roberts picks up the phone to comply]
Chief O'Hallorhan: [addressing a colleague] OK, Kappy... ring in a third alarm. I want some rescue squads here and I also want choppers. We're going to need them if we're going to get those people. - All right, come on, firemen. I'll be on 81.
Doug Roberts: [...]

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Crazy Credits

The 20th Century Fox and Warner Bros. Pictures logos don't appear in the beginning.

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Alternate Versions

In UK daytime TV airings of the film, the swear word muttered by Chief O'Halloran (Steve McQueen) after he realizes there is no way to airlift him back down after rigging the water tank charges, is drowned out in the sound mix (although he still mouths it). However in the same scene, when he is on the phone to Doug Roberts (Paul Newman) to say what the plan is, his reference to himself as a "dumb son of a bitch" is still audible.

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Connections

Referenced in Futurama: Stench and Stenchibility (2013)

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Soundtracks

We May Never Love Like This Again
Maureen McGovern sings
Words and Music by Al Kasha and Joel Hirschhorn

User Reviews

The Best Of The Disaster Flicks?

"Disaster Movies" were a big hit in this era, with airplane crashes, earthquakes, fires, etc. This one made huge fires and firemen fashionable for awhile. It certainly had people talking, and it may have been the best of those "disaster" flicks.

The movie certainly had an all-star cast: Paul Newman, Steve McQueen, William Holden, Faye Dunaway, Fred Astaire, Susan Blakely, Richard Chamberlain, Robert Vaughn, Robert Wagner and (gulp) O.J. Simpson. Even Jennifer Jones came out of a long retirement to return to films. It was really nice to see her again.

What really surprised me about this film when I watched it earlier this year was that the special effects were still good, and the film is almost 40 years old. It was also good to see Steve McQueen being the good guy again. He was the best character in the film. The worst was William Holden, who turned out to play a lot profane-spewing nasty people as soon as the Hays' code was totally abolished in 1967. Same thing for Paul Newman. McQueen, meanwhile, kept his class as did Jones, of course, and Astaire.

The film is almost three hours long but, a few soap opera scenes aside, it's a solid adventure story that holds up well and it served a good purpose, making hotel owners more aware of potential fire hazards.

Details

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Release Date:

1 January 1975 (Singapore)

Also Known As:

The Towering Inferno

Filming Locations:

Los Angeles, California, USA

Box Office

Budget:

$14,000,000 (estimated)

Gross USA:

$116,000,000

Cumulative Worldwide Gross:

$116,000,000

Company Credits

Production Co:

Twentieth Century Fox, Warner Bros., Irwin Allen Productions

Technical Specs

Runtime:

165 min

Sound Mix:

Mono (Westrex Recording System) 4-Track Stereo (Japan theatrical release)

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

2.39 : 1