The Deadly Tower (1975)

The infamous story of Charles Whitman, "America's favourite sniper" (in Stephen King's words), is told here once again.

Director:

Jerry Jameson

Writers:

William Douglas Lansford (teleplay), Antonio Calderón (story) (as Antonio Calderon)

Stars:

Kurt Russell, Richard Yniguez, Ned Beatty

Cast

Cast overview:
Kurt Russell	...	Charles Whitman
Richard Yniguez	...	Ramiro Martinez (as Richard Yñiguez)
Ned Beatty	...	Allan Crum
Pernell Roberts	...	Lieutenant Lee
Clifton James	...	Captain Fred Ambrose
John Forsythe	...	Lt. Elwood Forbes
Gilbert Roland	...	Narrator (voice)
Paul Carr	...	C.T. Foss
Alan Vint	...	Tim Davis
Maria Elena Cordero	...	Vinni Martinez (as Maria-Elena Cordero)
Pepe Serna	...	Mano

Storyline

Charles Whitman is student at the University of Texas in Austin. He often suffers from headaches, during which he tends to violence. One night, he kills wife and mother, buys a number of rifles and loads of ammunition and takes them to the top of the tower of the university, where he barricades himself. With his long-range weapons his starts to shoot at everything that moves. Already until the police arrives, there are numerous people wounded or dead.

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Plot Keywords:

charles whitman | sniper | police | tower | texas | 

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Genres:

Action | Drama | Thriller

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Certificate:

TV-14

Did You Know?

Trivia

In notes left prior to the incident Whitman requested an autopsy, to see if there was a medical reason for his uncontrolled aggression. Autopsies and post-mortems were performed, and they confirmed he had a congenital brain tumor, that had recently gone from dormant to active, and the tumor could have caused his aggression.

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Goofs

In this set-in-1966 docudrama, various police cars are seen sporting TwinSonic light bars. Such light bars were not introduced by Federal Signal until 1968.

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Quotes

[a receptionist on the top floor sees Charles Whitman exiting the nearby elevator and hauling a large trunk]
Receptionist: Sir? Can I help you. I'm sorry, you can't take that up their without permission!
Charles Joseph Whitman: [points to the door to the nearby security office] Who's in there?
Receptionist: Nobody now, they're at lunch but you still can't take that on the observation deck.
Charles Joseph Whitman: [grabs the receptionist and forces her to the elevator] Listen, you go on down and don't you come back here... not if your life means anything to you!

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Connections

Referenced in House: Detox (2005)

User Reviews

Charles Whitman, American psycho

When Charles Whitman did his psycho-sniper act in 1966 it seemed like an unfathomable act of total madness and a one-of a kind nightmarish freak occurrence. Flash forward to the 21st century and see the depressing regularity with which American men nut-up and start killing people.

At the time this played on TV Kurt Russell was known only from his appearances in light-hearted Disney comedies, so it must have been unnervingly effective to see him going off the deep end, sweating and approaching his sleeping mother with a knife clenched in his hand( he never says a word in the film) and then calmly loading up his arsenal for the trip to the bell tower.It is an amazingly dark role and kudos to the producers for casting him against type.

This is a very low-key approach to a fairly hair-raising true story. Kudos all around.

Details

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Release Date:

18 October 1975 (USA)

Also Known As:

The Deadly Tower

Filming Locations:

4317 Plank Road Baton Rouge Louisiana, USA

Company Credits

Production Co:

MGM Television

Technical Specs

Runtime:

100 min

Sound Mix:

Mono

Color:

Color (Metrocolor)

Aspect Ratio:

1.33 : 1