La tour infernale

Having struck box office gold two years earlier with The Poseidon Adventure, Irwin Allen aided by the combined financing of Fox and Warner Bros., decided to do himself one better with The Towering Inferno. No expense was spared, as evidenced by Allen securing the services of two of the top box office draws available in Paul Newman and Steve McQueen. Next, he hedged his bet with a supporting cast that ran the gamut from William Holden, Fred Astaire and Faye Dunaway to soap actress Susan Flannery and football star O.J. Simpson. Add a lot of fire, a lot of smoke, a lot of flaming and charred humans and you have the makings of a box office bonanza. It's amazing that the budget was held down to a mere $14 million dollars even in 1974 dollars. Did it work? The film grossed $116 million dollars which was quite a princely sum in those days so the answer to that as far as Allen, Fox, and Warner Bros. is concerned would be yes.

Newman plays architect Doug Roberts who has been away in the jungle somewhere but is returning home just in time for the grand opening of the tallest building ever to grace California that he just happened to have designed. Doug is also returning home to his mistress played by Faye Dunaway to persuade her to join him on his next project. The head of the company building the tower is James Duncan(William Holden) whom has left a lot of the details of the construction of the tower to his no good son-in-law, Roger Simmons(Richard Chamberlain). That turns out to be bad news for everyone unfortunate to find themselves in The Tower. After some of the wiring in the building begins to have a major meltdown, Doug investigates to find that Roger has cut so many corners it could lead to a major catastrophe. Was there any doubt?

Despite the abundance of headlining actors in Towering Inferno, the true star of the film is the disaster itself, just as it is in any of these concoctions. Allen directed the action sequences with John Guillerman handling the rest of the chores. Allen does himself proud. Although we know of course that The Tower is not truly as tall as the filmmakers would have us believe, it's not obvious enough to detract from the film. It doesn't matter though, as most of the action takes place inside the building or near the suite at the top where most of our stars end up trapped. Of course this being a disaster film, we do get the privilege of watching flaming bodies fall over a hundred stories, be it it outside or down an elevator shaft.

Allen also does well at piling on the suspense and keeps you on edge for long moments, with such things as a long climb up a flaming stare well and a long decent down a scenic elevator that will have you wringing your hands. The fire sequences are all well staged as you can almost feel the flames leaping through the screen and smell the smoke circling around the room.

The problem with most disaster films is that with the good, there is generally some bad and Inferno is no exception. Some of the dialog in this film is truly horrendous.

Example:

Duncan: How bad is it? Halloran: It's a fire. All fires are bad

James Duncan: Give me the architect that designed you, and who needs Doug Roberts? Susan: I do.

In one truly silly moment, after Dan Bigelow(Robert Wagner) and his secretary Lorrie (Susan Flannery)have just finished love making, the fire has engulfed the room next to theirs. Lorrie, being the ever observant secretary and mistress sniffs and delivers this line: "Did someone leave a cigarette burning?"

The best of the actors is easily Steve McQueen. As Chief Michael O'Hallorhan who is called to put the fire out, he seems to relish has role as a fire department head. Paul Newman on the other hand is a mixed bag. When he's playing his scenes with McQueen, Holden, Dunaway, or Chamberlain, he's OK. In other scenes, especially when the fire initially breaks out, he appears stiff and uncomfortable. Fred Astaire is on hand as the whimsical con artist Harlee Claiborne out to bilk Lisolette Mueller (Jennifer Jones)with some phony stocks. Jones is one of the best things going in this movie, turning out to be quite the heroine. Dunaway as Robert's girlfriend Susan is dry enough that we wish they could have brought Joanne Woodward in to give the relationship some real spark (no pun intended). Wagner as Dan Bigelow is a charmer but we just can't buy into his relationship with Lorrie (Susan Flannery). Susan Blakely as Patty Simmons, Holden's spoiled daughter and the wife of Roger (Richard Chamberlain)has nothing much to do except chastise her husband for causing Daddy a big headache. Chamberlain, on the other hand, seems to like playing the role of the villain and he does it well. You'll have no trouble believing just how big of a jerk Roger is. Last , is O.J. Simpson as the security guard who seems to be smarter than everybody else. The role requires little and in his big screen debut, Simpson gives it just that.

No matter. The Towering Inferno will still entertain you. At 165 minutes, you'll only be looking at your watch in the first half hour or so as you wait for that one tiny spark to ignite a night of suspense. Irwin Allen put quite a spectacle on the screen, but unfortunately never again duplicated it and with each subsequent film his product went from bad to being truly mediocre. Considering how much I really liked this film, it's a shame. Now, please put out that cigarette.

My Grade: B

Incredibly, 'The Towering Inferno' holds so well by today's standards that it is still one of the best disaster movies of its kind ever made. I can only imagine what it must have been like seeing this in a theatre almost four decades ago.

The attention to detail is fantastic, and I enjoyed everything from the character set-up to the way the disaster unfolded. The very scale of this ambitious film is mindboggling. Paul Newman and Steve McQueen are excellent in their respective roles, both making credible and likable heroes.

'The Towering Inferno' is a very detailed account of a skyscraper fire disaster. This is realistic and believable and the visual effects are incredible considering it was made way back in 1974. No CGI. Just practical effects, and real danger! This was a fascinating thrill ride! I love it!

The Towering Inferno is the best execution of the disaster formula of the 70s. Get an all-star cast and put them into a B-movie disaster scenario. In this case it's a massive fire in a recently constructed skyscraper. The developer (William Holden) cut corners which allowed the fire to start. His son in law (Richard Chamberlain) was an electrical subcontractor for the building. Paul Newman is the architect that designed the building, Steve McQueen is the fire chief who arrives at the scene, yada yada. The back story isn't really that interesting. The main attraction is the disaster, and although it's a bit of a slow burn in the beginning, things soon heat up (ok no more fire puns). The set pieces and action sequences, all made with very good practical effects, still hold up today. Nothing feels cheap about it. And the cast is good enough to keep the movie going along unlike The Poseidon Adventure where stars Gene Hackman and Ernest Borgnine play guys who just yell all the time. Paul Newman and Steve McQueen are, in a word, cool. They aren't just A-list actors, they're stars. None of the disaster movies had the star power this movie has. The supporting cast of William Holden, Faye Dunaway, Fred Astaire, etc. is also impressive. Richard Chamberlain in particular is great, it's impossible to like him at all. And that's where The Towering Inferno succeeds. It's the most engaging, least hammy of all the disaster films in the 70s, and it is worth the watch.

A newly built state of the art high-rise is hosting a big society gathering when a fire starts up on the 81st floor...

Warner Brothers & 20th Century Fox were both keen to cash in on the success of 1972s The Poseidon Adventure, Warner's buying the rights to The Tower, and Fox buying the rights to The Glass Inferno, both novels about burning skyscrapers and seemingly ripe for a big screen adaptation. Enter producer Irwin Allen who smartly suggested that both studios should come together and produce one blockbusting genre defining film. Splitting the cost down the middle, The Towering Inferno was born and went on to make over $100 million across the globe, a very impressive take for its time, and certainly a shot in the arm for disaster genre enthusiasts.

The Towering Inferno is far from flawless, it contains some cheese sodden dialogue, and the film's running time doesn't quite do the film any favours. However, the film's strengths far outweigh the handful of negatives that are often used to beat it up with. The sets are fabulous (Academy Award Nominated) and all to perish in the fire, the cinematography from Fred J Koenekamp (Academy Award Winner) is lush and puts the fire in the eyes, while the score from John Williams (Academy Award Nominated) is suitably poignant and edgy. What about the action sequences? The set pieces? With many of the illustrious cast doing their own stunts! All impacting sharp on the ears thanks to the brilliant sound from Soderberg & Lewis (Academy Award Nominated), with the cast itself a reminder of a wonderful time when only the big names were considered for the big projects, McQueen, Newman, Holden, Astaire (Academy Award Nominated) & Dunaway rolling off the tongue like a who's who of entertainment heavyweights.

Some say that The Towering Inferno finally killed off the ailing disaster genre, no it didn't, it crowned it, and all the others that followed were merely trailing in its wake. The Towering Inferno is a spectacular production that positively booms with high entertainment values, no expense is spared in the pursuit of entertaining the masses, it's thoughtful in texture and it teaches as it plays and it remains to me a wonderful archaic gem. 9/10

Steve McQueen and Paul Newman are in a movie together, and it's not a racecar movie? Well, in the 1970s, it was a big fad to make big-budget disaster movies with a large cast. The Poseidon Adventure, Earthquake, and the Airport movies make up a classic niche genre, in which The Towering Inferno garners a top spot.

This one deals with a burning building, a skyscraper to be exact. Hence, the "towering" inferno. Countless characters are introduced to the audience, given reasons to become attached, and then placed in dire peril. Who will make it out alive? This film's all-star cast includes Steve McQueen, Paul Newman, Fred Astaire, Richard Chamberlain, Jennifer Jones, Faye Dunaway, William Holden, Susan Blakely, O. J. Simpson, Robert Vaughn, and Robert Wagner. Paul is the architect who built the titular building, but Bill is the builder who oversaw costs and decided to cut corners by cutting safety measures. Fred is an old conman who's out to swindle Jonsey, and Richard is Bill's scoundrel son-in-law married to Susan. All the cast is gathered together at the opening night party at the top floor when the trouble starts. At first, it's just a small electrical fire (thanks to Richard's shoddy work), but when it gets out of control, Paul insists they call the fire department and end the party. Bill doesn't want to send everyone home, because he knows if he did, it would result in a very short movie with no special effects.

Most of this movie is excellent, so if somehow it's slipped past you, reserve a special movie night and rent it. Paul Newman gets to enjoy a break from his typical bad boy roles, and Steve McQueen looks very authoritative (and cute) in his firefighter uniform. Fred Astaire received his only Oscar nomination for this movie, and Jennifer Jones made her comeback and final film as one of the more memorable characters. Faye Dunaway has some tender moments with her boyfriend Paul, and she looks really beautiful in her bronze dress. The downsides are William Holden, who seems like he'd rather do anything than read his lines in front of the camera, and Richard Chamberlain - did his character have to be that much of a jerk? As one of the best pictures of 1974, don't let Bill's bad acting put you off.