The Towering Inferno
Greetings, ‘The Towering Inferno’ is a disaster film from 1974 that was directed by British director John Guillerman. It is based off of two novels called ‘The Glass Inferno’ which was written by Thomas N. Scotia and Frank M. Robinson as well as ‘The Tower’ by Stirling Silliphant. Stirling had also written the screenplay for this picture as well as ‘The Poseidon Adventure’ and Dirty Harry’s ‘The Enforcer’. The movie has an extensive cast that is led by two of the top actors in Hollywood at the time, Steve McQueen and Paul Newman, as San Francisco Fire Department Chief Michael O’Hallorhan and architect Doug Roberts. The rest of the cast includes Faye Dunaway, William Holden, Fred Astaire, Richard Chamberlain, Robert Vaughan and Robert Wagner as well as a brief appearance from the now infamous O.J. Simpson. The score was composed by the industry stalwart John Williams.
The plot begins with Doug Roberts, the architect of The Glass Tower, being flown by helicopter to the rooftop of his creation. He had designed the impressive tower for developer James Duncan who intended it for residential and business use. Standing at 1,688 feet and 138 stories, the building can be boasted as being the tallest structure in the world. Doug has flown back to attend the dedication ceremony which will take the form of a party that many wealthy and powerful individuals have been invited to. The luxurious occasion will be held on the top floor of the Glass Tower so guests can enjoy the scenic views of the city. During preparations for a magnificent light display later that night which would illuminate the whole building, an electrical short circuit occurs in the main utility room and causes a minor fire. The fire is quickly put out and a confused Doug inspects the scorched wires.
He is shocked and frustrated to discover that they are made of an inferior quality than the one he had insisted upon using. He suspects with increasing concern that Roger Simmons, the electrical sub-contractor and Duncan’s son-in-law, had made a careless decision to use cheaper materials as a cost cutting measure. A determined Doug travels out to Rodger’s plush home to confront him about the situation but Roger remains evasive throughout. Needing to head back for the grand opening, Doug leaves the house without any admissions of guilt and returns to the tower to ensure everything runs smoothly. As guests start coming in throngs, staff and attendees alike are unaware that a small fire had begun in a supply closet on the 81st floor during the earlier short circuit. That crackling fire slowly begins to spread and threatens to engulf the tower, mortally imperilling everyone inside.
‘The Towering Inferno’ had been on my watch list for some years thanks to its recognisable title and star studded cast. I’m glad to say that it didn’t disappoint when I finally got around to seeing it and I would argue that it still holds up well all these decades later. Due to its considerable run time, I had some misgivings that the simple threat of a relentless fire would keep me entertained for long but there are enough twists and turns to make it exciting. Interestingly, it also subverted my notions of where it was heading with many of the authority characters, such as a Senator and San Francisco’s Mayor, not falling into the trope of being cowardly types only out to save their own skin. As I had enjoyed this film and ‘The Poseidon Adventure’ before it, I’m quite keen to check out other movies in the disaster genre and this is especially the case if they are vintage ones.
Plot=8/10
Characters=7/10
Special Effects=7/10
Overall=8/10
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