The Towering Inferno - A Movie Review

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"The Towering Inferno" is a drama disaster movie that was released in 1974. The screenplay was written by Stirling Silliphant and is based on two novels: The Tower by Richard Martin Stern and The Glass Inferno by Thomas N. Scortia and Frank M. Robinson. It was the highest grossing film of 1974 and was nominated for 8 Academy Awards and won 3. The movie was met with mostly positive reviews. The budget for the film was $14 million; and the box office receipts were $139.7 million. CAST Paul Newman - Doug Roberts Steve McQueen - Michael O'Hallorhan William Holden - James Duncan Faye Dunaway - Susan Franklin Fred Astaire - Harlee Claiborne Susan Blakely - Patty Duncan Simmons Richard Chamberlain - Roger Simmons Jennifer Jones - Lisolette Mueller O. J. Simpson - Harry Jernigan Robert Vaughn - U. S. Senator Gary Parker Robert Wagner - Dan Bigelow Doug Roberts, chief architect for Duncan Enterprises, specializing in skyscrapers, travels by helicopter to San Francisco. The Glass Tower is the tallest building in the world, measuring 1,652 feet high and 138 floors. A lavish ceremony is set for the dedication, including Mayor Robert Ramsey, Senator Gary Parker and Jim Duncan, the company's president. Duncan wants the support of Senator Parker for an urban renewal project which will allow more skyscrapers to be built. Doug gets a call from the Tower utility room. A power surge has blown out a circuit breaker. Unknown to them, another circuit breaker has blown on the 81st floor in a storage closet. The wire has fallen onto some shop rags which have caught fire. Will Giddings works with the building's chief security officer, Harry Jernigan, on the electrical systems. They track down Roger Simmons, chief electrical engineer, and confront him about the wiring. He insists that the wiring is up to city safety codes; but it's not sufficient for a building of this size. If you want to know what happens next, you will have to watch the movie. There's a lot of action to keep your interest; and the special effects are really good. The movie comes off more believable than "The Poseidon Adventure", another disaster movie of this same era. For these reasons, I recommend this movie. This movie is rated PG. Photo Credit: Pixabay