"An epic drama with an all-star cast that even the immortal "Grand Hotel"--with its Barrymores and Crawford and Garbo and Beery--would be pressed to compete with."

Towering Inferno - The Big Picture
Completely dominating the San Francisco skyline as its golden mass reaches 138 stories into the air, the Glass Tower, the world's tallest skyscraper, proudly awaits its dedication ceremonies. Leaders of politics, society and industry are on hand to witness the unveiling of the monolith that features 50 floors of residential offices over 80 stories of offices, all topped by a glittering penthouse restaurant-nightclub and a rooftop heliport.

As the dedication begins under the expert guidance of the building's public relations chief Dan Bigelow (Robert Wagner), a defective wire in a basement systems control panel causes an electrical flare-up. Behind the wall panel sparks surge upward along a main terminal. In an 81st floor storage room fuses crackle and a tongue of flame licks at an electrical cable. Fragments of burning insulation ignite cotton moving pads and the flames reach toward shelves of paint, detergent and cleaning solvents. The fire has begun!

Plot Thickeners
On the eve of the skyscraper's debut, Doug Roberts (Paul Newman), the architect who designed the wondrous highrise, appears less enthusiastic than the builder-developer, James Duncan (William Holden), over the accomplishment. Roberts, weary of the thrust of urban development, wants to break away to build communities more compatible to the contours of nature in areas far removed from the cities. He is not the only one looking cynically at skyscraper fever. Michael O'Hallorhan (Steve McQueen), a San Francisco Fire Chief, knows the terrifying dangers that lurk in buildings too towering to be reached by the resources of today's firefighters.

By the time O'Hallorhan and his firemen respond to the fire's call, the holocaust in the world's tallest building rages out of control. Floor by floor, corridor by corridor, the rampant blaze begins to desecrate the architectural triupmph and to threaten a top floor thronged with guests of varying degrees of social and financial importance. Among these are: Susan Franklin (Faye Dunaway), an editor of a woman's magazine and financee of architect Doug Roberts; Harlee Clairborne (Fred Astaire), a resident of the building and a most charming con artist; Lisolette Mueller (Jennifer Jones), a widow art dealer who also resides in the Glass Tower; Roger Simmons (Richard Chamberlain), Duncan's profligate son-in-law; his wife, Patty (Susan Blakely); Gary Parker (Robert Vaughn), a U.S. Senator; S.F. Mayor Robert Ramsay (Jack Collins) and his wife, Paula (Shelia Mathews); Jernigan (O.J. Simpson), the Tower's security chief; and many others.

All through the terrifying night the battle is fought as elevators are turned into crematoria, rooms explode into a living hell and, one by one, avenues of escape disappear. Before the last flame is snuffed and the battered obelisk emerges into dawn, all who participated in its ill-fated premiere--the famous and the infamous--have been affected by the calamity, some blessed by the miracle of survival, many others unfortunately not so lucky.

Notes and Quotes
Following on the success of his "The Poseidon Adventure," disaster film specialist producer Irwin Allen returns with "The Towering Inferno," bringing with it a Hollywood innovation that established a new concept in movie production: for the first time, two major studios, Twentieth Century-Fox and Warner Bros., have become full partners to bring a story to the screen as a joint venture. Although John Guillermin directed the picture, Allen--as he did with "The Poseidon Adventure"--directed the action sequences himself. Indeed, many of the crew from the earlier film were reassembled for this latest picture.

The movie's 57 sets, distributed among eight of the studio's largest sound stages, established a record for a single film on the Twentieth Century-Fox lot, as did its four complete camera crews, shooting simultaneously to keep the production on schedule. Many components were joined together to form the Glass Tower on the screen. At Fox's former Malibu Ranch, for example, five floors of the skyscraper were duplicated in full size for closer camera work. High-rise buildings in San Francisco doubled as the Glass Tower's exterior mall and inner lobby during a three-week location stay there. The basement of a Century City office building, with its consoles and panels of electronic controls and cables, also served as a location for the picture.

The most impressive set in the film was the skyscraper's roof garden area, the Promenade Deck, which was entirely destroyed before filming was completed. The set, one and half times larger than the replica of the capsized ocean liner built for "The Poseidon Adventure," covered more than 11,000 square feet of sound stage area, its many levels raised from six to twelve feet above the stage floor and towering an additional 25 feet upwards. A 340- foot cyclorama showing the world-famous San Francisco skyline encircled the huge set that also featured trees, shrubbery, fountains and a delightful promenade area around the dining, drinking, and dancing areas.

In the single most awesome moment of the drama, the Promenade Deck and its occupants were assaulted by almost a million gallons of water dropped from a height of 40 feet to simulate the blasting of water storage tanks in an effort to quell the fire.

For Trivia Experts Only
More than 200 acts of cinematic danger were performed by the greatest collection of Hollywood stunt experts in film annals. The film garnered Academy Award® nominations in eight categories, including Best Picture and Best Supporting Actor (Astaire), and won for Cinematography, Editing, and Song.