"A movie in the grand tradition of the majestic action epics of the past; a return to the classic style of filmmaking that established Hollywood as the film capital of the world."

The Poseidon Adventure - The Big Picture
After a long and illustrious career as "Queen of the Seas," the 81,000- ton luxury liner S.S. Poseidon is making its last cruise from New York to Greece, ultimately to end up in a Greek salvage yard where she will be dismantled and sold for scrap. On this last trip the Poseidon's new owners, in the interests of saving money, force the captain (Leslie Nielsen) to drive her at unsafe speeds and, more importantly, reject his attempts to ballast her properly.

During a gala New Year's Eve celebration, a monstrous wave, the product of a huge undersea earthquake, strikes the Poseidon abeam and capsizes her. The captain manages a distress call, but immediately after, everyone in the superstructure of the ship is lost. In the grand ballroom, the effect is hardly less catastrophic, with dead and injured everywhere, but the sea doesn't immediately enter and there are stunned but unhurt survivors. Ten of these people--a diverse group that ranges from the fiery Reverend Frank Scott (Gene Hackman) to the fussy haberdasher James Martin (Red Buttons) to the two young siblings Susan and Robin Shelby (Pamela Sue Martin and Eric Shea)--struggles to make their way through the explosion-wracked and rapidly sinking ship to the propeller shaft tunnels where there is some chance of escape.

Plot Thickeners
Throughout the passengers' odyssey, the real story is not the ship's continuing destruction--via remarkable special effects--but rather how they react to crisis, and to each other. For that reason, it is the character and interactions of the passengers that viewers most identify with. In addition to the outspoken Reverend Scott, who by force of personality becomes the leader of the group, the ragtag band includes Manny and Belle Rosen (Jack Albertson and Shelley Winters), a middle-aged couple comfortable with themselves and with life, and who are on their way to Israel to visit a grandson they have never seen; Mike and Linda Rogo (Ernest Borgnine and Stella Stevens), he a tough detective and she a former prostitute; the Shelby kids, 17 and 10 years old, respectively; Nonnie Parry (Carol Lynley), a young singer on her way with her brother and their band to attend a rock concert; the meticulous businessman Martin; and Acres (Roddy McDowall), a steward with a lot of British cool.

After the ship's capsizing, it is the 10-year old Robin who, delighting in knowing everything possible about the ship, informs the group that the hull is thinnest in the area of the stern, and offers the most hope for escape. As the group tries to make its way there in a desperate attempt to be rescued--climbing upward from level to level amidst an upside-down tangle of rubble--they endure one hardship after another. Along their perilous way there are contentious clashes between Scott and Rogo as to the best way to escape; acts of heroism and moments of true sadness, as when Belle swims underwater to save the life of the Reverend--and then, in the movie's most touching moment, when Manny realizes that his life partner has perished, and that he must go on to face the world, and their grandson, alone. There are acts of compassion and affection, as when James Martin develops a genuine caring for the young singer Nonnie, and urges her to keep going on--with him at her side; and finally, there are acts of ultimate sacrifice, as when the Revered Scott takes a risk he knows will be fatal, in order that he might save the others.

Notes and Quotes
Director Ronald Neame's "The Poseidon Adventure" was one of the first motion pictures in the industry's 1970s return to its noble lineage of "disaster films"--a trend that continued with much success into the '80s and even today. Because these movies focus on how people with varied backgrounds react to the terrible pressures imposed on them during a disaster--and on the poignant relationships that develop--casting is crucial. Producer Irwin Allen took great care to cast "The Poseidon Adventure" with actors of the highest stature. The star-studded cast that resulted is comprised of actors who under ordinary circumstances would be expected to be able to project the more delicate nuances of their art. But, says Allen, that is even more important in an action film: "If viewers achieve empathy with our protagonists, the perils they experience will be more deeply felt, and will seem more real." In a real-life example of sacrificing for a role, Shelley Winters gained 35 pounds for the part of Belle Rosen, because one of the film's major story points was that her character had to be hauled along by the others until she could heroically vindicate her presence-- and so the physical trials had to be harder for her than for her peers.

That said, few motion pictures were ever as physically trying to its actors as was "The Poseidon Adventure." Eleven of the fourteen weeks of production were spent on sets of soaking wet, inverted ruins, amid countless explosions and a constant emanation of fire, smoke, and steam. Except for the most dangerous sequences, all of the stunts were done by the actors themselves. Further, in another unusual departure for the film industry, the picture was shot in sequence because the principals became dirtier and more tattered and suffered injuries--some real and some through artifice--as they progressed. Despite the complicated nature of both the sets and the shooting, the film was brought in two days under its 70-day schedule.

The sets for the movie were completely unique and among the most remarkable in the long history of the motion picture industry. Because some of the pre-capsize sequences were shot aboard the Queen Mary, berthed at Long Beach, California, sets were designed to her specifications, in many cases using her original blueprints in addition to photographs. The most spectacular set was the engine room, announced in the movie by the haberdasher James Martin: "Welcome to Hell." It was an appalling scene of lacerated steel, twisted pipes, dangling wires and girders, and shattered generators spewing forth their metal innards.

From Book to Movie
The Queen Mary herself was not without interesting connections to the storyline. In 1936, her first year of service, she rolled so badly in a storm that passengers later told newspaper reporters they felt sure she was going over. The next year, a young passenger named Paul Gallico experienced a storm so severe during a crossing that the sea seemed to pass just under the windows of the dining room. Some twenty years later, the same Paul Gallico began formulating the ideas that would lead to his novel, and eventually the movie, "The Poseidon Adventure."

Producer Allen read galley proofs of the Paul Gallico novel in a single sitting and twenty four hours later had purchased the rights to it. However, the project had far from smooth sailing, as it was being attempted during a time in Hollywood when studios had been stung by several expensive failures and there was no way of producing the movie on a limited budget. Start of the film was delayed twice because of the cost factor and only succeeded the third time when Allen and outside backers matched the investment of Twentieth Century-Fox.

For Trivia Experts Only
The five major cast members--Hackman, Borgnine, Buttons, Winters and Albertson--were all previous Oscar-winners. Winters, in fact, had won twice, and Hackman was just coming off his Academy Award performance the year before as Detective "Popeye" Doyle in "The French Connection." In total, there were 15 Oscars distributed among the cast and crew of "The Poseidon Adventure."