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69-766: The Towering Inferno is a 1974 American disaster film directed by John Guillermin and produced by Irwin Allen , featuring an ensemble cast led by Paul Newman and Steve McQueen . It was adapted by Stirling Silliphant from the novels The Tower by Richard Martin Stern and The Glass Inferno by Thomas N. Scortia and Frank M. Robinson . In addition to McQueen and Newman, the cast includes William Holden , Faye Dunaway , Fred Astaire , Susan Blakely , Richard Chamberlain , O. J. Simpson , Robert Vaughn , Robert Wagner , Susan Flannery , Gregory Sierra , Dabney Coleman and Jennifer Jones in her final role. The Towering Inferno

138-460: A breeches buoy between the Promenade Room and the roof of the adjacent 102-story Peerless Building, and rescues guests, including Patty Simmons, Duncan's daughter. Roberts rigs a "gravity brake" ( fall arrest ) on the scenic elevator, allowing one trip down for 12 people, including Roberts' fiancée Susan Franklin, Lisolette, and the children. An explosion near the 110th floor throws Lisolette from

207-406: A Special Achievement Award for visual effects. The film was directed by Mark Robson and starred Charlton Heston , Ava Gardner , Geneviève Bujold , George Kennedy and Lorne Greene . It was noted as the first film to utilize Sensurround , where massive subwoofer speakers were installed in theaters to recreate the vibrating sensation of an earthquake. Several made-for-TV movies also capitalized on

276-409: A big success with a disaster movie, The Poseidon Adventure , was at Fox, and persuaded that studio to make a higher offer when the book was sold to Warner Bros. Eight weeks later, Fox was submitted a novel, Thomas N. Scortia and Frank M. Robinson 's The Glass Inferno , which was published the following year, and which Allen says had "the same sort of characters, the same locale, the same story,

345-400: A block and tackle, a deadman with a cleat , an endless whip with a block, a chair, and shear legs . Once the equipment is prepared, two scouts go up to the tower (these scouts must wear harnesses for safety in most of today's competitions). The coxswain calls the four or five scouts remaining on the ground to attention. No further talking is allowed by anyone except for the coxswain and

414-536: A breeches buoy has become one of the events that are competed in at regattas such as the Old Salts' Regatta and the Ancient Mariner Sea Scout Regatta . The competition simulates an actual breeches buoy rescue situation. Before the event the crew sets up their equipment, which includes a thin shot line attached to the tower simulating the crow's nest of a sinking ship, a high line made of a hawser ,

483-436: A cue from Williams' score to Cinderella Liberty , entitled "Maggie Shoots Pool", is heard in a scene in which William Holden's character converses on the phone with Paul Newman's character. It is not the recording on the soundtrack album, but a newer arrangement recorded for The Towering Inferno . One of the most sought-after unreleased music cues from the film is the one in which Williams provides low-key lounge music during

552-479: A deterioration of the surviving audio elements — are placed at the end of the disc's program time following the track, "An Architect's Dream", which is used over the end credits sequence. The Towering Inferno was released in theaters December 14, 1974, in United States and Canada by 20th Century Fox, and internationally by Warner Bros. Steve McQueen, Paul Newman and William Holden all wanted top billing . Holden

621-519: A different movie than the made-for-TV production of same title listed above), starring Jason Robards ; and City on Fire (1979), starring Barry Newman . The Airport series continued with Airport '77 (1977) and The Concorde ... Airport '79 (1979), with George Kennedy portraying the character Joe Patroni in each sequel, and The Poseidon Adventure was followed by Beyond the Poseidon Adventure in 1979. The genre began to burn out by

690-463: A giant wave triggered by an earthquake. The Poseidon Adventure was nominated for eight Academy Awards, including Best Supporting Actress for Shelley Winters , and winning for Original Song and receiving a Special Achievement Award for visual effects . The trend reached its zenith in 1974 with the release of The Towering Inferno , Earthquake , and Airport 1975 (the first Airport sequel). The competing films enjoyed staggering success at

759-543: A gigantic gorilla rampaging through New York City; and The Last Days of Pompeii (1935), dealing with the Mount Vesuvius volcanic eruption in 79 AD. John Ford 's The Hurricane (1937) concluded with the striking sequence of a tropical cyclone ripping through a fictional South Pacific island. The drama San Francisco (1936) depicted the historic 1906 San Francisco earthquake , while In Old Chicago (1937) recreated The Great Chicago Fire which burned through

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828-473: A mid-air collision; and The Doomsday Flight (1966), written by Rod Serling and starring Edmond O'Brien as a disgruntled aerospace engineer who plants a barometric pressure bomb on an airliner built by his former employer set to explode when the airliner descends for landing. The golden age of the disaster film began in 1970 with the release of Airport . A huge financial success, earning more than $ 100 million ($ 713 million in 2022-adjusted dollars) at

897-516: A mixed-use skyscraper that he designed for developer James Duncan. The tower, 1,688 feet (515 m) tall and 138 stories, is the world's tallest building. During testing, an electrical short-circuit starts a fire on the 81st floor after another short occurs in the main utility room. While examining the latter short, Roberts sees the wiring is inadequate and suspects that Roger Simmons, the electrical subcontractor and Duncan's son-in-law, cut corners. Roberts confronts Simmons, who feigns innocence. During

966-510: A movie, although it had been considered earlier for the same two actors regarding Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid , until McQueen turned down the Sundance Kid role. McQueen is mentioned first in the film's trailers. In the cast list rolling from top to bottom at the film's end, however, McQueen and Newman's names were arranged diagonally as at the beginning; as a consequence, Newman's name

1035-404: A party prior to the announcement of a fire. O'Hallorhan orders Duncan to evacuate the party; the music becomes louder as Lisolette and Harlee are seen dancing and Duncan lectures son-in-law Roger. Entitled "The Promenade Room" on the conductor's cue sheet, the track features a ragged ending, as Duncan asks the house band to stop playing. Because of this, Film Score Monthly did not add this cue to

1104-403: A renewal in the 1990s boosted by computer-generated imagery and larger studio budgets which allowed for greater spectacle, culminating in the cinematic phenomenon that was James Cameron 's Titanic in 1997. Disaster themes are almost as old as the film medium itself. One of the earliest was Fire! (1901) made by James Williamson of England. The silent film portrayed a burning house and

1173-431: A round emergency personal flotation device with a leg harness attached. It is similar to a zip line . The breeches buoy may be deployed from shore to ship, ship to ship, or ship to shore using a Manby mortar , rocket , kite system, or a Lyle gun , and allows evacuation of one person at a time. A line is attached to the ship, and the person being rescued is pulled to shore in the breeches buoy. An early rescue using

1242-530: A single film on the subject. The studios issued a joint press release announcing the single film collaboration in October 1973. Stirling Silliphant, who had written The Poseidon Adventure , would write the script and Allen would produce. It was decided to split costs equally between the studios, but the film would be made at Fox, where Allen was based. Fox would distribute in the United States and Canada, and Warner Bros. outside those territories. Warner Bros. also handled

1311-481: A truly magnificent production which complements but does not at all overwhelm a thoughtful personal drama." Vincent Canby of The New York Times wrote that the film is "overwrought and silly in its personal drama, but the visual spectacle is first rate. You may not come out of the theater with any important ideas about American architecture or enterprise, but you will have had a vivid, completely safe nightmare." Pauline Kael , writing for The New Yorker , panned

1380-572: A version of the epic story of the Titanic . The film combined romance with intricate special effects and was a massive success, becoming the highest-grossing film of all time for twelve years with over $ 2.2 billion worldwide, and won 11 Academy Awards including Best Picture and Best Director . Breeches buoy A breeches buoy is a rope-based rescue device used to extract people from wrecked vessels, or to transfer people from one place to another in situations of danger. The device resembles

1449-420: Is attached to the mast with a round turn and two half hitches and a signal is passed to the coxswain. The ground crew ties a bowline on a bight into the high line and hooks it to the blocks. The crew hauls on the blocks tightening the high line and secures it to the deadman with a cleat hitch . The shear legs are put in place. The chair is attached to the endless whip and raised to the tower. When everything on

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1518-478: Is fully visible first. The Towering Inferno received generally positive reviews from critics and audiences alike on its release. The film has an approval rating of 68% based on 37 reviews with an average rating of 6.50/10 on Rotten Tomatoes . The site's consensus states: "Although it is not consistently engaging enough to fully justify its towering runtime, The Towering Inferno is a blustery spectacle that executes its disaster premise with flair." Metacritic gave

1587-520: Is now out of print. Reports that this soundtrack and that of the film Earthquake , also composed by Williams, borrowed cues from each other are inaccurate. The version of "Main Title" on the Film Score Monthly disc is the film version. It differs from the original soundtrack album version. There is a different balance of instruments in two spots, and in particular, the snare drum is more prominent than

1656-530: The acrophobic fireman afraid to rappel down the elevator shaft. Lead actors Steve McQueen and Paul Newman were each paid $ 1   million. Although famed for his dancing and singing in musical movies, Fred Astaire received his only Oscar nomination for this film. He also won both a BAFTA Award and a Golden Globe Award for his performance. Principal photography took place over 14 weeks. Guillermin says that Newman and McQueen were very good to work with, and added considerably to their roles. The score

1725-585: The epic film Titanic in 1943. The film was soon banned in Germany and its director, Selpin, was allegedly executed. The film was a staple for all Titanic films, and scenes became stock footage for the British version. Clifton Webb and Barbara Stanwyck starred in the 1953 20th Century Fox production Titanic , followed by the highly regarded British film A Night to Remember in 1958. The British action-adventure film The Last Voyage (1960), while not about

1794-569: The Earth Caught Fire (1961) and Crack in the World (1965). Volcanic disasters would also feature in films such as The Devil at 4 O'Clock (1961) starring Spencer Tracy and Frank Sinatra , and the 1969 epic Krakatoa, East of Java starring Maximilian Schell . As in the silent film era, the sinking of the Titanic would continue to be a popular disaster with filmmakers and audiences alike. Werner Klingler and Herbert Selpin released

1863-537: The Mighty (1954), starring John Wayne and Robert Stack as pilots of a crippled airplane attempting to cross the ocean; Zero Hour! (1957), written by Arthur Hailey (who also penned the 1968 novel Airport ) about an airplane crew that succumbs to food poisoning; Jet Storm and Jet Over the Atlantic , two 1959 films both featuring attempts to blow up an airplane in mid-flight; The Crowded Sky (1960) which depicts

1932-464: The Titanic disaster but a predecessor to The Poseidon Adventure , starred Robert Stack as a man desperately attempting to save his wife ( Dorothy Malone ) and child trapped in a sinking ocean liner . The film, concluding with the dramatic sinking of the ship, was nominated for an Oscar for Best Visual Effects . Additional precursors to the popular disaster films of the 1970s include The High and

2001-402: The album version, which also features additional cymbal work. Although the album was not a re-recording, the original LP tracks were recorded during the same sessions, and several cues were combined. The film version sound was reportedly better than the quarter-inch Warner Bros. two-track album master. Although some minor incidental cues were lost, some sonically "damaged" cues — so called due to

2070-426: The apparatus out, and in a short time they had a line fixed across the vessel. Having connected the ship with the shore by means of a hawser, a cradle was sent off, and the crew (five in number), with the master's wife and child, were safely brought ashore. This is the first time that a volunteer corps has had the opportunity of rescuing shipwrecked crew, and South Shields therefore carries off the laurel. Described as

2139-520: The box office, the film was directed by George Seaton and starred Burt Lancaster , Dean Martin , George Kennedy , Jacqueline Bisset and Helen Hayes . While not exclusively focused on a disaster—in this case, an airplane crippled by the explosion of a bomb—the film established the blueprint of multiple plotlines acted out by an all-star cast. Airport was nominated for 10 Academy Awards , including Best Picture , winning Best Supporting Actress for Hayes. The 1972 release of The Poseidon Adventure

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2208-423: The box office, with The Towering Inferno earning $ 116 million ($ 697 million in 2022-adjusted dollars), Earthquake earning $ 79 million ($ 475 million in 2022-adjusted dollars), and Airport 1975 earning $ 47 million ($ 282 million in 2022-adjusted dollars) in theatrical rentals. Arguably the greatest of the 1970s disaster films, The Towering Inferno was a joint venture of 20th Century Fox and Warner Bros. and

2277-408: The characters' attempts to avert, escape or cope with the disaster and its aftermath. The genre came to particular prominence during the 1970s with the release of high-profile films such as Airport (1970), followed in quick succession by The Poseidon Adventure (1972), Earthquake (1974) and The Towering Inferno (1974). The casts are generally made up of familiar character actors . Once

2346-707: The city in 1871. Carol Reed 's 1939 film, The Stars Look Down , examines a catastrophe at a coal mine in North-East England . Inspired by the end of World War II and the beginning of the Atomic Age , science fiction films of the 1950s, including When Worlds Collide (1951), The War of the Worlds (1953) and Godzilla, King of the Monsters! (1956), routinely used world disasters as plot elements. This trend would continue with The Deadly Mantis (1957), The Day

2415-804: The craze, including Heatwave! (1974), The Day the Earth Moved (1974), Hurricane (1974), Flood! (1976) and Fire! (1977). The trend continued on a larger scale with The Hindenburg (1975), starring George C. Scott ; The Cassandra Crossing (1976), starring Burt Lancaster ; Two-Minute Warning (1976), starring Charlton Heston; Black Sunday (1977), starring Robert Shaw ; Rollercoaster in Sensurround (1977), starring George Segal ; Damnation Alley (1977), starring Jan-Michael Vincent ; Avalanche (1978), starring Rock Hudson ; Gray Lady Down (1978), also starring Charlton Heston; Hurricane (a 1979 remake of John Ford's 1937 film;

2484-499: The dedication ceremony, chief of public relations Dan Bigelow turns on all the tower's lights, but Roberts orders them shut off to reduce the load on the electrical system. Smoke is seen on the 81st floor, and the San Francisco Fire Department is summoned. Roberts and engineer Will Giddings go to that floor, where Giddings is fatally burned pushing a guard away from the fire. With the dedication party now in full swing in

2553-416: The disaster begins in the film, the characters are usually confronted with human weaknesses, perhaps falling in love or finding a villain to blame. The films usually feature a persevering hero or heroine ( Charlton Heston , Steve McQueen , etc.) called upon to lead the struggle against the threat; in many cases, the "evil" or "selfish" individuals are the first to succumb to the disaster. The genre experienced

2622-485: The elevator to her death, and leaves the elevator hanging by a single cable. O'Hallorhan rescues the elevator with a Navy helicopter. As fire reaches the Promenade Room, a group led by Simmons attempts to commandeer the breeches buoy, which is destroyed in an explosion, killing Simmons, Senator Parker and others. In a last-ditch strategy, O'Hallorhan and Roberts blow up water tanks atop the Tower with plastic explosives . Most of

2691-585: The end of the trend was marked by the 1980 comedy Airplane! , which fondly spoofed the clichés of the genre to surprising box-office success, producing a sequel of its own, Airplane II: The Sequel , in 1982. The resurgence of big-budget productions of the genre—aided by advancements in CGI technology during the 1990s—include such films as Twister , Independence Day , Daylight , Dante's Peak , Volcano , Hard Rain , Deep Impact and Armageddon . In 1997, James Cameron co-produced, wrote and directed

2760-523: The equipment took place in 1866. The correspondent of the Scotsman, wrote :— "A very violent gale from the came on yesterday, with thunder and lightning, and the night was extremely stormy. number of heavily-laden collier brigs had sailed on the preceding day for the Baltic, and people became very anxious about their safety, and are so yet. The wind blew a hurricane this morning between two and three o'clock,

2829-402: The expanded soundtrack album. The Academy Award-winning song, " We May Never Love Like This Again ", was composed by Al Kasha and Joel Hirschhorn , and performed by Maureen McGovern , who appears in a cameo as a lounge singer, and on the score's soundtrack album, which features the film recording, plus the commercially released single version. Additionally, the theme tune is interpolated into

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2898-476: The express elevators, killing a group whose elevator stops on the engulfed 81st floor. Bigelow and his girlfriend Lorrie are killed when another fire traps them in the Duncan Enterprises offices on the 65th floor. Lisolette Mueller, a guest and resident of the tower being wooed by con man Harlee Claiborne, rushes to the 87th floor to check on a deaf mother and her two children. Security chief Jernigan rescues

2967-473: The film a score of 69 based on 11 reviews, indicating "generally favorable reviews". Roger Ebert of the Chicago Sun-Times gave the film three stars out of four, and praised it as "the best of the mid-1970s wave of disaster films ". Variety praised the film as "one of the greatest disaster pictures made, a personal and professional triumph for producer Irwin Allen. The $ 14 million cost has yielded

3036-437: The film two-and-a-half stars out of four, calling it "a stunt and not a story. It's a technical achievement more concerned with special effects than with people. That's why our attitude toward the film's cardboard characters is: let 'em burn." FilmInk called it "brilliant fun". The film was one of the biggest-grossing films of 1975, with theatrical rentals of $ 48,838,000 in the United States and Canada. In January 1976, it

3105-408: The film's underscore by Williams. The song's writers collaborated on " The Morning After " from The Poseidon Adventure , an Oscar -winning song that was also recorded by McGovern, although hers was not the vocal used in that film. The first release of portions of the score from The Towering Inferno was issued by Warner Bros. Records in early 1975 (Catalog No. BS-2840). A near-complete release

3174-427: The fire under control on floor 65, the electrical system fails, deactivating the passenger elevators; O'Hallorhan abseils down the elevator shaft to safety. As firemen ascend to free the blocked door at the Promenade Room, another explosion destroys part of the remaining stairwell, blocking the last means of escape from the upper floors. After the stuck door is freed, reuniting Lisolette and the children with Roberts and

3243-668: The firemen who arrive to quench the flames and rescue the inhabitants. Origins of the genre can also be found in In Nacht und Eis (1912), about the sinking of the Titanic ; Atlantis (1913), also about the Titanic ; the Danish The End of the World (1916), (about a comet ); Noah's Ark (1928), the Biblical story from Genesis about the great flood; Deluge (1933), about tidal waves devastating New York City ; King Kong (1933), with

3312-572: The first use of the apparatus, a re-enactment took place 150 years later. Eventually the Manby mortar was replaced by rockets to shoot lines to ships in distress. In 1967 a documentary on the inventor George Manby was made. Locations included Denver, Downham Market and Great Yarmouth. Scenes include the use of the mortar, rocket and breeches buoy. The recording is now available on the East Anglian Film Archive website. In Sea Scouts , use of

3381-487: The ground is set, the coxswain signals the tower. One member of the tower crew gets in the chair and sits down, clips in, and signals the ground crew. The rider must be stopped in a controlled manner and removed from the chair. Time stops when the ground crew is called to attention by the coxswain. Judges are responsible for halting progress if they deem a situation unsafe, and for correcting the situation as well as assessing penalties for violations such as talking and crossing

3450-404: The late-1970s when the big-budget films The Swarm (1978), Meteor (1979), Hurricane (1979), The Concorde ... Airport '79 (1979), Beyond the Poseidon Adventure (1979) and When Time Ran Out ... (1980) performed poorly at the box office, signaling declining interest in the disaster film product. Although The Big Bus (1976), an earlier disaster film spoof, had failed to be a hit,

3519-429: The mother, but a ruptured gas line explodes, destroying the stairwell and preventing Roberts and the rest from following. They traverse the wreckage of the stairwell to reach a service elevator that takes them to the 134th floor, but the door to the Promenade Room is blocked with hardened cement. Roberts uses a ventilation shaft to reach the room, while Lisolette and the children stay behind. As firefighters begin to bring

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3588-406: The others, Simmons tries to escape down the stairwell, but is blocked by flames and retreats. Meanwhile, Claiborne reveals his true identity and intentions to Lisolette, who says she does not care and still wants to be with him. An attempt at a helicopter rescue fails when two women run up to the aircraft; the pilot tries to evade them and crashes, setting the roof ablaze. A Navy rescue team attaches

3657-420: The remaining partygoers survive as water rushes through the building, extinguishing the flames. Claiborne, in shock upon hearing of Lisolette's death, is given her cat by Jernigan. Duncan consoles his grieving daughter, and promises such a disaster will never happen again. Roberts accepts O'Hallorhan's offer of guidance on how to build a fire-safe skyscraper. O'Hallorhan drives away, exhausted. In April 1973, it

3726-502: The same conclusion". They bought the novel for a reported fee of $ 400,000. Allen was concerned that two films about a tall building on fire might cannibalize each other, remembering what happened in the 1960s when rival biopics about Oscar Wilde (with Oscar Wilde and The Trials of Oscar Wilde in 1960) and Jean Harlow (with Magna Media Distribution's Harlow and Paramount Pictures 's Harlow in 1965) were released. He convinced executives at both studios to join forces to make

3795-690: The sea being very high. About four o'clock the brigantine Tenterden , Mr M'Kay, master, bound from Dundee to Sunderland , was running for the Tyne for shelter, when she missed the harbour mouth, and ran behind the south pier. Immediately upon this being observed, guns were fired and rockets were sent by the Coastguard to warn the life brigades that a vessel was ashore ; and the Tynemouth , South Shields , and Cullercoats Life Brigades mustered with great expedition their rendezvous. The South Shields Life Brigade got

3864-429: The tower's Promenade Room on the 135th floor, Roberts reports the fire to Duncan, who is courting Senator Gary Parker for an urban renewal contract and refuses to order an evacuation. SFFD Chief Michael O'Hallorhan forces Duncan to evacuate the guests from the Promenade Room. Simmons admits to Duncan that he cut corners to bring the project back under budget, and suggests other subcontractors did likewise. Fire overtakes

3933-412: The tower, and the tower returns the affirmative signal. The tower then hauls the whip up to them on the shot line, and ties the whip block tail to the mast with a round turn and two half hitches. The tower signals to the coxswain who returns the signal. The ground crew attaches the high line through the chair to the endless whip and raises the high line to the tower. Once the high line reaches the tower, it

4002-403: The two participants in the tower. No communication other than yes and no arm signaling is allowed between the tower and ground. At the go signal, time begins and does not stop until the participant who is being rescued from the tower is on the ground and the coxswain calls the crew to attention again. One member of the ground crew ties the whip block tail to the shot line. The coxswain signals

4071-440: The world and firefighters' attempts at rescuing occupants trapped on the top floor. The film was nominated for eight Academy Awards including Best Picture, winning for Best Cinematography , Best Film Editing and Best Original Song . Earthquake was also honored with four Academy Award nominations for its impressive special effects of a massive earthquake leveling the city of Los Angeles , winning for Best Sound and receiving

4140-505: The worldwide television distribution rights. Incidents and character names were taken from both novels. The total cost for the film was US$ 14,300,000. Several actors who appeared in small roles, including John Crawford , Erik Nelson, Elizabeth Rogers , Ernie Orsatti and Sheila Matthews (Allen's wife) had previously appeared in The Poseidon Adventure , which Allen also produced. Additionally, Paul Newman 's son, Scott , played

4209-445: The writing and characters as retreads from The Poseidon Adventure , and further wrote, "What was left out this time was the hokey fun. When a picture has any kind of entertainment in it, viewers don't much care about credibility, but when it isn't entertaining we do. And when a turkey bores us and insults our intelligence for close to three hours, it shouldn't preen itself on its own morality." Gene Siskel of Chicago Tribune gave

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4278-452: Was announced that Warner Bros. production chief John Calley paid $ 350,000 for the rights to Richard Martin Stern 's The Tower , prior to that book's publication. This amount was larger than originally reported. The book had been the subject of a bidding war between Warner Bros., 20th Century Fox and Columbia Pictures ; Columbia dropped out when the price reached $ 200,000 and Warner Bros. offered $ 390,000. Irwin Allen , who recently had

4347-464: Was another huge financial success, notching an impressive $ 84 million in US/Canada gross rental theatrical rentals ($ 592 Million in 2022-adjusted dollars); the disaster film officially became a movie-going craze. Directed by Ronald Neame and starring Gene Hackman , Ernest Borgnine , Shelley Winters and Red Buttons , the film detailed survivors' attempts at escaping a sinking ocean liner overturned by

4416-465: Was claimed that the film had attained the highest foreign film rental for any film in its initial release, with $ 43 million, and went on to earn $ 56 million. When combined with the rentals from the United States and Canada, the worldwide rental is $ 104,838,000. The film grossed $ 116 million in the United States and Canada and $ 203 million worldwide. Disaster film These films often feature large casts of actors and multiple plot lines, focusing on

4485-507: Was composed and conducted by John Williams , orchestrated by Herbert W. Spencer and Al Woodbury, and recorded at the 20th Century Fox scoring stage October 31 and November 4, 7 and 11, 1974. The original recording engineer was Ted Keep. Source music in portions of the film includes instrumental versions of " Again " by Lionel Newman and Dorcas Cochran , " You Make Me Feel So Young " by Josef Myrow and Mack Gordon , and " The More I See You " by Harry Warren and Mack Gordon. A snippet of

4554-498: Was issued on the Film Score Monthly label April 1, 2001, and was produced by Lukas Kendall and Nick Redman. Film Score Monthly's was an almost completely expanded version, remixed from album masters at Warner Bros. archives and the multi-track 35mm magnetic film stems at 20th Century Fox. Placed into chronological order and restoring action cues, it became one of the company's biggest sellers; only 4,000 copies were pressed, and it

4623-403: Was produced by Irwin Allen (eventually known as "The Master of Disaster", as he had previously helmed The Poseidon Adventure and later produced The Swarm , Beyond the Poseidon Adventure and When Time Ran Out ... ). Directed by John Guillermin and starring Paul Newman , Steve McQueen , William Holden and Faye Dunaway , the film depicts a huge fire engulfing the tallest building in

4692-409: Was refused, his long-term standing as a box-office draw having been eclipsed by both McQueen and Newman. To provide dual top billing, the credits were arranged diagonally, with McQueen lower left and Newman upper right. Thus, each appeared to have "first" billing, depending on whether the credit was read left-to-right or top-to-bottom. This was the first time this "staggered but equal" billing was used in

4761-416: Was released theatrically December 16, 1974. The film received generally positive reviews from critics, and earned around $ 203.3 million, making it the highest-grossing film of 1974 . It was nominated for eight Academy Awards , including Best Picture , winning three: Best Song , Best Cinematography and Best Editing . Architect Doug Roberts returns to San Francisco for the dedication of The Glass Tower,

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