The Towering Inferno

1 9 7 4 (USA)

This is junk, but it's star-studded junk, with some of Hollywood's greatest actors forced to team up with some of its worst to rescue trapped VIPs from a burning 136-storey skyscraper in San Francisco during its inauguration ceremony.

Decent architect Paul Newman comes to the  rescue, aided by Fire Chief Steve McQueen, and the whole movie proves  that giving the contract for electrical wiring to the lowest bidder does not always pay!

The movie came in the wake of The Poseidon Adventure and Earthquake, and exceeded their success. There were probably a number of reasons for this; Inferno had two big stars, Paul Newman and Steve McQueen, so the film could exploit what was left of the "buddy movie" genre; two blue-eyed boys fighting the flames together.

Producer Irwin Allen spent the rest of his career trying to repeat the recipe, culminating in the ultimate bee-invasion movie, The Swarm.

The Towering Inferno won three Oscars: Best Cinematography, Best Film Editing and Best Song - The über seventies schmaltz-fest We may never love like this again, sung by Maureen McGovern.

TRIVIA NOTE
If you visit San Francisco, you can take a ride in the scenic elevator featured in the movie. It's at the Hyatt Regency Hotel.