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The Towering Inferno
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1974 film directed by John Guillermin
OverviewAI-generated
The Towering Inferno is a 1974 American disaster, drama, thriller, and action film directed by John Guillermin and Irwin Allen. The screenplay was written by Stirling Silliphant, based on a work by Frank M. Robinson, Richard Martin Stern, and Thomas N. Scortia. Irwin Allen also served as producer. The cast includes Steve McQueen, Paul Newman, William Holden, and Faye Dunaway. John Williams composed the score, while Fred Koenekamp and Joseph F. Biroc were the directors of photography. The film was produced by 20th Century Studios and Warner Bros. Entertainment, with Warner Bros. handling distribution.
Set in San Francisco, the movie was filmed in locations including 555 California Street and Pacific Heights. It has a runtime of 165 minutes and is rated PG. The film received an Academy Award for Best Cinematography and Best Film Editing, and was nominated for Best Picture and Best Supporting Actor. It won three Oscars in total. The film has a 7.0 rating on IMDb and a Metascore of 69.
Synthesized by Vinony from 47 facts across 5 sources: Wikidata, TMDb, OMDb, IMDb, Vinony graph. Generated from structured data (not the Wikipedia text) and checked against those facts — may still contain errors.
Film · TMDB
7.0At the opening party of a colossal—but poorly constructed—skyscraper, a massive fire breaks out, threatening to destroy the tower and everyone in it.
Cast
- Steve McQueen as Chief O'Hallorhan
- Paul Newman as Doug Roberts
- William Holden as Jim Duncan
- Faye Dunaway as Susan
- Fred Astaire as Harlee Claiborne
- Susan Blakely as Patty
Themes
- rescue
- helicopter
- fire
- san francisco, california
- skyscraper
- fire engine
- survival
- disaster
- explosion
- tragic event
This product uses the TMDB API but is not endorsed or certified by TMDB.
Ratings
IMDb
7/10
52,240 votes
Rotten Tomatoes
69%
Metacritic
69/100
- Year
- 1974
- Runtime
- 165 min
- Genres
- Action, Drama, Thriller
- Rated
- PG
- Awards
- Won 3 Oscars. 13 wins & 14 nominations total
via OMDb · IMDb
Key facts
- Directed by
- John Guillermin
- Screenplay by
- Stirling Silliphant
- Based on
- The Tower , by Richard Martin Stern The Glass Inferno , by Thomas N. Scortia Frank M. Robinson
- Produced by
- Irwin Allen
- Starring
- Steve McQueen Paul Newman William Holden Faye Dunaway Fred Astaire Susan Blakely Richard Chamberlain Jennifer Jones O. J. Simpson Robert Vaughn Robert Wagner
- Cinematography
- Fred J. Koenekamp Joseph Biroc
- Edited by
- Harold F. Kress Carl Kress
- Music by
- John Williams
- Production companies
- 20th Century-Fox Warner Bros. Irwin Allen Productions
- Distributed by
- 20th Century-Fox, (United States and Canada) Warner Bros. (International)
- Release date
- December 16, 1974 ( 1974-12-16 ) (Los Angeles)
- Running time
- 165 minutes
- Country
- United States
- Language
- English
- Budget
- $14 million
- Box office
- $203.3 million
via Wikipedia infobox
Wikidata facts
- Instance of
- film
- Genre
- action film
- Country of origin
- United States
- Original language
- English language
- Movement
- New Hollywood
- Director
- Irwin Allen
- Screenwriter
- Stirling Silliphant
- Cast member
- William Traylor
- Composer
- John Williams
- Producer
- Irwin Allen
- Production company
- Warner Bros. Entertainment
- Cinematographer
- Joseph F. Biroc
- Narrative location
- San Francisco
- Filming location
- Pacific Heights
- Duration
- 168
- FilmAffinity ID
- 246863
- Distribution format
- video on demand
Show 10 more facts
- publication date
- 1974-00-00
- nominated for
- Academy Award for Best Sound
- title
- The Towering Inferno
- after a work by
- Thomas N. Scortia
- distributed by
- Warner Bros. Entertainment
- capital cost
- 14000000
- box office
- 203300000
- assessment
- Bechdel test
- review score
- 69/100
- Commons category
- The Towering Inferno
Sources (14)
via Wikidata · CC0
~20 min read
Encyclopedic overview
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 premiered on December 16, 1974 in Los Angeles and was released by 20th Century-Fox in the United States and Canada and by Warner Bros. in other territories. 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.
Excerpted from Wikipedia’s “The Towering Inferno” article, available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 licence.