The Glass Tower Disaster
Added 2024-04-01 10:15:01 +0000 UTCThis one was a lot of fun to work on – a movie that I’ve enjoyed and had on my radar for quite a while, and one that rivals The Poseidon Adventure when it comes to classic 1970s hammy disaster-movie action sequences.
There are so many weird bits of trivia about this film, but here are two that I particularly enjoyed.
In one scene, a crowd of extras rush to get on board one of the express elevators. Those who make it on board meet with a grisly fate just moments later… so when the scene of them scrambling to get on board was shot, most of the extras were actually trying not to end up inside the elevator. They knew that if they got on board, their part in the movie would soon be done, while those who didn’t make it on board would get a few more weeks of work.
And secondly, there was quite a fierce rivalry between two of the stars: Steve McQueen and Paul Newman. Things got quite petty at some points. Early on, McQueen went through the script and counted the number of lines each actor had, then insisted that his character be given more lines so that he wasn’t outshone by Newman! Not only that, but they had to compromise when it came to the movie poster:
Both Newman and McQueen wanted to be “first” on the poster. To accommodate them both, they placed McQueen first horizontally, and Newman first vertically. An odd solution, but it seemed to satisfy them both in the end!
Comments
Haha - everything I've read about Steve McQueen suggests that, as good as he was in front of a camera, he could be a bit difficult to work with. Hopefully his ghost can overlook this one... I reckon he could be a nightmare to deal with otherwise!
Fascinating Horror
2024-04-10 11:47:42 +0000 UTCAs I was showing this to my mom (she enjoys the spoofs), I cracked up thinking about this treatment of Airplane. A spoof of a spoof!
Anna Schechter
2024-04-10 03:04:47 +0000 UTCIf I remember correctly, Steve McQueen was originally offered the part of the architect (Newman's role), but thought the fire chief would be more important and a better part. Problem was, the introduction of the character came about halfway in the film and the part didn't have as many lines. Whoever wrote it had to go back and beef up the part to McQueen's liking. (McQueen also caused problems on the movie set of The Magnificent Seven. He and Yul Brenner butted heads quite a bit.) Also, the movie's theme was written by John Williams before he became famous for Jaws. I love how you used an actual line from the movie about instead of cutting costs, they should have cut floors. That was a Paul Newman line. I have seen this movie so many times. It's one of my favorite disaster movies. Do be warned though, you may be haunted by Steve McQueen's ghost because you didn't have a photo of him at all in this "documentary".
Kathryn Clark
2024-04-05 18:16:25 +0000 UTCGlad to see you got to this....last year I looked up The Poseidon Adventure and The Towering Inferno and streamed them both, so I was prepared for this year. What cracks me up about this film (besides the over the top acting) is the totally unrealistic way the fire behaves. If you've spent any time (say, on Fascinating Horror) studying big fires, you know how silly it is.
Valerie F Kravette
2024-04-02 03:06:39 +0000 UTC
