The Towering Inferno (1974)

It is the premiere party for the world’s tallest skyscraper in San Francisco, The Glass Tower. Among the guests are the mayor and his wife, the senator and the builder’s daughter and son-in-law. But unbeknown to the 300 people who are at the party on the building’s 135th floor, some faulty wiring causes a fire to start on the 81st floor. While the party is going on, Doug Roberts, the architect inspects the wiring in the building and discovers it is much too hot. In the Security Headquarters, a guard, Jernigan sees smoke crawling out from under a door on one of the cameras, and activates the fire alarm. The fire department arrive quickly, commanded by Chief O’Hallorhan. From there they try desperately to put out the fire and it’s a race to save the people trapped on the promenade floor. Although the film starts off slow, it picks up momentum by the second half. Despite that it has great special effects and a star-studded cast. Starring Paul Newman, Steve McQueen, William Holden, Faye Dunaway, Fred Astaire, Susan Blakely, Richard Chamberlain, Jennifer Jones, O.J. Simpson, Robert Vaughn, Robert Wagner 8/10