The Towering Inferno The Towering Inferno The Towering Inferno is a 1974 American drama disaster film produced by Irwin Allen featuring an all-star cast led by Paul Newman and Steve McQueen. The picture was directed by John Guillermin. A co-production between 20th Century Fox and Warner Bros., it was the first film to be a joint venture by two major Hollywood studios. It was adapted by Stirling Silliphant from a pair of novels, "The Tower" by Richard Martin Stern and "The Glass Inferno" by Thomas N. Scortia and Frank M. Robinson. The film earned a nomination for the Academy Award for Best Picture
Blazing Saddles character reminds them that, although they are risking their lives, he is "risking an almost certain Academy Award nomination for Best Supporting Actor!" Korman did not receive an Oscar bid, but the film did get three nominations in 1974: Best Supporting Actress (Madeline Kahn, who lost to Ingrid Bergman in "Murder on the Orient Express"), Best Film Editing (losing out to "The Towering Inferno"), and Best Music, Original Song (the title song, which lost to "We May Never Love Like This Again", also from "The Towering Inferno"). The film also earned two BAFTA awards nominations, for Best Newcomer (Cleavon Little)