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
The Poseidon Adventure (1972 film) crew are trapped inside, and a rebellious preacher attempts to lead a small group of survivors to safety. It is in the vein of other all-star disaster films of the early-mid 1970s such as "Airport" (1970), "Earthquake" (1974), and "The Towering Inferno" (1974). By the end of 1974, it was regarded as a widely successful film. The film won two Academy Awards, a Golden Globe Award, a British Academy Film Award, and a Motion Picture Sound Editors Award. A 1979 sequel, "Beyond the Poseidon Adventure", was also based on a novel by Gallico but was a commercial and critical failure.