THE TOWERING INFERNO (1974)

STARS: Paul Newman, Steve McQueen, Faye Dunaway, Fred Astaire, Jennifer Jones, Richard Chamberlain, Robert Vaughn, William Holden, OJ Simpson, Robert Wagner.

DIRECTOR: Irwin Allen (action sequences), John Guillermin (drama sequences).

DURATION: 165 mins.

SYNOPSIS: San Francisco-set disaster movie. The world's tallest skyscraper becomes engulfed in a raging blaze during its opening ceremony, trapping and threatening the lives of all those inside. The architect and local fire chief join forces to mastermind a rescue bid.

RC PLAYS: Roger Simmons.

'Toast Your Favourite Star' is how Richard Chamberlain described the movie - and it did seem to live up to its nickname as audiences queued to see so many famous faces plunge to a grizzly death.

Made at the height of the disaster movie craze, The Towering Inferno was a rare collaboration between 20th Century Fox and Warner Brothers. Both owned rights to two similar novels - The Glass Inferno by Tom Scortia and Richard Martin Stern's The Tower - which each intended to make into separate films. Instead, these two giants of Hollywood decided it would make more economic sense to pool their resources. The finishing touches were to hire an all-star cast and get Irwin 'King of the Disaster Movies' Allen involved.

During his Dr. Kildare days, Chamberlain claimed that one of his ambitions was to play a villain. And if Roger Simmons wasn't exactly evil, he was certainly despicable - after all, the whole fire is really his fault.

"I play the electrical contractor on the world's tallest skyscraper," revealed Chamberlain of his character. "I've fudged on the wiring and a fire breaks out. A lot of people die - me included. They tell me audiences applaud when I get killed - that's great. I also drink a lot, cheat on my wife and tell my father-in-law to go to hell. It's a delightful part - I'm really wicked - a more double-dyed villain you'll never see!"

If the actors found their roles challenging, then spare a thought for stunt co-ordinator Paul Stader and special effects supremo AD Flowers. "Fire and water are the most unpredictable resources," explained Flowers. "Once they're set loose, complete control is minimal. Sometimes they're as hard to stop as they are to start..." A fact which made it difficult to protect the cast, although Chamberlain didn't seem to mind too much, instead stating, "Everyone should work with Irwin Allen once - he's a real character." Richard went on to work with him again on The Swarm four years later.

Chamberlain's standing as a classical actor was probably the real reason behind his decision to accept the role. "I am anxious to get back into something that means something in terms of modern times," he remarked at the time. "I want to play an American guy. I'm very curious to see what it feels like to do that again, because I haven't done it for so long - but I hope to continue in the classical stuff. It's very difficult though to keep from being stuck in some kind of bog. George C. Scott has managed to avoid it better than anybody. It makes me laugh when people wonder if I can play modern Americans any more: 'Can you do American parts anymore Dick?' That's really dumb."

What was also good to note was that despite his own reputation, Chamberlain still suffered from being starstruck, just as he had at the beginning of his career.

While speaking about making The Towering Inferno, Richard revealed just how overwhelmed he was: "It was fun. It's so good to be in a money-maker, a real old-fashioned US movie, full of stars. Just being on set with the likes of Astaire, Holden, Newman and McQueen - what a gas! The thrill was meeting Astaire. I was afraid to talk to him at first, but I finally got up the nerve. He was sweet, completely unpretentious. And he manages to manouvre every conversation so that you're talking about yourself."

On its release, The Towering Inferno easily made back its then massive budget of $14million. And there's no wonder why - it's not without flaws, but it is a genuinely thrilling movie full of 1974's biggest stars. It also won three Academy Awards: Best Cinematography, Best Film Editing and Best Song (We May Never Love Like This Again, sung by Maureen McGovern).

Anyway, it was good to see Chamberlain in such a high profile movie. But despite making one more interesting feature film in his career (The Last Wave), it is his last commercially successful big screen project to date.

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