More Fire! The Building of The Towering Inferno: A 50th Anniversary Explosion (ebook)
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More Fire! The Building of The Towering Inferno: A 50th Anniversary Explosion
By Nat Segaloff
It wasn’t the first or last of the disaster pictures, but it was the best of them all, yet its producer had no way of knowing that his career would never again reach those heights.
The Towering Inferno (1974) was the crowning achievement of über-producer Irwin Allen, the self-proclaimed “Master of disaster.” Crafted from two best-selling books and with a budget-busting cast headed by two mega-stars, it took two studios to bring it to the screen.
In celebration of the 50th anniversary of The Towering Inferno, biographer-historian Nat Segaloff (who was a member of the film’s special publicity unit) writes about the production, its innovative marketing campaign, and the goings-on before, during, and after its box office success. He draws a compelling, compassionate portrait of Irwin Allen, the workaholic filmmaker who craved the spotlight yet studiously hid his personal life. Segaloff also charts the history of fire in movies, draws personal profiles of the cast and crew, and offers modern fire safety tips that can save your life.
More Fire! The Building of The Towering Inferno: A 50th Anniversary Explosion will bring back the excitement, the fear, and the heat of the greatest disaster movie ever made.
"Anticipating the movie’s 50th anniversary of 1974's The Towering Inferno, Segaloff (The Mazursky Method) revisits the film, a disaster flick that has become a landmark of the genre. The book introduces readers to Irwin Allen, the mogul behind the film. Known for speculative fiction television series and “group jeopardy” movies (a studio-coined term to prevent their films from being called “disasters”), Allen’s carefully managed persona makes him a cipher. Segaloff offers a biography curated from Allen’s public statements and with revealing bits from author-conducted interviews. Segaloff’s correspondence with screenwriter Stirling Silliphant informs much of the book, and the author himself was involved in the movie’s regional marketing. Silliphant had the task of adapting two books into one screenplay, while managing the line-counting egos of the actors cast in this film. The movie was a coproduction between two studios and featured two directors; Allen helmed the action sequences, and John Guillermin handled the dramatic scenes. Despite these competing interests, the book avoids recounting the backstage bickering, instead choosing to celebrate the production and blockbuster result.
VERDICT Readers will enjoy this loving tribute to the movie and that era of filmmaking."
- Library Journal