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''The Towering Inferno'' is a 1974 American action drama disaster film produced by Irwin Allen featuring an all-star cast led by Steve McQueen and Paul Newman. The picture was directed by John Guillermin. A co-production between 20th Century Fox and Warner Bros. (this 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 was a critical success, earning a nomination for the Academy Award for Best Picture, and was the highest-grossing film released in 1974. The film was nominated for eight Oscars in all, winning three. In addition to McQueen and Newman, the cast includes William Holden, Faye Dunaway, Fred Astaire, Susan Blakely, Richard Chamberlain, O. J. Simpson, Robert Vaughn, Robert Wagner, Susan Flannery, Gregory Sierra, Dabney Coleman and, in her final film, Jennifer Jones. ==Plot== Architect Doug Roberts (Newman) returns to San Francisco for the dedication of the Glass Tower, which he designed for owner James Duncan (Holden). At 138 stories (1,800 ft/550 m), it is the world's tallest building. Shortly after his arrival, an electrical short starts an undetected fire on the 81st floor while Roberts accuses the building's electrical engineer, Roger Simmons (Chamberlain), of cutting corners. Simmons insists the building is up to standards. During the high-profile dedication ceremony, public relations chief Dan Bigelow (Wagner) is ordered to turn on all the tower's exterior lights to impress the attending guests and dignitaries. The lighting overloads the electrical system and Roberts orders it shut off. Smoke is seen on the 81st floor and the San Francisco Fire Department is summoned. Roberts and engineer Will Giddings (Norman Burton) go to the 81st floor but fail to prevent a security guard opening a door, leading to a fire flash which fatally burns Giddings. Roberts reports the fire to a dismissive Duncan, who refuses to order an evacuation. Ill-equipped firefighters arrive to tackle the blaze. SFFD Chief Michael O'Halloran (McQueen) forces Duncan to evacuate the party guests in the Promenade Room on the 135th floor, directing them to express elevators. A guest, Lisolette Mueller (Jones), who is being wooed by con man Harlee Claiborne (Astaire), rushes to the 87th floor to check on a young family. Simmons admits to Duncan that he cut corners to stay under budget. Duncan, aided by Senator Parker (Vaughn) and Mayor Ramsey (Jack Collins), directs the elevator evacuation from the Promenade Room until the fire spreads and renders the express elevators unsafe. Not heeding Duncan's directions, one last group takes an elevator to the ground, but are killed when it stops on the fire's floor. The fire traps Bigelow and his secretary/mistress Lorrie (Flannery) in his 65th floor office and they die. Security Chief Harry Jernigan (Simpson) and Roberts rescue Mueller and the family from 87. Jernigan gets the mother out safely but Roberts, Mueller and the two children are halted by a collapsed stairwell. They must make a perilous climb down the collapsed stairs but fire forces them up to the Promenade Room. With fire suppression efforts rapidly becoming ineffective, the building loses all electrical power and O'Halloran and his men are forced to rappel down an elevator shaft. A rooftop rescue results in disaster as guests rush the helicopter, causing it to crash, setting the roof ablaze and rendering further rooftop rescues impossible. Naval rescue teams attach a breeches buoy to the adjacent Peerless Building and rescue a number of guests, including Duncan's daughter, Simmons' wife Patty (Blakely). Roberts rigs a gravity brake on the external scenic elevator allowing twelve people, including Roberts' girlfriend Susan (Dunaway), Mueller, and the children, one trip down. An explosion leaves the descending elevator hanging by a single cable at the 110th floor, where Mueller falls to her death. O'Halloran and others heroically save the rest. Simmons arrogantly tells Duncan that he and the others will use the breeches buoy next, and Duncan punches him, saying the rest will draw numbers but he and his son-in-law will be the last two to leave. However, the fire reaches the Promenade Room at that moment and Simmons forces his way onto the buoy, leading to a struggle. Parker is pushed to his death by Simmons, who is killed by an explosion moments later. A SFFD deputy chief (Coleman) summons O'Halloran with a desperate plan to explode the million-gallon water tanks atop the building to extinguish the fire raging below. Knowing it could result in his death, O'Halloran meets with Roberts and they set C-4 on the six water tanks on the 138th floor. They hurriedly return to the Promenade Room, where the remaining guests tie themselves to heavy objects. O'Halloran, Roberts, Duncan, Claiborne and most of the party-goers survive as thousands of gallons of water rush through the building, extinguishing the flames, although some, including the mayor, perish. On the ground, Claiborne learns that Mueller did not survive and he is heartbroken. Jernigan gives him Mueller's pet cat. Duncan consoles Patty over her husband's death but does not disclose the cowardly way in which Simmons died. Roberts says to Susan that he does not know what will become of the building, and perhaps it should be left in its fire-damaged state as "a kind of shrine to all the bullshit in the world". Informing Roberts that the final casualty toll numbered less than 200, O'Halloran says they were lucky because it could have been much worse. Roberts agrees to consult with fire officials in the future when such buildings are designed. O'Halloran drives away, exhausted. 抄文引用元・出典: フリー百科事典『 ウィキペディア（Wikipedia）』 ■ウィキペディアで「The Towering Inferno」の詳細全文を読む スポンサード リンク
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