Chief O'Hallorhan: No no, too dangerous, stay out of those elevators.
Flaker: Well then, sir, we'll just trot right up the stairs.
Chief O'Hallorhan: Yeah, you'll just trot right up to 79, huh?
Flaker: [chastened] Standing by in the lobby, sir.
I'm typically one of those people who believes that there is something generally kitschy about movies from the 70s. The bad hair, the ugly clothes, and the oddly washed out colour of the film. It lacks the romance of the still black and white movies of the 60s, and doesn't have the full flair of "technicolor" the way current movies do. I am aware how closed minded this makes me, and there are obviously going to be exceptions to the rule, such as this.
To kick off my newly minted "Steve McQueen Week", I need to discuss how awesome The Towering Inferno was. From my understanding, the 70s was a pretty big decade for disaster movies. Inferno was in the company of The Poseidon Adventure, Earthquake, Andromeda Strain, and a slew of sci-fi disaster dramas. I can't really make a direct comparison, as I have yet to see any of the other above listed films, but MAN did I love Towering Inferno.
The premise is pretty basic, and not unlike something that could be easily see in a mediocre disaster flick today. In San Fransisco, the world's tallest high rise is ready to celebrate it's dedication, which of course calls for a party. A few hours before the gala, Doug Roberts (Paul Newman) the well meaning architect, discovers that the contractor (Richard Chamberlain, of The Thorn Birds fame) has taken certain liberties with the quality of his building materials. Electrical shorts are causing concern, and then right before the party, a fire starts on the 81st floor. Doug insists that the party be cancelled, but James Duncan (William Holden), the wallet behind the "Glass Tower" will hear none of it, insisting that a fire on the 81st floor won't impact the party on the 135th floor.
What follows, of course, is pandemonium. The cast is an impressive who's who, including Faye Dunaway as Doug's girlfriend; Fred Astaire as a charming elderly con-man; O.J. Simpson as a righteous security guard; and Robert Wagner as a business executive.
Steve McQueen is fire chief O'Halloran, the smart, no-nonsense leader of the fire squads who appears about 1/3 of the way into the film. McQueen is simply mesmerizing to watch. His performace, as I'm beginning to see it the norm for him, lacks any of the overindulgent melodrama favoured by many actors of his generation. He is subtle and genuine. His role calls for him to play the tough guy hero, but he manages with only looks and gestures to provide O'Halloran with imense humanity, sympathy and dare I say emotion. You can see it when he looks over the bodies of his fallen men, he doesn't cry, he doesn't make a grand speach, rather he pauses and takes it in, his eyes speaking volumes, and then he carries on with his life, as he must do.
McQueen was originally offered the Newman role in the film, but fought for the O'Halloran part instead. He also insisted that he and Newman have the same number of lines, because he believed his performance would be good enough that the critics would appreciate it for it's quality, rather than because he had more screen time. And in the end, he was right. Newman, who is undisputedly one of the great actors of his generation, is dwarfed by McQueen at every turn. Where Newman is acting, McQueen IS O'Halloran. Watching the film it is easy to see how the two could have such a fierce Hollywood rivalry. Two rugged, handsome, blonde-haired, blue eyed men. But McQueen, far and away, embodies his roles more than any other actor of his time. And yes, he is sinfully cool. He, and you'll pardon the pun, smolders on the screen for every second he's there.
But the film does not necessarily need McQueen to be a quality piece of entertainment. He merely takes a good movie and turns it into an excellent one. Inferno is involving and well paced. It is long, without feeling so. Characters that you develop affection for do die, and often gruesomely. The special effects, for their time, are excellent, and the constant roar of the fire is intimidating and genuinely frightening.
Towards the end of the film, when it becomes apparent that there is only one resolution that will put out the fire, and it puts both Newman and McQueen in very genuine peril, I found myself short on breath and wrapping my hoodie around my head for some protection from what was going to happen. The Towering Inferno is just plain excellent, involving entertainment, for any decade.
Now let's just hope Hollywood doesn't feel the need to remake this one.
**** of *****
4 out of 5
No comments:
Post a Comment