Upon learning this, Roberts sees the wiring is inadequate and suspects that Roger Simmons, the electrical subcontractor and Duncan's son-in-law, cut corners. During testing, an electrical short starts an undetected fire on the 81st floor just after another such short occurs in the main utility room. The tower, 1,688 feet (515 m) tall and 138 stories, is the world's tallest building. Īrchitect Doug Roberts returns to San Francisco for the dedication of the Glass Tower, which he designed for developer James Duncan.

Simpson, Robert Vaughn, Robert Wagner, Susan Flannery, Gregory Sierra, Dabney Coleman and in her final role, Jennifer Jones. In addition to McQueen and Newman, the cast includes William Holden, Faye Dunaway, Fred Astaire, Susan Blakely, Richard Chamberlain, O. The picture was nominated for eight Oscars in all, winning three. The film earned a nomination for the Academy Award for Best Picture and was the highest-grossing film of 1974. It was adapted by Stirling Silliphant from the novels The Tower (1973) by Richard Martin Stern and The Glass Inferno (1974) by Thomas N. Directed by John Guillermin, the film is a co-production between 20th Century-Fox and Warner Bros., and thus the first film to be a joint venture by two major Hollywood studios. The Towering Inferno is a 1974 American disaster film produced by Irwin Allen featuring an ensemble cast led by Paul Newman and Steve McQueen.

Towering inferno movie cast