tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2118574901486983093.post1154643588303038944..comments2024-03-03T10:32:45.969-08:00Comments on Mr. Peel's Sardine Liqueur: No Matter How Hot It Gets Up ThereMr. Peel aka Peter Avellinohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10553482286909862975noreply@blogger.comBlogger10125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2118574901486983093.post-9613203926070477232017-05-21T06:02:11.747-07:002017-05-21T06:02:11.747-07:00The Towering Inferno did indeed premiere at The UA...The Towering Inferno did indeed premiere at The UA Egyptian in 1974. (I have the hand painted ticket sign that was in the Egyptian's box office!) It was shown in a road-show presentation which included an intermission. The Susan Flannery death scene was without music - only distant fire engine noises and fire sounds which made it all the more immediate. This scene was considered too harrowing when the movie was shown on NBC in 1980 and a music cue was then added to soften the dread of the moment. (this may have been a cue intended for the scene originally but then cut - and then restored for the t.v. presentation) Beyond a doubt, there was no music originally in that scene as I saw this movie eleven times in the theater as a child and was jarred by the music cue when it made it to broadcast television. Anonymoushttps://www.blogger.com/profile/10871186139606125160noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2118574901486983093.post-42278046359627786052011-01-14T15:47:20.258-08:002011-01-14T15:47:20.258-08:00Great write-up, Mr Peel. And some equally great co...Great write-up, Mr Peel. And some equally great comments. THE POSEIDON ADVENTURE and THE TOWERING INFERNO seem like the archetypical <i>disaster films</i> of that era (certainly for Irwin Allen). They both have that indifferently cruel element running through them -- Hackman's and Winter's character sacrifice, and what you mention as the "<i>The entire Robert Wagner/Susan Flannery section</i>" -- that really bonds the audience to each film. And I'm pretty sure it was the Egyptian Theatre where I first took it in. TTI has an exceptional cast that really cooks (hehe) on screen. I remember seeing the promotional, behind the scenes material for TTI on TV in my late teens during its initial run. It really built up the excitement, and still the film didn't disappoint. I think TTI, TPA, and AIRPORT remain my early disaster film favorites. Another of your exceptional film examinations, my friend. Thanks.le0pard13https://www.blogger.com/profile/09421175808461787862noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2118574901486983093.post-19558789927822256182009-01-13T20:33:00.000-08:002009-01-13T20:33:00.000-08:00Many thanks to everyone for some of my favorite co...Many thanks to everyone for some of my favorite comments that I’ve ever gotten on this blog. Yes, including you, Neal. Hope all is well over there. <BR/><BR/>Arbogast—<BR/><BR/>I love that “hot, impossible bitch” idea and you really nail why the Wagner-Flannery stuff is so weirdly effective. I totally understand. Gregory Sierra gets me to like him every time I see him say “It’s a great honor, Senator,” and all I can think is, jeez, it’s just Robert Vaughn after all, but he just seems so nice and happy to bring that wine out. <BR/><BR/>The Driveindude—<BR/><BR/>I could have sworn I’d read somewhere that the Egyptian is where it played way back then. It sounds like a great memory that you have which I completely relate to. Glad you were able to see it there again, even if it isn’t quite the place it once was. I did also notice that the sound quality of the print was a little weak but the overall experience was still pretty awesome. <BR/><BR/>Don—<BR/><BR/>I’m very glad you liked the piece. Though I have the Film Score Monthly CD (amazing disc) and am obviously a fan of this film, I didn’t notice the lack of score in that scene. Good catch on your part! Curious, I checked the scene in the DVD and while the music is of course there, I decided to flip over to the Spanish audio track and found the scene playing with absolutely no score. Why it would be different in various versions is odd, but it certainly wouldn’t be the first time such a thing happened (THUNDERBALL comes to mind). Either way, it’s still a bit of a mystery. Enjoy the dinner!Mr. Peel aka Peter Avellinohttps://www.blogger.com/profile/10553482286909862975noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2118574901486983093.post-52736858842726699902009-01-13T19:42:00.000-08:002009-01-13T19:42:00.000-08:00Don: Just don't push him out!Thanks for the music ...Don: Just don't push him out!<BR/><BR/>Thanks for the music cue correction!Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2118574901486983093.post-41011444029540066542009-01-13T16:31:00.000-08:002009-01-13T16:31:00.000-08:00DRIVE-IN DUDE: After the screening, Laurent Bouzer...DRIVE-IN DUDE: After the screening, Laurent Bouzereau also suggested to me that the scene itself was music-less. He even suggested that we bet on it. I won! (Check your DVD. I never forget a music cue.) My prize: Dinner at the revolving rooftop restaurant atop the Bonaventure Hotel, designed by architect John Portman, who also designed the Hyatt Regency San Francisco, which serves as "lobby double" for the fictitious "Glass Tower." The Bonaventure also sports those capsule-like glass, scenic elevators. Hopefully Laurent won't fall out.Don Mancinihttps://www.blogger.com/profile/16697303770099289489noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2118574901486983093.post-36780894965934408822009-01-13T15:44:00.000-08:002009-01-13T15:44:00.000-08:00Don, I'm not sure it was MISSING, but simply never...Don, I'm not sure it was MISSING, but simply never was there. I just watched my 1984 laserdisc copy of the film and I don't believe it's there either. The cue may have been recorded but never used in the final cut.<BR/><BR/>I'll have to re-watch it again to be sure.<BR/><BR/>One other thing I want to mention, There was a 2007 DVD release of TTI that has a very rich and vivid picture and an incredible 5.1 mix of the soundtrack that really pumps the low end of John Williams score through my subwoofers with incredible punch. I was kinda disappointed in the sound quality of the print but that would be my only caveat from that night.<BR/><BR/>Am I knit-picking?Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2118574901486983093.post-87570184189377308492009-01-13T13:54:00.000-08:002009-01-13T13:54:00.000-08:00Bravo. Regarding the Wagner/Flannery sequence: Od...Bravo. Regarding the Wagner/Flannery sequence: Oddly, the music accompanying the second half of the sequence the other night was MISSING. I noticed it right away because it's one of my favorite cues ("Trapped Lovers" on the Film Score Monthly CD). The music was missing starting from the point at which Flannery reacts with horror and outstretched arms at Wagner's demise (and the ironic crumbling of the Duncan Enterprises "We Build for Life" sign), all the way to the end of the scene, when Flannery takes a blazing, 65-floor header out the window. Williams's music always gave the scene a terrifying -- yet undeniably exciting -- grandeur. Sans music, Flannery's demise -- sobbing, gasping for air, and finally bursting into flame and then falling -- struck me, for the first time EVER, as hard to watch, and just really SAD. Maybe that's what you were reacting to.Don Mancinihttps://www.blogger.com/profile/16697303770099289489noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2118574901486983093.post-82514553088897275902009-01-13T11:32:00.000-08:002009-01-13T11:32:00.000-08:00I was there that night as well. I was a bit late b...I was there that night as well. I was a bit late but I managed to crawl into a rear seat just before the programmer for the Cinematheque began to speak.<BR/><BR/>I have to say that there were really two reasons why I was there that night. For one, I absolutely love The Towering Inferno. I have since that day in '74 when I stood in line for 4 hours to see it with my dad.<BR/><BR/>The other reason is that in '74 when I stood in line to see INFERNO, I stood outside this exact same theater, The Egyptian. Now I have to say that I was a little disappointed in the interior because has been changed dramatically from what it used to look like prior to the renovation and preservation. Still, the touchstone this movie and this theater had on my life could not be passed up.<BR/><BR/>Great review. Sorry we could not meet that night but I love your taste in disaster films.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2118574901486983093.post-45467068725373466692009-01-13T07:43:00.000-08:002009-01-13T07:43:00.000-08:00I'm with you - The Towering Inferno has it all ove...I'm with you - <B>The Towering Inferno</B> has it all over <B>The Poseidon Adventure</B> because it's a movie about process and systems - systems shortcut (to disastrous effect) and systems honored because they save lives. <BR/><BR/>I have the same "I'll always love" you affection for <B>The Poseidon Adventure</B> as I do for old girlfriends I no longer find sexually attractive but <B>The Towering Inferno</B> is that hot, impossible bitch I couldn't live with for five minutes and couldn't forget for thirty years. And you're spot-on about the Wagner-Flannery sidebar, which is (to my twisted way of thinking) the film's heart. You go in feeling so superior to them because they're so damn smarmy and when they are so completely and (your word) cruelly taken out of the picture you're left feeling a little ankled. The other death that always affects me is that of Gregory Sierra, as the bartender... just didn't see that coming. <BR/><BR/><B>The Towering Inferno</B> stops me dead in my tracks every time I run across it on TV (invariably on AMC), leaving me powerless and pop-eyed 'til the final credit crawl. I wish it were on right now. Maybe it is. I'm going to go check.Arbogasthttps://www.blogger.com/profile/12670776992289080245noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2118574901486983093.post-72614887765983860102009-01-13T05:08:00.000-08:002009-01-13T05:08:00.000-08:00Paul Newman, Steve McQueen, Bill Holden, Fred Asta...Paul Newman, Steve McQueen, Bill Holden, Fred Astaire. You know how that movie ends? It's not water tanks exploding. It's ME having an orgasm!Neal Romanekhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/14113855829306499200noreply@blogger.com