The Glass Tower, San Francisco's tallest building, stands out as an awesome superstructure, and the new icon of the city. On the night of the dedication ceremony, a seemingly harmless fire erupts 50 floors beneath the partying crowd. The fire quickly spreads, and the 300 guests on the 130th floor, realize they are in a race against time for survival. This is a true classic, an epic film, featuring phenomenal special effects, great cinematography, and a powerful and dramatic sound track, from one of the most famous film composers of all time, John Williams. The magnificent all star cast consists of Paul Newman, Steve McQueen, Richard Chamberlain, William Holden, Robert Wagner, Faye Dunaway, Fred Astaire, and Jennifer Jones.

There were some awesome good guys in this film, but it was the bad guy, Roger Simmons, played by the amazing Richard Chamberlain, who got everyone's attention. When electrical engineer, Roger Simmons, intentionally skimps on materials, leading to faulty wiring, his inefficiency causes the building to blaze, but Richard Chamberlain, with his devastating good looks, had his fans hearts ablaze, long before the fire broke out. It's no wonder the building becomes an inferno; Richard Chamberlain causes sparks to fly wherever he goes. As his most ardent fan, I just wanted the other stars to move out of his way, and the smoke to clear, so I could get a clear glimpse of his beautiful face.

In an interview with Larry King, Richard Chamberlain felt he played the role incorrectly, and should have left the sinister aspect of Simmon's personality for later. He also admitted he was a bit afraid of Paul Newman, and should have been stronger in his scenes with the actor. Not so! There were so many strong personalities in this film, we needed to know right off, who the good guys and the bad guys were. Once again Richard's instincts proved to be right on.

Richard Chamberlain was delicious in his wickedness, and it was his nasty, surly attitude, that stood up so powerfully to Newman, in their scenes together. He held his own! He was so good at being selfish, devious, and devilish, everyone hated him, and actually cheered his demise. Now, that is superb acting!

The movie has everything: subplots with lots of interesting twists and turns, triumphs and tragedies, outstanding special effects, a magnificent all-star cast, a breath-taking soundtrack, awesome cinematography, all working together to make this one of the best disaster spectaculars of all time.

By Judy Crocker

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