Disaster films were a big staple of the 1970s, but they weren't limited to the big screen. In point of place, there were far more of them being done for television. The constructions of these small-scale productions, however, wasn't substantially altered from their bigger brethren: place a bunch of all-stars in a cataclysm; spice some personal melodrama and soap opera theatrics in there; get the special effects onto the screen; and then get out of the way. Such was the case with "Terror On The 40th Floor", which aired on September 17, 1974.
Perhaps designed specifically to jump the gun on "The Towering Inferno", this TV opus, like that big-screen disaster classic, focuses on a Christmas Eve party in a high-rise, this time a 40-story building in the Big Apple. But when a maintenance worker (Tim Herbert) is killed by an explosion near the ground floor of the building, a fire erupts within the building's interior and, as in "Inferno", it begins a night of soul-searching and personal drama for the cast, as the fire inches closer to their 40th floor locale. And it's a pretty big cast we have here: John Forsythe (known for his roles on "Father Knows Best" and "Dynasty", but also on the big screen for his portrayal of Kansas lawman Alvin Dewey in the 1967 crime classic "in Cold Blood"; Joseph Campanella; Don Meredith (former Dallas Cowboys legend and then-current NFL broadcaster); Lynn Carlin; Anjanette Comer; Kelly Jean Peters; Pippa Scott; and Tracie Savage.
Given that the film can't really overcome most of the typical disaster film soap opera stuff inherent in the Jack Turley teleplay, the film does have a certain panache to it, thanks in large part to a good cast and the sure-footed direction by TV (and occasional big screen) veteran Jerry Jameson, who did many such made-for-TV disaster flicks during the decade ("Hurricane"; "A Fire In The Sky:; "Starflight One"; "Heat Wave"), while also helming a big screen entry into the genre in 1977's "Airport '77". And the scenes involving the fire in a direct way are effective enough, even if they don't quite match what would be done in "The Towering Inferno", or the later 1991 Ron Howard offering "Backdraft".
So while "Terror On The 40th Floor" isn't on the level of "The Towering Inferno", I am willing to give it a '6' rating for effort.
Perhaps designed specifically to jump the gun on "The Towering Inferno", this TV opus, like that big-screen disaster classic, focuses on a Christmas Eve party in a high-rise, this time a 40-story building in the Big Apple. But when a maintenance worker (Tim Herbert) is killed by an explosion near the ground floor of the building, a fire erupts within the building's interior and, as in "Inferno", it begins a night of soul-searching and personal drama for the cast, as the fire inches closer to their 40th floor locale. And it's a pretty big cast we have here: John Forsythe (known for his roles on "Father Knows Best" and "Dynasty", but also on the big screen for his portrayal of Kansas lawman Alvin Dewey in the 1967 crime classic "in Cold Blood"; Joseph Campanella; Don Meredith (former Dallas Cowboys legend and then-current NFL broadcaster); Lynn Carlin; Anjanette Comer; Kelly Jean Peters; Pippa Scott; and Tracie Savage.
Given that the film can't really overcome most of the typical disaster film soap opera stuff inherent in the Jack Turley teleplay, the film does have a certain panache to it, thanks in large part to a good cast and the sure-footed direction by TV (and occasional big screen) veteran Jerry Jameson, who did many such made-for-TV disaster flicks during the decade ("Hurricane"; "A Fire In The Sky:; "Starflight One"; "Heat Wave"), while also helming a big screen entry into the genre in 1977's "Airport '77". And the scenes involving the fire in a direct way are effective enough, even if they don't quite match what would be done in "The Towering Inferno", or the later 1991 Ron Howard offering "Backdraft".
So while "Terror On The 40th Floor" isn't on the level of "The Towering Inferno", I am willing to give it a '6' rating for effort.