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The Poseidon Adventure (1972 film)

1972 American film

The Poseidon Adventure
film posterbyMort Künstler
Directed by	Ronald Neame
Screenplay by	Stirling Silliphant Wendell Mayes
Produced by	Irwin Allen
Starring	Gene Hackman Ernest Borgnine Red Buttons Carol Lynley Shelley Winters Roddy McDowall Stella Stevens Jack Albertson Pamela Sue Martin Arthur O'Connell Eric Shea Leslie Nielsen
Cinematography	Harold E. Stine
Edited by	Harold F. Kress
Music by	John Williams The Song from The Poseidon Adventure: Joel Hirschhorn Al Kasha
Production companies	Kent Productions, Ltd.
Distributed by	20th Century Fox
Release date	December 12, 1972 (1972-12-12)
Running time	117 minutes
Country	United States
Language	English
Budget	$4.7 million[1]
Box office	$93,300,000[2]

The Poseidon Adventure is a 1972 American action-adventure disaster film, directed by Ronald Neame, produced by Irwin Allen, and based on Paul Gallico's novel of the same name. The film features an ensemble cast, including five Academy Award winners: Gene Hackman, Ernest Borgnine, Jack Albertson, Shelley Winters, and Red Buttons. The cast also includes Carol Lynley, Stella Stevens, Roddy McDowall, Leslie Nielsen, and Pamela Sue Martin. It won a Special Achievement Academy Award for Visual Effects and an Academy Award for Best Original Song (for "The Song from the Poseidon Adventure" – aka "The Morning After"). Shelley Winters won the Golden Globe Award for Best Supporting Actress – Motion Picture and was nominated for the Academy Award for Best Supporting Actress for her role. It also received nominations for the Golden Globe Award for Best Motion Picture – Drama and for Best Original ScorebyJohn Williams.

The plot centers on the SSPoseidon, an aged luxury liner on her final voyage from New York CitytoAthens before being sent to the scrapyard. On New Year's Eve, she is overturned by a tsunami. Passengers and crew are trapped inside, and a rebellious preacher attempts to lead a small group of survivors to safety.

Parts of the movie were filmed aboard the RMS Queen Mary, whose encounter with a rogue wave in 1942 inspired the book upon which the film is based.^{[citation needed]}

Boxoffice magazine reported The Poseidon Adventure was the #1 Box Office Champ of 1973. By the end of 1974, it ranked among the six most successful features in film history, along with Gone with the Wind (1939), The Godfather (1972), Love Story (1970), Airport (1970), and The Sound of Music (1965). It is in the vein of other all-star disaster films of the 1970s such as Airport and later ones like Earthquake (1974) and The Towering Inferno (1974). The Poseidon Adventure was remade twice, first as a television special in 2005 with the same name, and as a theatrical release titled Poseidon in 2006. In 1998 several episodes of the daytime soap Sunset Beach entitled "Shockwave" revolved around an earthquake and tsunami in California and major parts of the episodes take place on a cruise ship, the S.S. Neptune that is capsized by the giant wave. The episode borrowed heavily from the plot line of "The Poseidon Adventure" and garnered huge audiences and spurring NBC to repeat it several weeks later in prime time.

A 1979 sequel, Beyond the Poseidon Adventure also based on a novel by Gallico, was released later with an equally star-studded cast, but was a box office and critical failure.

Plot

The SS Poseidon, an ocean liner slated for retirement and scrapping, makes her way across the Atlantic Ocean and the Mediterranean Sea from New York CitytoAthens. Despite protests from Captain Harrison, who fears for the ship's safety, the representative of its new owners, Mr. Linarcos, insists that it make full speed towards its destination, preventing it from taking on additional ballast.

Reverend Frank Scott, a minister questioning his faith and believing God helps those who help themselves, delivers a sermon. Detective Lt. Mike Rogo and his wife Linda, a sarcastic former prostitute, deal with seasickness. Susan and her younger brother Robin are traveling to meet their parents. Robin is interested in how the ship works and frequently visits the engine room. Retired Jewish hardware store owner Manny Rosen and his wife Belle are going to Israel to meet their two-year-old grandson for the first time. Haberdasher James Martin is a love-shy, health-conscious bachelor. The ship's singer, Nonnie Parry, rehearses for the New Year celebrations with her band.

That evening on New Year's Eve 1971, passengers gather in the dining room to celebrate. Harrison is called to the bridge in response to a report of an undersea earthquake. He receives word from the lookout that a huge wave is approaching from the direction of Crete, at 60 mph. He issues a mayday distress signal and commands a "hard left" turn, but it is too late. The wave hits the ship and she capsizes.

In the dining room, survivors take stock of their predicament. Acres, an injured waiter, is trapped at the galley door now high above. With information from Martin, Scott surmises that the escape route will be found "upwards", at the outer hull, now above water. Robin tells him the hull near the propeller shaft is only one inch (2.54 cm) thick. The Rosens, the Rogos, Susan, Robin, Acres, Nonnie, and Martin agree to go with Scott, using a Christmas tree as a ladder. Scott unsuccessfully tries convincing more passengers to join them. After the group climbs to the galley, there is a series of explosions. As seawater floods the room the survivors rush to the Christmas tree, but the weight of everyone climbing causes the tree to fall.

Acres and Scott find the galley, and the survivors make their way to a staircase. Scott climbs its underside, then he and Rogo use a fire hose to pull the others up before leading them to an access tunnel. While climbing a ladder inside a funnel, the ship rocks from another series of explosions. Acres falls and is lost.

Climbing out of the shaft, the group meets a large band of survivors led by the ship's medic, heading towards the bow. Scott is certain they are heading for their doom, but Rogo wants to follow them and gives Scott fifteen minutes to find the engine room. Although he takes longer than allowed, Scott is successful.

The group discovers the engine room is on the other side of a flooded corridor; someone must swim through with a line to help the others. Belle, a former competitive swimmer, volunteers, but Scott refuses her and dives in. Halfway through, a panel collapses on him. The survivors notice something is wrong and Belle dives in. She frees Scott and they make it to the other side. While Scott secures the lifeline, Belle suffers a heart attack. Before dying she tells Scott to give her "Chai" pendant, representing the Hebrew sign for life, to Rosen, who in turn will give it to their grandson.

Rogo swims over to make sure Belle and Scott are all right, then leads the rest over. When Rosen finds Belle's body he is unwilling to go on, but Scott gives him her pendant, reminding him that he has a reason to live.

Scott leads the survivors to the propeller shaft room's watertight door, but there is another series of explosions, and Linda falls to her death. An infuriated and heartbroken Rogo blames her death on Scott. More explosions rupture a pipe that releases steam, blocking their escape. Scott rants at God for the survivors' deaths. He leaps and grabs onto the burning-hot valve wheel to shut off the steam, then tells Rogo to lead the group before letting go of it, sacrificing himself.

Rogo leads the remaining survivors — Rosen, Martin, Nonnie, Susan, and Robin — through the watertight door and into the propeller shaft room. They hear a noise above the ship and bang on the ceiling/floor to get the rescuers' attention. The rescuers cut through the hull and help the group out of the ship. The survivors, the only six alive after the disaster, fly to safety by helicopter.

Cast

• Gene Hackman as Reverend Frank Scott
• Ernest Borgnine as Detective Lieutenant Mike Rogo
• Stella Stevens as Linda Rogo
• Red Buttons as James Martin
• Carol Lynley as Nonnie Parry
• Shelley Winters as Belle Rosen
• Jack Albertson as Manny Rosen
• Roddy McDowall as Acres
• Pamela Sue Martin as Susan Shelby
• Arthur O'Connell as Chaplain John
• Eric Shea as Robin Shelby
• Leslie Nielsen as Captain Harrison
• Fred Sadoff as Mr. Linarcos
• Byron Webster as the Purser
• Jan Arvan as Dr. Caravello
• Sheila Mathews as the ship's nurse
• John Crawford as Chief Engineer
• Erik L. Nelson as Mr. Tinkham
• Ernie Orsatti as Terry

Production

Producer Irwin Allen had been an extremely successful television producer during the entire decade of the 60's but had a hard time making the break into feature films. Upon coming across the book he immediately secured the rights and financing from 20th Century Fox to produce and distribute the film version. Writers Stirling Silliphant and Wendell Mayes co-wrote the screenplay removing some of the novel's more unsavory scenes including one where Pamela Sue Martin's character Susan is raped in the aftermath of the capsizing, the sweeping away and loss of her brother Robin in a panicked crew rush (his fate is never known) and the seductive, sluttish behavior of Linda Rogo toward Reverend Scott and instead concentrating on just a few characters making them all more sympathetic. In the novel almost all the characters were deeply flawed and in most cases unlikeable.

A budget of 4.7 million was set but on the eve of production the studio pulled the plug on the film the reasoning being that audiences were moving away from big budget extravaganzas in favor of gritty, realistic and cynical fare. Fox was also swimming in red ink as a result of having produced several huge musical productions which most all bombed at the box office. Allen managed to get two very wealthy friends to guarantee half the funding with their own money but the studio still had one stipulation, that the director be of their selection. Veteran British director Ronald Neame who had directed the critically acclaimed The Prime Of Miss Jean Brodie and Scrooge was then tapped to helm.

The film was shot mostly in sequence to give the cast the feeling of actually going through the adversity of the characters and the cast got along very well. The two main characters, Rev. Scott and Rogo were portrayed to the hilt by Hackman and Borgnine. In an interview many years later Neame would comment that he really let them loose a bit too much and they both "really chewed the scenery". Shelly Winters gave one of her very best performances as Mrs. Rosen, a role that would bring her great praise. She even performed her own underwater stunts swimming for extended periods.

Both in the book and film the Poseidon herself was closely based on the Queen Mary and many of the early scenes were shot aboard the actual ship, permanently moored as a floating hotel in Long Beach The sets built to simulate the capsized liner were designed as closely to the actual ship's design as possible. To achieve the capsizing sequence in the main dining room a full size dining room was designed by Art Director William Creber in such a way that it could be re-dressed to appear upside down. Built on Stage 6 on the Fox lot it was also designed to be lifted by large forklifts to simulate the ship being drawn into the giant wave. The set would be lifted up to a 30 degree incline allowing a convincing slide for actors and stunt performers. This was further enhanced by tilting the camera in the opposite direction to exaggerate the effect. Once filming for the first half of the scene was completed the set was completely redressed with tables being bolted to the inverted "floor" which had begun as the ceiling. Skylights with special padding for stuntmen to fall through were then built on the inverted "ceiling" which began the scene as the dining salon deck. Many of the other sets like the engine room, kitchen and barber shop were built inverted.

In order to give the movie a visual feel for being on the open ocean a special double mount was built for the cameras used moving up and down and side to side. This was subtly done throughout the film both before and after the capsizing which gave the subliminal effect of rocking back and forth to the audience. For scenes with more action such as the opening sequence on the bridge the actors were coached to lean in the opposite direction of the camera tilt for more effect.

The tidal wave scene (in actuality it would be called a tsunami as the source of the wave was an undersea earthquake and bottom displacement but the term was not widely known in the West at the time) striking the ship was all done with practical effects with thousands of gallons of water and a large model. In order to convincingly shoot the ship turning over in the ocean Special Effects head L.B. Abbott obtained blue prints for the Queen Mary in 1/48th scale and based on this built a scale model at a cost of $35,000.00 which was 21 feet long and weighing several tons. The ship had working lights rigged all throughout and was attached to a mechanical mount below the water to control the movements of the ship as she turned on her side, struggled to right herself then fully capsizes.

The scene was shot in one of the largest water tanks available at the time measuring 32 feet with two large 1200 gallon dump tanks built above it. The tanks were then tilted into the main tank creating the wave effect. The cameras filming the scene were run at seven times normal speed to achieve the effect of a huge amount of water hitting the ship. When run at normal speed the slow motion effect simulated a much larger scale to the action. The scene where Captain Harrison (Leslie Nielsen) looks out over the ocean and sees the approaching wave was actually a shot of the high surf at Malibu also filmed in slow motion. The model was then filmed from below fully capsized for several more scenes showing explosions blowing out of the funnels as the boilers blew and the ship settled deeper into the sea. The sequence still convincingly holds up today even though it was filmed more than forty years ago and with no digital effects.^[3]

The model of the ship was used in several other productions over the years including a made for television film produced by Allen entitled "Adventures of the Queen" which was also a pilot for a proposed but never picked up series starring David Hedison with whom he had worked with on Voyage to the Bottom of the Sea (series) which allowed him to make use of stock footage from "The Poseidon Adventure" as well. It was also re-dressed for a "Titanic" television film before being donated to The Los Angeles Maritime Museum in San Pedro where it is presently located.

Soundtrack

The original score the film was composed and conducted by John Williams, a young but up-and-coming composer who the film's producer Irwin Allen had worked with on many of his earlier television shows in the 1960s such as Lost In Space and Land of the Giants. It would be a hallmark work, opening the door for Williams to become a musical "Master of Disaster" in terms of films scores, with it leading to films such as Earthquake (1974) and The Towering Inferno (1974), also produced by Allen. One of Williams' most soaring and sweeping scores, it garnered the notice of a young filmmaker named Steven Spielberg, with whom he would go on to score almost every film Spielberg has made since, including the Oscar-winning score for Jaws (1975), and making Williams one of the most famous and successful composers in film history, with the scores to Superman (1978) and the entire Star Wars series.

"The Poseidon Adventure" is a dark, brooding score reflecting the story but with an almost light main theme built on a very nautical sound, harkening back to seagoing adventure films of the past. Some consider is one of his very best, particularly for how early it came in his career and it was nominated for a Golden Globe award. Bootlegs have been circulating for many years and the first official release did not come for some 35 years after the film's release, most unusual for such a highly acclaimed work. The latest and most extensive is from La-La Land Records, utilizing the original six-track masters for a stereo mix. Alternate and additional cues are also included.

The theme song from the film, "The Morning After," was composed by the songwriting team of Joel Hirschhorn and Al Kasha in one night. They were called on a Thursday and given the script and told they had to have a song by the next day. After reading the screenplay, the two went to work writing lyrics that reflected elements of the story but generic enough to be believable. After listening to actress Carol Lynley, who portrays Nonnie the singer in the film, a similar sounding session singer, Renee Armand, was brought in to do a demo over the weekend. It was this demo that was used in the actual film. Lynley's costume for that scene was based on what Armand was wearing when she visited the set. 20th Century Fox had a subsidiary record company and Russ Regan, manager of 20th Century Fox Records, saw some opportunity to use the song for promotion. The song was then re-recorded with Maureen McGovern, whose demo reel she had sent to him sometime before, and released almost as a throwaway to promote the film on radio. After the film became a major success, the song was nominated for and won an Academy Award. Radio stations then started to play it in earnest and it became a Gold Record, reaching number on on the pop charts in most parts of the world.

The same singer and songwriting team would win another Academy Award three years later on the next Irwin Allen production,The Towering Inferno, with "We May Never Love Like This Again."

Reception

The film earned estimated rentals of $40 million in North America in 1973.^[5]

The Poseidon Adventure has received largely positive reviews, with review aggregator Rotten Tomatoes reporting 79% of 24 critics gave the film a positive review, with an above average score of 6.8/10.^[6]

When the film made its network television premiere on ABC on October 27, 1974, it earned a 39.0 household share, making it the sixth highest film to ever air on network television.^[7]

In recent years, The Poseidon Adventure has become a cult film.^[8] It has been released on DVD and Blu-ray.

The film is listed in Golden Raspberry Award founder John Wilson's book, The Official Razzie Movie Guide, as one of The 100 Most Enjoyably Bad Movies Ever Made.^[9]

Accolades

The film won an Academy Award,^[10]aGolden Globe Award, a British Academy Film Award, and a Motion Picture Sound Editors Award.^[11]

See also

• The Poseidon Adventure (book)
• Beyond the Poseidon Adventure (1979)
• The Poseidon Adventure (2005)
• Poseidon (2006)
• The Last Voyage (1960)
• Poseidon (fictional ship)
• SS Andrea Doria
• Survival film, about the film genre, with a list of related films

References

External links

Wikiquote has quotations related to The Poseidon Adventure.

• The Poseidon AdventureatIMDb
• The Poseidon AdventureatAllMovie
• The Poseidon Adventure at the TCM Movie Database
• The Poseidon AdventureatRotten Tomatoes