The Towering Inferno

So, how was it? Good.

You're gonna go ahead, huh? Full steam.

Anything I can do to change your mind?

Nope. No way.

You know, there's an old saying that, uh,

no matter how hot it gets up there during the day,

there's not... Not a damn thing to do at night.

That's right. Now just what the hell are you gonna do at night in the middle of nowhere?

Sleep like a winner.

Doug, you're a city boy with a low threshold of boredom.

You'll be back in two weeks.

Can you come in the office for a minute?

I got people waiting upstairs.

Well, what I wanted to tell you is that, uh,

Senator Parker's flying in for the dedication tonight,

and he's almost guaranteed the urban renewal contract.

Now, do you know what that means?

Skyscrapers like this all over the country.

You design 'em, I'll build 'em.

Jim, I think you suffer from an "edifice" complex.

You'll never leave.

Right after the party, come on downstairs and watch me burn my black tie.

Glad to see you back. Sam.

It's Doug. How are ya?

Doug, I can't understand it. The dampers won't stay open.

Dampers? Whatever happened to hello?

Hello. How are ya?

Good. You look like it took. Yeah.

Hi, Mr. Roberts. Hey, Doug.

Just a second. We're gonna miss you.

Duncan know? He's all smiles.

Mm-hmm. Hey. What electromagnets went in?

Doug. Thompson G-4's.

Shouldn't they have been, like, G-12's? Oh, no.

That's what comes from this damn last-minute panic. I'll fix it, Doug.

Okay. What? We keep running into groundwater on that Atlanta job.

Bring the designs in sometime this afternoon.

Good to see you back, but how about Chicago specs? Philadelphia.

In a minute, guys.

Well, hello. Welcome back.

Are you taking any calls?

Well, is there-

Mm-hmm.

No, I'm not taking any calls.

We gonna talk at all?

No. It's my lunch hour.

Mmm.

Well, I'm not a cheeseburger, you know.

You're better. All protein.

No bread. All I need to go with you is about eight glasses of water.

All I need to go with you is in that suitcase over there. What's in that suitcase?

I got about 140 dollars' worth of vulgar underwear for ya.

First things first.

It's nice.

Years from now, when they talk about this- and they will-

remember to tell them that it was my idea. Right.

Got change for a 50?

- I'm sorry. That's the smallest I have. - Oh, not a chance.

Let's see what we got here.

Oh. Uh,

25, 50, 60...

70,

75,

85, 95.

That's it exactly. Catch your tip next time.

Hello, Mrs. Allbright. Hi, Phillip.

We won't be so messy tomorrow. Tomorrow we're gonna try charcoals.

Mommy wants to know if you'll have dinner with us tonight.

Oh, thank you, but I'm going up to the party in the tower.

Aren't you coming?

Mommy says thanks, but she doesn't go to parties since Daddy died.

Oh, here. Let me take that paint off.

Bye. How are you, Phillip?

Sorry, Mrs. Mueller. What was that?

I said, "How are you?" Okay.

Good-bye.

Okay. I'll get on it right now.

I'll have to check the panel. Just leave all those fired up.

Mr. Callahan. Yeah.

We still got any of those G-12 electrodes in stock? Yeah. Main storeroom.

Right. Okay. Booster pump, Zone 1.

110. Check. Main generator, Zone 1.

I don't get any reading. Try the auxiliary generator.

What the hell?

Go ahead.

Ah. Here we are.

Are there offices on this floor as well as apartments?

Oh, I wouldn't like that at all. Oh, no, no.

The business offices only go as high as 80.

From the 81st floor here, all the way up to 120, it's exclusively residential.

Now, the apartment I want to show you is 8145.

Say, Bill. Tune in the main utility room.

Okay.

Something's screwed up. The sensor didn't trip the fire department alarm.

Why should it?

You can see for yourself. There's no fire.

Well, the sensor indicates there is.

Plus Wes just called. He said they're having wiring problems down there.

You better stay with it.

I want you up there with me. We can do good things together.

What's the matter?

Hello.

Dave's leaving. They've offered me managing editor.

That's nice.

I mean...

I guess we got ourselves a situation.

Seems.

See, Doug, I want the kind of life you're talking about. I want that.

And I want a place where our kids can run around and grow and be free.

But?

I want this job.

I've wanted it for five years. I've worked for it for five years.

Now suddenly it's there.

See, I have... I have ideas, Doug.

I can do something with it. Something that hasn't been done before.

I guess I want both, and I can't have both, can I?

I don't know.

Yeah.

Where?

Be right there.

Let's hold this off till tonight, hmm?

What happened? We kicked on the auxiliary, and this shorted out.

Power off? Yeah.

What about that? It should've been conduit.

Give me a pair of dikes.

I know, I know. Callahan called me.

Now, just how bad is it?

Depends on how good your imagination is.

Jesus Christ. The specs called for conduit safety covering.

How many fuse terminals did you check?

How many do I have to?

Yeah. Mr. Bigelow is here, sir.

Okay. Send him in. Now, Doug,

one piece of scorched wire from a burned-out circuit breaker is hardly conclusive.

Well, maybe not, but after that, I'm worried about what other shocks we're in for.

Will. Doug.

J.D., wait till you see this.

What happened? Somebody hang the wallpaper upside down?

We have an equipment problem.

No problem in the tower, is there? Could be.

Come on, Doug. You're just guessing. All right. I'm just guessing.

But I want to talk to that son-in-law of yours. I want to talk to him right away.

Okay.

Get me Roger Simmons. Yes, sir.

I'm gonna check this thing out, Mr. Duncan. I guarantee you.

Sure, sure. We're all going to check it out.

I'm missing something.

We damn near had a fire.

Yeah. A fire.

In this building? Come on.

Do you know we haven't even finished installing the safety equipment?

The party should have been put off for at least another month. Now, hold it, Will. Hold it!

Everybody's overreacting.

Yes. Mr. Simmons is out, sir.

- Out where? - They don't know, sir,

but I left word for him to call.

Okay.

We'll talk to Roger tomorrow,

and then we'll decide what to do.

That's okay, isn't it? Nope. Won't wait.

Try Zone 1 again.

Damn it, Harry. This is top priority.

We've got to get these electrical systems back on the beam.

Our whole security program's loused up without 'em.

Don't go away.

Doug. Well, what a surprise.

Where's that electrical genius of yours?

I mean, I called his office, the club, the marina- everywhere. No luck.

What's he done?

Come on. I'll get you a drink.

He must have done something, 'cause my father called.

I haven't heard him that upset in years.

You have any idea where he is?

Well, my husband's territory ranges rather widely.

It's roughly equivalent to that of the timber wolf-

anywhere within a 50-mile radius.

But if you want to wait, he'll show up.

He has to. His clothes are here.

Can I get you a drink? No. No, thanks.

I guess you don't plan to tell me what Roger's done.

Hi, Doug.

Honey. Hello.

What are you drinking these days?

Nothing right now.

Well, welcome back from the wilderness.

To what do we owe the pleasure?

Callahan was testing a backup generator.

There was a power surge and a systems failure.

How can that be? Well, it can't be, theoretically.

Unless you've been screwing around with the electrical specifications.

That's being rather blunt, isn't it?

You betcha.

Then you'll understand my being equally blunt.

What the hell business is it of yours anyway?

Well, I'm just wondering what kind of kickbacks were involved.

I don't have to take crap from you.

Now, listen. We had an electrical flare-up in the main utility room.

It looked to me like some of that wiring wasn't exactly what I asked for.

Every piece of wire I put in that building is strictly up to code- inspected and approved.

The code's not enough for that building.