On Dec. 16, 1974, 20th-Fox and Warner Bros. unveiled in theaters what would become a landmark disaster movie, The Towering Inferno.

Released 50 years ago this month, 'The Towering Inferno' marked the peak of that most '70s film genre: the disaster movie.

50 years of The Towering Inferno: Why Paul Newman, Steve McQueen, William Holden, Faye Dunaway & Fred Astaire's disaster thriller kept audiences glued to the edge of their seats From Fire! (1901 ...