The Poseidon Adventure (1972)

The Poseidon Adventure
Directed by Ronald Neame
Written by Sterling Silliphant and Wendell Mayes from a novel by Paul Gallico
1972/US
IMDb page
First viewing/Amazon Prime rental

Mrs. Belle Rosen: You see, Mr. Scott? In the water I’m a very skinny lady.

Disaster movies may be my new guilty pleasure.  This one was the perfect blend of corny, campy, and vastly entertaining.  Might be funnier than Airplane! (1980).

The aged cruise liner Poseidon is taking its final voyage from New York to Athens, where it will be scrapped.  It is New Years Eve.  The evil ship owner rep wants the captain to speed up.  That plot point goes nowhere as a giant tidal wave hits the ship and capsizes it right after midnight as the passengers are celebrating the New Year.  The ship’s hull is now on top.  Only a few special passengers will be smart enough to heed the advise of radical preacher Rev. Frank Scott (Gene Hackman), who seems to know everything about everything, and follow him on a climb ever upward toward the “weak spot” in the hull.  The purser of the ship tells everybody else to stay put and await rescue.

We have been introduced to the survival party during the New Year’s Eve exposition party. They are the aforementioned Rev. Scott who always seems to be yelling and generally bossing everyone around; devoted couple Belle (Shelley Winters), a fat grandmotherly ex-champion swimmer, and Manny Rosen; loud kvetching ex-cop Mike Rogo (Ernest Borgnine) and his sexy former-prostitute wife Linda (Stella Stevens); waiter Acres (Roddy McDowell), who has vital info on certain ship locations; lonely bachelor James Martin (Red Buttons); nervous-Nellie singer Nonnie Perry (Carol Lynley); and know-it-all little kid Robin (Eric Shea) and his teenage sister Susan (Pamela Sue Anderson). The characters act like their scripted character traits at all times.

The journey to navigate their way off the ship is fraught with terrible peril.  And there are explosions going off the whole time.  With Leslie Nielsen as the ship’s captain adding to the Airplane! vibe.

Cast and director Ronald Neame celebrate the film’s two Oscar wins and seven nominations on the set

70’s disaster films didn’t seem like they’d be for me when they were originally released so I avoided them in my youth.  This movie is a hoot.  The all-star cast of actors seem to be competing for biggest ham.  The dreadful “dramatic” dialogue helps them out in that regard.  Every scene is calculated to elicit some emotion from the audience.  Generally they fail.  Some of the plot doesn’t make any sense.  But I enjoyed every single minute. The production values are excellent.  The film moves along like lightening and the cast looks like it was having a lot of fun.  Would recommend to those looking for a good time.

Al Kasha and Joel Hirschhorn won the Oscar for Best Original Song (“The Morning After”). The film won a Special Achievement Award for its visual effects. It was nominated in the categories of Best Supporting Actress (Winters); Best Cinematography; Best Art Direction-Set Decoration; Best Costume Design; Best Sound; Best Film Editing; and Best Music Original Dramatic Score (John Williams).

Song perfectly fits movie and the times in which we live – I have always loved it