The Poseidon Adventure movie storyline. At midnight on New Year’s Eve, the SS Poseidon is struck by a 90-foot tidal wave and is capsized. Reverend Frank Scott leads nine survivors; an elderly couple, Manny and Belle Rosen headed to Israel to see their grandson; A New York detective and his ex-prostitute wife, Mike and Linda Rogo on their second honeymoon to Italy; A young brother and sister, Robin and Susan Shelby going to meet their parents in Greece; A haberdasher James Martin; a pop singer Nonnie Parry, and a waiter from the ship Acres. They travel from the grand ballroom struggling through, steam, fire and rising water in the upside-down ship to reach the bottom (the propeller shaft), now the top.
The Poseidon Adventure is a 1972 American disaster film directed by Ronald Neame, produced by Irwin Allen, and based on Paul Gallico’s eponymous 1969 novel. It features an ensemble cast, including five Oscar winners: Gene Hackman; Ernest Borgnine; Jack Albertson; Shelley Winters; and Red Buttons. The plot centers on the fictional SS Poseidon, an aged luxury liner on her final voyage from New York City to Athens 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 preacher attempts to lead a small group of survivors to safety.
It is in the vein of other all-star disaster films of the early-mid 1970s such as Airport (1970), Earthquake (1974), and The Towering Inferno (1974). By the end of 1974, it was regarded as a widely successful film. The film won two Academy Awards, a Golden Globe Award, a British Academy Film Award, and a Motion Picture Sound Editors Award. A sequel, Beyond the Poseidon Adventure (1979), also based on a novel by Gallico, was a critical and commercial failure.
The novel was acquired by Avco Embassy in 1969 and Allen’s Kent Productions signed a deal with them to make three movies, including The Poseidon Adventure. Avco Embassy cancelled the production and it moved to 20th Century Fox who contributed half of the budget. Steve Broidy and Sherrill Corwin helped finance the rest. Parts of the movie were filmed aboard the RMS Queen Mary.
The film won a Special Achievement Academy Award for Visual Effects and an Academy Award for Best Original Song (for “The Song from The Poseidon Adventure”, also known as “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 Score by John Williams.
The Poseidon Adventure (1972)
Directed by: Ronald Neame
Starring: Gene Hackman, Ernest Borgnine, Red Buttons, Carol Lynley, Shelley Winters, Roddy McDowall, Stella Stevens, Sheila Allen, Pamela Sue Martin, Arthur O’Connell, Eric Shea, Leslie Nielsen
Screenplay by: Stirling Silliphant, Wendell Mayes
Production Design by: William J. Creber
Cinematography by: Harold E. Stine
Film Editing by: Harold E. Stine
Costume Design by: Paul Zastupnevich
Set Decoration by: Raphael Bretton
Music by: John Williams
MPAA Rating: None.
Distributed by: 20th Century Fox
Release Date: December 12, 1972
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