The Hostage Tower

The Hostage Tower (1980)

1000 feet above Paris, a group of Master Criminals play a game of death.

A flamboyant master criminal and several specialists stage an audacious scheme to capture the Eiffel Tower and hold as hostage one of its visitors, the U.S. President's mother, while the head of a UN security force tries to stop them.

Date of release
1980-09-19
TMDB
4.8 / 10 (8)
Runtime
1h 40m
Genres
Thriller, Crime
Director
Claudio Guzmán
Collection
Detonator Collection

Casting

Interesting facts

The Hostage Tower is a 1980 American spy and thriller television film starring Peter Fonda and Douglas Fairbanks Jr., and directed by Claudio Guzmán, well known for his work in sitcoms. It is based on a story by Alistair MacLean. A book based on MacLean's story by John Denis was the first in the series of UNACO books.

Production

In the early 1970s, a series of films based on MacLean novels had not performed well at the American box office, including When Eight Bells Toll, Puppet on a Chain and Fear Is the Key. MacLean decided to focus on American television, collaborating with producers Peter Snell and Jerry Leider.

In 1977 Leider and Snell suggested MacLean write some story ideas for a series. The author prepared eight outlines which dealt with the activities of a crime fighting group, the United Nations Anti-Crime Organization (UNACO).

He wrote a 120 page novella called Air Force One is Down about top executives of various oil companies travelling in Air Force One when it is hijacked. The idea was turned down by NBC. MacLean then pitched a number of new ideas to networks, each with a 25-30 page treatment. The Hostage Tower was approved by CBS.

Filming took twelve weeks starting in October 1979. The entire film was shot in Paris with three weeks shooting on the tower itself. Filming dates were arranged so the Tower scenes were shot during the slow season.

The film marked Douglas Fairbanks Jnr's return to screen acting after a long absence, although he had regularly appeared on stage. As Douglas recalled: "I've been away so long that nothing feels tempting. But this one has a quality team and a sense of sharing that is really creative".

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