Towering Inferno department: I saw some exteriors of this being filmed. My girlfriend at the time and I went to SF to visit her brother and we were walking down a street when we noticed some big krieg lights, and headed off in that direction. Lo and behold we walked around a corner and there was Steve McQueen in a fireman's outfit, standing right next to a sawhorse that had the street blocked off. There weren't even that many people standing around. There was a big crane with the camera and lots of production people, but we only saw McQueen, in terms of stars.
If only he had said "point to it" department: I've been having a blast watching some kinescopes of late 50s tv dramas and there was a jaw-dropping commercial moment in one of them. Picture this: the scene opens on two destitute and barely clad young children walking through a third world shanty town. One assumes we are watching a Christian Children's Fund or somesuch spot. The sonorous tones of John Cameron Swayze start talking about world poverty and how the lack of power is harming people worldwide. Cut to a studio shot of Swayze in front of a backdrop featuring a beautiful cloud-speckled sky. What is he shilling? Ready??? Westinghouse Atomic Power Plants!!
But, wait, that's not the best part. In a truly mind-boggling denouement, he picks up a small container and states, "With only this small shoebox full of uranium, we could have enough power--peaceful power--to guarantee well-being for the entire world."
So, dear HHW-ers, I add to my staple of catch phrases, "With only this small shoebox of uranium..." which can be followed by any pronouncement of your choosing.
