(1957), written by Arthur Hailey (who also penned the 1968 novel "Airport") about an airplane crew that succumbs to food poisoning; "Jet Storm" and "Jet Over the Atlantic", two 1959 films both featuring attempts to blow up an airplane in mid-flight; "The Crowded Sky" (1960) which depicts a mid-air collision; and "The Doomsday Flight" (1966), written by Rod Serling and starring Edmond O'Brien as a disgruntled aerospace engineer who plants a barometric pressure bomb on an airliner built by his former employer set to explode when the airliner descends for landing. The golden age of the disaster film began in 1970 with the release of "Airport". A huge financial success earning more than $100 million ($590 million in 2017-adjusted dollars), at the box office, the film was directed by George Seaton and starred Burt Lancaster, Dean Martin, George Kennedy, Jacqueline Bisset and Helen Hayes. While not exclusively focused on a disaster, in this case, an airplane crippled by the explosion of a bomb, the film established the blueprint of multiple plotlines acted out by an all-star cast. "Airport" was nominated for 10 Academy Awards including Best Picture, winning Best Supporting Actress for Hayes. With the 1972 release of "The Poseidon Adventure", another huge financial success notching an impressive $84 million in US/Canada gross rental theatrical rentals ($490 Million in 2017-adjusted dollars), the disaster film officially became a movie-going craze. Directed by Ronald Neame and starring Gene Hackman, Ernest Borgnine, Shelley Winters and Red Buttons, the film detailed survivors' attempts at escaping a sinking ocean liner overturned by a giant wave triggered by an earthquake. "The Poseidon Adventure" was nominated for eight Academy Awards, including Best Supporting Actress for Shelley Winters and winning for Original Song and receiving a Special Achievement Award for visual effects. The trend reached its zenith in 1974 with the release of "The Towering Inferno", "Earthquake" and "Airport 1975" (the first "Airport" sequel). The competing films enjoyed staggering success at the box office, with "The Towering Inferno" earning $116 million - 548 million in 2017 adjusted dollars, "Earthquake" $79 million - 376 million in 2017 adjusted dollars, and "Airport 1975" $47 million - 235 million in 2017 adjusted dollars - in theatrical rentals. Arguably the greatest of the 1970s disaster films, "The Towering Inferno" was a joint venture of 20th Century Fox and Warner Bros. and was produced by Irwin Allen (eventually known as "The Master of Disaster", as he had previously helmed "The Poseidon Adventure" and later produced "The Swarm", "Beyond the Poseidon Adventure" and "When Time Ran Out...").