Hanging by a Thread

This saga tells the story of several people stranded in a tram car far above a canyon, with a lot of familiar television actors showing all kinds of panic. The film has just about everything: a bad, rich guy (Cameron Mitchell); a conscientious and honest whistleblower (Sam Groom); a rich drunk guy (Bert Convy); a death from falling off a horse; a love triangle; an obnoxious little kid; a corrupt developer (Oliver Clark) with a screaming blonde wife (Joyce Bulifant); a fire caused by the careless use of lighter fluid and matches; two hit men with a rifle; a bitterly feuding married couple (Patty Duke and Burr DeBenning); a federal agent (Roger Perry) who shoots a fake mailman through a door...well, that's just the start.

A tram far above a rocky canyon is struck by lightning and rendered immobile, so the occupants spend over three hours arguing with each other via a confusing series of flashbacks. It has all the hallmarks of an Irwin Allen disaster movie, so my wife and I had a great time predicting what would happen next, and we were always right. Bert Convy, Bulifant, Donna Mills, Perry, Mitchell, and Groom are really quite good in this three hour time-waster, so I guess if you have a slow evening you'll probably enjoy it if you don't think about it too much.

To be fair, it's over 30 years ago since I saw this film in the days when there were only 3 channels. So it was either this, a documentary about basket weaving on BBC1, or 'The Money Programme' on BBC2. It must have had an impact on me though to have remembered it and looked it up on IMDB all these years later. I basically remember about 20 minutes of actual action in the cablecar, and the rest of the 3 hours or whatever it was, as the characters dull backstories delivered by rather annoying and tedious flashbacks, just to leave you tutting when you thought it was just starting to get slightly interesting.

You could probably make quite a good comedy spoof movie these days based on 'Hanging by a thread' and be sure nobody would take you to court for copyright theft, as the few people who watched it probably won't remember it, and the people who produced probably won't want to own up to it.

If you've stolen money from a children's cancer charity collection box or drowned some kittens and want to punish yourself for it, then watch this film. Your debt to society will be paid in full.

Who am I kidding though. About as many people are going to read this review as have met a Jehovas witness that takes 'no' for an answer.

Even the Disaster movies already had drained and the audience no longer were interested in this kind of genre, the king of disasters Irwin Allen didn't give up, he has stakes higher sum of money in TV movie supported by Warner Bros. Television about a huge Aireal Tramway stuck by a lightning on the highest dangerous spot upon steel cable about to be break, so he teamed up his old crew-employees as Arthur Weiss as production executive, his costumary collaborator Richard La Salle providing the music score and his old buddy for costume designer Paul Zastupnevich, also bringing some actors and actress who he used worked with in several past-productions as Cameron Mitchell, Paul Fix, Deanna Lund, Steve Marlo and Paul Carr.

The overlong picture split in two parts, a surreal storyline about a rotten Uptowners private club of successful couples as the inheritor of a wealthy father the boozer Alan Durant (Bert Convy) who dreams get back his former girlfriend Ellen Craig (Donna Mills) married with a brainy engineer Paul Craig (Sam Groom), in other hand Jim Grainger (Burr DeBenning) who lives blessing by Alan Durant's support, having in dire straits with his wife Sue Grainger (Patty Duke Astin) due his disloyalty and at last the schemer Eddie Minton (Oliver Clark) and his bleak past with his wife Anita Minton (Joyce Bulifant) just to sumarize a long melodramatic-disaster offering, told by flashbacks.

When these couple taking a trip in a higher Aerial Tramway in a storming day, it all together is a full plate for Irwin Allen's conceptive picture, all kind of oddities will going to happen like it or not, how a possibility even remote that a lightning will strikes at exact point of wheel and the cable at same time? One million per one? Wrong at Irwin Allen's mind just on the third time is enough, granted, now the Aerial Tramway is stuck at higher spot, plus also the rescue car is unable by electric failure, to worsening someone intents to kill Paul Craig by he be a squealer of a fraudulent supplies of steel plates to US's Army, could it be worst, just watch by yourself if have a nerve to stand awake for three hours and fifteen minutes long.

Thanks for reading.

Resume:

First watch: 2024 / How many: 1 / Source: DVD / Rating: 5.5.

A handful of people are trapped in a cable car which gives them a lot of time to flashback on past events.

I have seen all of Irwin Allen's disaster movies and can say without question that this is his second worst disaster film ever made! Cave-In (1979) is his worst.

Irwin was a film maker about BIG ideas and big disasters so I can only guess he was totally out of ideas when he made a cable car flick!!

This four hour TV movie is slow and very boring. Only two things kept my attention - the music cues which stole from Lost In Space, Land of the Giants, Planet of the Apes and a short appearance from Land of the Giants cast member Deanna Lund. Everything else was terrible.

Hanging by a Thread is not often seen and talked about for good reason - it stinks!