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Twilight's Last Gleaming

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6.4/10 • 69

1977-02-092h 26m

Thriller

We have invaded Silo 3. We are prepared to launch nine nuclear missiles. We demand ten million dollars, Air Force One... and you, Mr President.

A renegade USAF general, Lawrence Dell, escapes from a military prison and takes over an ICBM silo near Montana and threatens to provoke World War 3 unless the President reveals details of a secret meeting held just after the start of the Vietnam War between Dell and the then President's most trusted advisors.

Directors
Robert Aldrich
Editors
Maury Winetrobe

Top Billed Cast

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  1. Burt Lancaster

    Burt Lancaster

    Gen. Lawrence Dell

  2. Roscoe Lee Browne

    Roscoe Lee Browne

    James Forrest

  3. Charles Durning

    Charles Durning

    President David T. Stevens

  4. Joseph Cotten

    Joseph Cotten

    Arthur Renfrew - Secretary of State

  5. Melvyn Douglas

    Melvyn Douglas

    Zachariah Guthrie

  6. Richard Jaeckel

    Richard Jaeckel

    Capt. Stanford Towne

  7. William Marshall

    William Marshall

    William Klinger - Attorney General

  8. Gerald S. O'Loughlin

    Gerald S. O'Loughlin

    Brig. Gen. O'Rourke

  9. Richard Widmark

    Richard Widmark

    Gen. Martin MacKenzie - Commanding General SA

Reviews2

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John Chard Avatar

John Chard

Mar 22, 2020

8/10

Gentlemen, we are now a superpower. Twilight's Last Gleaming is directed by Robert Aldrich and collectively written by Ronald M. Cohen, Edward Huebsch and Walter Wager (novel "Viper Three"). It stars Burt Lancaster, Burt Young, Richard Widmark, Roscoe Lee Browne, Joseph Cotten, Charles Durning, Melvyn Douglas, Richard Jaeckel and William Marshall. Music is by Jerry Goldsmith and cinematography by Robert B. Hauser. A renegade USAF general, Lawrence Dell (Lancaster), escapes from a military prison and takes over an ICBM silo near Montana and threatens to provoke World War 3 unless the President reveals details of what the Vietnam War was really all about... Twilight's Last Gleaming is the sort of tight gripping politico thriller that we could do with more of these days. Aldrich, a damn fine director of ensemble casts, slips on his angry hat and gets subversive as he implores the U.S. Presidency of the 70s to make do on the promise of an open armed government. At over two hours and twenty minutes in length, Aldrich asks his audience to buy into every single sentence being spoken. With so many characters involved in the story, we are treated to a number of split screen scenarios, this is where we can follow what is being said in the various key areas of the plot at the same time - and it's high quality. The pace never sags, and as the president (Durning) and his advisors sweat on Dell's very real threat, so too do we the audience as the paranoia of the story seeps out from every camera Aldrich uses. Still relevant today, this demands to be seen and evaluated by more like minded film fans. With a cast responding in full to a shrewd director, and a story of great worth that builds to a crushing finale, Twilight's Last Gleaming is well worth your time. 8/10

Media

  • Twilight's Last Gleaming poster
  • Twilight's Last Gleaming poster
  • Twilight's Last Gleaming poster
  • Twilight's Last Gleaming poster
  • Twilight's Last Gleaming poster
  • Twilight's Last Gleaming poster

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Status
Released
Original Language
English
Budget
--
Revenue
--
Keywords
based on novel or bookgeneralmontananuclear missilenuclear threatmilitarysilo