| Twilight's Last Gleaming | |
|---|---|
| Directed by | Robert Aldrich |
| Produced by | Merv Adelson |
| Written by | Ronald M. Cohen and Edward Huebsch (screenplay) Walter Wager (novel) |
| Starring | Burt Lancaster Richard Widmark Charles Durning Paul Winfield William Smith |
| Music by | Jerry Goldsmith |
| Cinematography | Robert B. Hauser |
| Editing by | Michael Luciano William Martin Maury Winetrobe |
| Distributed by | Lorimar Productions |
| Release date(s) | February 9, 1977 |
| Running time | 146 min. |
| Language | English |
Twilight's Last Gleaming is a 1977 film directed by Robert Aldrich, starring Burt Lancaster and Richard Widmark.
Loosely based on a 1971 novel, Viper Three by Walter Wager, it tells the story of Lawrence Dell, a renegade USAF general, who escapes from a military prison and takes over an ICBM silo near Montana, threatening to launch the missiles and start World War III unless the President reveals a top secret document to the American people about the Vietnam War.
A split screen technique is used at several points in the movie to give the audience insight into the simultaneously occurring strands of the storyline. The film's title, which functions on several levels, is taken from The Star-Spangled Banner, the national anthem of the United States of America:
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After escaping from a military prison an Air Force general (Burt Lancaster) and two accomplices infiltrate an ICBM complex and gain launch control over its nine nuclear missiles. They then make direct contact with the US government (avoiding any media attention) and demand both ten million dollars ransom and, more importantly, that the president (Charles Durning) go on national television and make public the contents of a top secret document. The document, which is unknown to the current president but not to certain members of his cabinet, contains conclusive proof that the US government knew there was no realistic hope of winning the Vietnam War but continued fighting it for the sole purpose of demonstrating to the Soviet Union their unwavering commitment to defeating communism. While the president and his cabinet debate the practical, personal, and ethical aspects of agreeing to these demands they also authorize the military to send an elite team to penetrate the ICBM complex and incinerate its command center with a very low-yield tactical nuclear device. When this attempt is discovered the hostage takers respond by initiating a missile launch. As the military and president watch the underground missile silo launch covers begin to open they agree to call off the attempt and the launch is aborted.
Eventually the president agrees to meet their demands, which also include allowing himself to be taken hostage and used as a human shield while the renegade general and his team make their escape from the complex. As the president leaves the White House he asks the secretary of state to release the document should he be killed in the process. Army snipers kill the general but also shoot the president, who with his dying breath asks the secretary of state if he will release the document. The secretary can not bring himself to answer.
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