Disaster on the Coastliner

Disaster on the Coastliner
Genre Action
Drama
Distributed by ABC
Directed by Richard C. Sarafian
Produced by Frank von Zerneck
Written by David Ambrose
Starring Lloyd Bridges
Raymond Burr
Robert Fuller
Pat Hingle
E. G. Marshall
Yvette Mimieux
William Shatner
Paul L. Smith
Music by Gerald Fried
Cinematography Fred J. Koenekamp
Editing by Robert Florio
Production company Filmways Television
Moonlight Productions
Country United States
Language English
Original channel ABC
Release date
  • October 28, 1979 (US)
Running time 100 minutes

Disaster on the Coastliner is 1979 television film about a disgruntled railroad employee who attempts to cause a collision between two passenger trains. It was directed by Richard C. Sarafian and starred Lloyd Bridges, Raymond Burr, Robert Fuller, Pat Hingle, E. G. Marshall, Yvette Mimieux, William Shatner, and Paul L. Smith. It originally aired on The ABC Sunday Night Movie.

Production

The film was shot on a disused railway line in Connecticut. At his own suggestion William Shatner did his own stunts, including standing atop an F40PH. Years later Shatner called the stunt "the most truly dangerous stunt I ever did" and couldn't imagine "what [he] was thinking" in suggesting it. Shatner compared it to the work he'd done in Kingdom of the Spiders, and wondered which was worse: "standing on top of a speeding locomotive without any kind of safety cable or gluing tarantulas to your face?"[1]:105-108 Jack Sessums worked on the miniature effects and had his work profiled in TV Guide.[2]

Release

Disaster on the Coastliner premiered on The ABC Sunday Night Movie on October 28, 1979.[3]

See also

List of television films produced for American Broadcasting Company

References

  1. Shatner, William (2008). Up Till Now. Thomas Dunne Books. ISBN 0-312-37265-5.
  2. Stuck, Nelda M. (December 18, 2004). "Jack Sessums, engineer, film special effects producer, dies". Redlands Daily Facts   via HighBeam (subscription required) . Retrieved May 27, 2013.
  3. "Disaster on the Coastliner (1979)". New York Times. Retrieved 2013-05-27.

External links