MovieChat Forums > The Swarm (1978) Discussion > Why the movie went BAD....

Why the movie went BAD....

posted 10 years ago by ddc300
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Unlike his earlier hits, "The Swarm" is unique in that producer Irwin Allen was given 100% control over the film as part of his contract agreement with Warner Bros. His former studio, 20th Century-Fox had turned down Irwin's insistence at directing as well as producing movies. Fox knew that Irwin was only good at directing special effects and action sequences and could not handle an entire picture. It took Warner Bros. two flops with Irwin before they realized their contractual mistake.

The films problem is mainly with the script....and I suspect that good ol' Irwin was 'looking over the shoulder' of Stirling Silliphant as he wrote it! Silliphant got an Acadmeny Award for "In the Heat of the Night", which he so rightly deserved. And of course he penned both "The Poseidon Adventure" and "The Towering Inferno" for Irwin allen. But for "the Swarm" script to be so downright amateur with scenes and dialogue that it leads me to believe Irwin influenced Silliphant's final draft with his input (most likely the train wreck sequence, pregnant woman & her doctor, and the 'puppy love' triangle of Ben Johnson, De Haviland, and MacMurray).

[–] StuOz 10 years ago

I would say Fox were a bit extreme in the view that Allen could only handle action and effects. Were they forgetting that Allen directed the wonderful Time Tunnel pilot - Rendezvous With Yesterday!

There was a bit more to this pilot that action and effects. In fact, I would say the dialogue scenes between James Darren (Tony) and Michael Rennie (The Titanic Captain) were some of the most powerful/touching moments in screen history!!!!!!!!

All the TT command centre dialogue was also of high standard.

Some might respond to this by saying: "Yes but most of those 1960s fantasy shows had big wonderful pilots (see Batman, Star Trek and Outer Limits), regardless of who was directing"

That is true but I suspect Allen was not as limited as Fox would think.
However, I admit Allen's directing skills on City Beneath The Sea (1971) left a bit to be desired. Someone has to take blame for Robert Colbert saying this line so badly: "...that's right we all take orders....just like Bill Holmes did."