Fires Were Started (1943)

Director:

Humphrey Jennings

Writer:

Humphrey Jennings (writer)

Genre:

Documentary | Drama

Plot:

A new man joins the civilian firefighters at a London unit during the Second World War. He meets his fellow firemen and firewomen...

Cast

Philip Dickson	...	Walters (uncredited)
George Gravett	...	Dykes (uncredited)
Fred Griffiths	...	Johnny Daniels (uncredited)
Johnny Houghton	...	S.H. Jackson (uncredited)
Loris Rey	...	J. Rumbold (uncredited)

Directed by
Humphrey Jennings

Writing credits (in alphabetical order)
Humphrey Jennings		writer

Produced by
Ian Dalrymple	....	producer

Original Music by
William Alwyn

Cinematography by
C.M. Pennington-Richards		(as C. Pennington-Richards)

Film Editing by
Stewart McAllister

Production Management
Nora Dawson	....	unit manager
Dora Wright	....	production manager

Art Department
Edward Carrick	....	set construction

Sound Department
Jock May	....	sound recordist

Camera and Electrical Department
Denny Densham	....	camera operator (uncredited)

Music Department
Ken Cameron	....	music recordist
Muir Mathieson	....	musical director

Other crew
Maurice Richardson	....	story collaborator

Production Companies

• Crown Film Unit

Distributors

• Image Entertainment (2002) (USA) (DVD)

Also Known As:

I Was a Fireman

Runtime:

80 min

Country:

UK

Language:

English

Color:

Black and White

Aspect Ratio:

1.37 : 1

Sound Mix:

Mono (RCA Sound System)

Certification:

Finland:K-8

Company:

Crown Film Unit

Trivia:

The firefighting scenes are reconstructions, not actual events. The director set fire to some already bombed buildings and the firemen demonstrated their methods of putting out a blaze.

Movie Connections:

Featured in Humphrey Jennings: The Man Who Listened to Britain (2000) (TV)

A realistic drama documentary about the blitz.

As in 'The Silent Village' Jennings is here experimenting with improvised dialogue (there was no proper shooting script) and an amateur cast (who were all serving London firemen). However, the result has been expanded into what is virtually a full-length drama.

Again, there are haunting images. But the whole thing is played in such a low-key fashion that everything looks natural. (One of the fireman who took part said that it was an accurate representation - apart from the omission of the universal swearing!)

The most famous scene is the group preparing for the nights work. Each enters to a verse of the old counting song 'One Man Went To Mow', which is being accompanied on the piano. How many will be left by morning?

The film was released in two versions - hence the two titles. It was very well received, but eclipsed by the release of another (more conventional) film about the fire service called 'The Bells Go Down', starring the popular comedian Tommy Trinder. (This is not to disparage this feature film, which was also realistic in its approach.)