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)

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)

War at Home

This is among the best "British Home" movies I know. I'm watching a few of these because I'm involved with the 7-up series and am fascinated by how the Brits like to define themselves in film.

This has a lot that recommends it in that way. It was made about the war during the war. Nearly all films of that period focused on the elements of being English that the citizens themselves wanted woven into their story.

It is about firefighters, a sort of military type but placed in the middle of lives. At home, not abroad. So they dance and joke as men in their native land, not in an alien place. Its defense in the purest of senses. The story in fact involves the Germans trying to bomb the docks to prevent war materiel from embarking. And you see valiant acts to protect the ships from the burning warehouses.

But most of all, it employs non-actors, real firemen of the time in their real firehouses and suits, more or less acting as they would (but we discover, with no swearing).

The whole thing is amazingly engaging. Sure the story is trite; nearly all are. Sure the actual cinematic values are ordinary. But it gobsmacks you to know that you are not seeing a set with actors. This is the real destruction. These are the real men.

Its no slick "Ladder 49" or "Private Ryan." Its far better.

Ted's Evaluation -- 3 of 3: Worth watching.