Fires Were Started
- 1943
- 1h 3m
IMDb RATING
6.4/10
1.3K
YOUR RATING
A tale of firefighters in London during the Blitz.A tale of firefighters in London during the Blitz.A tale of firefighters in London during the Blitz.
Philip Dickson
- Walters
- (uncredited)
George Gravett
- Dykes
- (uncredited)
Fred Griffiths
- Johnny Daniels
- (uncredited)
Johnny Houghton
- S.H. Jackson
- (uncredited)
Loris Rey
- J. Rumbold
- (uncredited)
William Sansom
- Fireman Playing the Piano
- (uncredited)
- Director
- Writer
- All cast & crew
- Production, box office & more at IMDbPro
Storyline
Did you know
- TriviaThe 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.
Featured review
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.)
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.)
helpful•141
- shrbw
- Feb 3, 2002
Details
- Runtime1 hour 3 minutes
- Color
- Aspect ratio
- 1.37 : 1
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