Going to Blazes!

As a Fire Officer and Instructor, this could still be a useful tool in the Fire Service. It has value in basic Recruit Academies. It could also be used as a guide for developing modern PSAs for the public. I must find a copy of it!

There is another fire. The fire department is called. It is another person smoking in bed. In L. A., there are 20k fires a year.

MGM presents Theatre of Life with the cooperation of LAFD. It is most interesting to see the behind-the-scenes within the fire department. All the early communication and file keeping like the punch cards before advanced computing is amazing. That stuff looks cool. That's a tiny part of this short. There are the old fire engines and some fire footages. Those parts are fine. Certainly, those aspects of fire fighting haven't changed as much. This is good educational film. So much beans.

This is a Theatre of Life series entry of educational shorts. This one takes place at a fire department in LA. When someone calls for an emergency, she's asked what street. She answers with a name then they ask if it's "Avenue" or "Street". She says "Place". Then they ID by looking at lots of file cards put on a circular file. We find out one fire was caused by someone smoking in bed. One of the men is preparing a meal when he gets called for duty. When he returns, that meal is burned so he opens a can of baked beans and serves that for lunch when they're called again. The film ends after we're told and shown how to prevent a fire from even starting. So on that note, Going to Blazes! is worth a look for anyone interested in these vintage PSA films.

This 1948 LA Fire Department documentary was just shown on TCM as a filler and was fantastic! To see those 1950's firehouses and firetrucks in action, being buffed, cleaned and maintained, that are now only seen in parades and classic car shows. Of course much of the film is still the same, the demands and discipline of the job, and how so many fires are caused by simple carelessness. I wonder if showing this film helped people clean and organize their homes. I was fascinated by the "state of the art" technology employed to locate and ring the right fire station from that frantic phone caller, employing a tremendous Rolodex file and crazy patch board. And I always love seeing those 1950's vibrant neighborhood shopping streets full of cars and shoppers. Fantastic visual images take your right back in time. Thank you TCM!

Gunther von Fritsch directs this typically handsome 'Theater of Life' short -- camerawork courtesy of Floyd Crosby -- along with the narrator, who speaks in short paragraphs, like he's reading things off small index cards.

Firemen have been a favorite of the movies since early in the 20th Century. LIFE OF AN AMERICAN FIREMAN was a major hit for Edison -- much more so than LIFE OF AN AMERICAN POLICEMAN. That's because a fire man is the guy who comes by to save life and property in an emergency. Cops, especially at the time I write this, alas -- are not always seen as benign.