Fires Were Started

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Fires Were Started
Directed by Humphrey Jennings
Produced by Ian Dalrymple
Written by Humphrey Jennings
Starring George Gravett
Phillip Wilson-Dickson
Fred Griffiths
Loris Rey
Johnny Houghton
T.P. Smith
John Barker
Music by William Alwyn
Cinematography C.M. Pennington-Richards
Editing by Stewart McAllister
Distributed by Crown Film Unit
Release dates 12 April 1943 (UK)
Running time 80 min.
Country United Kingdom
Language English

Fires Were Started (1943) is a British film written and directed by Humphrey Jennings, filmed in documentary style showing the lives of firefighters through the Blitz in World War II. The film uses actual firemen (including Cyril Demarne) rather than professional actors.

The film was also released under the title I Was a Fireman.

Production

Exterior shots were filmed on location. Interior scenes were shot at Pinewood Studios.

Critical reception

Film critics mostly praised the film for its realism and documentary value, despite its reconstructions. Dilys Powell, of the Sunday Times declared its authenticity to be 'moving and terrifying'.[1]

See also

References

  1. ↑ Winston, Fires Were Started, p. 66.

Bibliography

  • Winston, Brian, Fires Were Started (London, 1999)

External links

The works of Humphrey Jennings
Films
  • Pett and Pott: A Fairy Story of the Suburbs (producer only, 1934)
  • The Story of the Wheel (1934)
  • Locomotives (1934)
  • The Birth of the Robot (dir. Len Lye, 1936)
  • Farewell Topsails (1937)
  • Making Fashion (1938)
  • The Farm (1938)
  • Design for Spring (1938)
  • Penny Journey (1938)
  • Spare Time (1939)
  • The First Days (1939)
  • Cargoes (1939)
  • London Can Take It! (1940)
  • Words for Battle (1941)
  • Listen to Britain (co-director 1942)
  • The True Story of Lilli Marlene (1943)
  • Fires Were Started (aka: I Was A Fireman, 1943)
  • The Silent Village (1943)
  • V. 1 (1944)
  • A Diary for Timothy (1945)
  • A Defeated People (1946)
  • The Cumberland Story (1947)
  • The Dim Little Island (1949)
  • Family Portrait (1950)
  • The Good Life (completed by Graham Wallace 1951)
Other works
  • Pandemonium: The Coming of the Machine as Seen by Contemporary Observers, 1660-1885 (book)


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