Fires Were Started
| Fires Were Started | |
|---|---|
C.M. Pennington-Richards | |
| Edited by | Stewart McAllister |
| Music by | William Alwyn |
| Distributed by | Crown Film Unit |
Release date | 12 April 1943 (UK) |
Running time | 65 min. |
| Country | United Kingdom |
| Language | English |
Fires Were Started is a 1943 British film written and directed by Humphrey Jennings. Filmed in documentary style, it shows the lives of firefighters through the Blitz during the Second World War. The film uses actual firemen (including Cyril Demarne) rather than professional actors.
Production
Exterior shots were filmed on location, while the interior scenes were shot at Pinewood Studios. Jennings's first cut of the film was titled I Was a Fireman and ran to 74 minutes. This was cut down to 65 minutes and released as Fires Were Started.
Critical reception
Film critics mostly praised the film for its realism and documentary value, despite its reconstructions.
See also
References
- ^ Winston 1999, p. 66.
Bibliography
- Winston, Brian (1999). Fires Were Started. BFI Film classics. London: BFI Publishing. ISBN 978-0-85170-773-0.
External links
- Fires Were Started at IMDb
- Fires Were Started at the BFI's Screenonline
| International | |
|---|---|
| National | |
 | This article about a documentary film on World War II is a stub. You can help Wikipedia by expanding it. |
 | This article related to a British film of the 1940s is a stub. You can help Wikipedia by expanding it. |