Directed By: Earl Bellamy
Starring: Ernest Borgnine, Vera Miles, Patty Duke
Tag line: "Another burning sensation from the producer of The Towering Inferno"
Trivia: This made-for-television movie was released theatrically overseas
The '70s was the decade of the disaster movie, not only on the big screen (Airport, The Poseidon Adventure, The Towering Inferno) but the small one as well. As a kid, I watched a number of made-for-television disaster flicks (The Savage Bees, Smash-Up on Interstate 5), including 1977's Fire!, about an out-of-control blaze and the Oregon community it practically destroys.
While a group of convicts is working in a forest, one intentionally starts a small fire, in the hopes he can slip away during the ensuing chaos. The remaining inmates work together to extinguish the fire, and believe they have put it out. Pleased with themselves, they head back to the prison.
Unfortunately, they didn't finish the job, and before long, a blaze is burning out of control, threatening the nearby town of Silverton and all who live there.
With the help of a brave few, including Sam Brisbane (Ernest Borgnine), owner of the lumber yard; and Drs. Alex (Alex Cord) and Peggy Wilson (Patty Duke), the firefighters do all they can to contain the fire and rescue those trapped within the ever-growing wall of flames.
There aren’t many living in Silverton, and in typical disaster-movie fashion, we’re introduced to just about all of them in the opening scenes of Fire!. Sam Brisbane has been trying for years to hook up with widow Martha Wagner (Vera Miles), who has been unwilling to commit. Alex and Peggy Wilson, both of whom work in the medical field, are getting a divorce because they can’t agree where to settle down (he wants to do research in New York, and she wants to teach medicine in Los Angeles).
Then there’s old Doc Bennett (Lloyd Nolan), the kind of small-town doctor you only find in the movies, who wrecks his car on a back road when he swerves to miss a bear; and Bill Clay (James W. Gavin), the helicopter pilot who has just been offered a lucrative new job, only to celebrate the news by fighting yet another forest fire.
To top it off, local teacher Harriett (Donna Mills) takes her class into the woods for a picnic, spots the fire, and decides to bolt. Unfortunately, one student, Judy (Michelle Stacy), has wandered off, giving the film its first bit of drama.
This early build-up, where we learn all we can about the various characters, is pretty standard stuff, and even gets a little schmaltzy on occasion (Dan Harder, the fire chief played by Gene Evans, pauses at one point to release a baby bunny he rescued). But these scenes are nonetheless serviceable, and work as our introduction to the citizens of Silverton.
Unfortunately, Fire! is too character-driven, and does not feature nearly enough action. The attempt to rescue Judy lacks any real tension, and the firefighting sequences are nothing more than shot after shot of guys shoveling dirt onto the blaze. There are a few tense moments, and a cool stunt or two (one volunteer falls from a tall tree, completely engulfed in flames), but it isn’t until the fire starts reaching populated areas that things get thrilling, and by the time that happens, there’s not a whole lot of movie left!
Fire! has its merits, yet is not nearly intense enough to rank among the decade's best disaster outings.
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