Firehouse

Got a little over 20 minutes in. The best joke in that time happened less than a minute in when someone sets an arsonist's fire off before he can and his butt gets burned. The jokes try too hard and have bad delivery, especially the "jokester" character. Audio is horrendous and I think a lot of it had redubbing done poorly, probably due to echos in the firehouse. The boobs that show up every 3-5 minutes are nice, but not really worth watching the film.

So glad to have finally found a copy of this explosive movie "Firehouse". I first saw this movie in the 1970s during the height of what was called "blaxploitation", but now is lovingly called "soul cinema". I collect those movies that I enjoyed so much during the 1970s. This movie stars Richard Roundtree (star of Shaft) and his wife is played by Sheila Frazier (love interest in Super Fly). The other stars are Vince Edwards, Val Avery, Andrew Duggan, Richard Jaeckel, and Paul LeMat. The film itself is low budget, but the quality of the story line and the excellent acting performances make up for the low budget.Roundtree plays a newbie black Fire Fighter who gets assigned to a firehouse that just lost a fireman in a tragic fire. There is a firebug starting fires all over the city and must be caught. Roundtree's marriage is on shaky ground because he has had trouble finding gainful employment and now that he has gotten a great civil service job as a fireman...he must face prejudice and hatred being the only black at his station. Several cities to date in 2012 still deal with racism and prejudice within the Fire Department, so the story line is still relevant to date.

This 1973 movie was the pilot for the ABC TV series Firehouse which ran on Thursdays at 8:30pm from January 17 to July 11 1974. It was great to see again having only seen it before from a young child's perspective. Although there is no definitive departmental location, it seems to be set in New York City. One frame stock shot at a fire is of an FDNY truck. The credits mention Boston, Cleveland, Los Angeles and New York fire departments. The story's main plot has the firefighters in Engine Company 23 locate an arsonist (whom they refer as a firebug) setting several fires in apartment buildings. Roundtree's character is under fire (no pun intended) for replacing a fallen dedicated firefighter killed in the line of duty. The movie's undertone deals with racism and is gritty at times. All in all the movie is not bad, though is definitely dated even for '73 (may as well had horses pulling a fire wagon). Firehouse is recommended for fire fighting aficionados and those who enjoy stepping back in time for TV nostalgia.

Funny in parts with a well developed story line. Includes critiques of macho sexism and arsonist redevelopers. Attractive female leads albeit not much in the way of acting by any of the players. Saw it decades ago on television and was worth watching again.

I'm on a quest to watch/review every single film shown on the great long defunct USA Up All Night even the less than stellar ones such as this pretty forgettable comedy that unleashed Julia Roberts on an unexpecting public. (in an uncredited role)

I purchased this dvd movie from "Once Around the Block", it skipped and froze several places throughout the movie. I tried to contact the seller regarding the problem, all I wanted was a replacement and they never would respond to my e-mails. I am really disappointed in the product because of it skipping and freezing, and even more disappointed in the seller never responding to my request, not even a word from them. I don't intend to ever purchase from this seller again if that is the way they do business.

Better than ladder 49 and Backdraft combined, more realistic than the 6 o'clock news and Oscar award winning performances that were somehow ignored by the academy. An insight into firefighting as they did it in the good/bad old days. Much thanks to Butch Ford , Dalmation wrangler and Martha Peterson who played Shannon the redheaded fire goddess for making this movie what it was. I've spent years around firehouses and never heard of this hidden gem, but needless to say I'll draw much inspiration from it, Highly recommended for the great old Seagrave apparatus alone but obviously it has so much more going for it.

Though this film was made back in the 70's, it didn't feel as dated as I expected it to. I bought it strictly because I am a Vince Edwards fan and was not disappointed. Initially it has a cheesy, "made for tv" feel, but after the first ten minutes the story is engrossing. Richard Roundtree (of Shaft fame) plays a newbie firefighter encountering racism in the 23rd precinct, which is pretty much run by Vince Edwards. I expected a predictable ending, which did not happen. A much better than average tv film that gives some insight into the lives of firefighters.