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.
| Fires Were Started | |
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Still from the documentary Fires Were Started
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| Directed by | Humphrey Jennings |
| Written by | Humphrey Jennings |
| Produced by | Ian Dalrymple |
| Starring | William Sansom George Gravett Phillip Wilson-Dickson Fred Griffiths Loris Rey Johnny Houghton T. P. Smith John Barker |
| Cinematography | C.M. Pennington-Richards |
| Edited by | Stewart McAllister |
| Music by | William Alwyn |
| Distributed by | Crown Film Unit |
Release date |
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Running time | 65 min. |
| Country | United Kingdom |
| Language | English |
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.
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]
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