Braving Blazes

Released January 8, 1917, Braving Blazes is a one-reel Black Diamond Comedy filmed and produced by the United States Motion Picture Corporation (USMPC) in Wilkes-Barre, Pennsylvania. The film was distributed by Paramount Pictures.

 An advertisement for the film appeared in the January 6, 1917 issue of The Moving Picture World.

 As of the writing of this article (October 23, 2012) no prints of this film are known to survive. If you have any information about the film, please contact us.

 The Library of Congress documents that the USMPC applied for and received copyright #L9824 for Braving Blazes on Dec 27, 1916. The copyright entry describes a film “in 1 pt written and worked out by James O Walsh, Rex A Taylor and Joseph A Richmond. The copyright office recorded “clippings from reel 32335 title description and 119 prints.” The microfilmed image of this copyright filing was not available when Noreen O’Connor conducted research at the Library of Congress in 2012.

 A synopsis of the film is available in the January 6, 1917, issue of The Moving Picture World on page 140. The text is here transcribed by Noreen O’Connor:

BRAVING BLAZES (Black Diamond  Jan. 8).  This story tells about “The Swede” and The Tad. “The Swede” sweeps the streets and The Tad drives a dump cart. While talking one day the fire department runs past and they envy the fireman. They stop the political boss and ask him to set them jobs with the fire department. He tells them to stick to their jobs. During the noon-hour they sit in the rear of the dump cart and finish the contents of their lunch pails. As they sit back to enjoy a smoke, their imaginations show them as fire chiefs surrounded by husky firemen. A political friend dashes up and informs them he has started an independent fire league and wants them to take charge of it. They are delighted, and he takes them to the new fire house.

 They are introduced to the firemen and at once take charge. They put the firemen to work and keep everything humming. The chief orders a fire drill after which all grab the pole and slide up to their dormitory. There the firemen undress by order. The helmets all come off at one count and are thrown across on their respective pegs on another. The shoes follow and are thrown into a corner where they arrange themselves in a row. The firemen jump backward into bed and are automatically covered up. The chief and his assistant retire to their own bedrooms where they undress, and hang their clothes on a rack.

 In the night the fire-gong awakes the firemen, who turn to a row of push buttons. They push No. 1, and the bed clothes fiy off ; No. 2 and the shoes fly out of the corner on to their feet. No. 3 tips the beds and lands the firemen on the floor. On pushing No. 4 their helmets fly off the pegs and land on their heads. No. 5 lines them all up at attention. The chiefs start for the door. As they pass the clothes rack they appear on the other side fully clcthed. They dash into the dormitory and all slide down the pole.

 The horses are quickly harnessed and al) start for the fire, the chief in a dinky roadster, the others on the fire engine, while the hose cart, pulled by a dried up little fireman, speeds up and passes the engine, runs up behind the chief’s auto and jumps over it. At the fire they have many difficulties and finally seeing a girl at the fourth story window with the flames shooting out around her, they lasso her and pull her to the ground.

 She “bawls them out” and the boys decide that their methods of rescuing are wrong. Another girl appears at an upper window. The chief orders his men to play the hose Just under the window. He jumps Into the stream and slides up to the window, gets the girl and prepares to slide down again when the hose breaks. With his arms around the girl, and struggling against the flames he awakes to find himself seated in the dump cart with his arms around the street sweeper. He relates his dream and finishes by saying “I don’t want to be a fireman,” and they start for their afternoon’s work.