She Loved a Fireman (1937)

John Farrow directed this B movie action drama written by Carlton Sand and Morton Grant. Despite having (singing) Dick Foran Ann Sheridan Robert Armstrong and Eddie Acuff in its cast it’s a below average feature that runs less than an hour. It does contain several action sequences involving firemen their training and battling fires.

Foran plays James ‘Red’ Tyler an obnoxious brute that decides to join the fire department. He quickly has a run-in with one company’s captain Smokey Shannon (Armstrong) because it seems Red doesn’t respect authority (or anything else). In fact Red seems to think firemen are slackers who play checkers or rescue cats all day. Red’s local political club hosts a dance contest which is attended by Smokey. Red and his gal Betty (Veda Ann Borg) think they have a pretty good shot at winning it. But Red decides that it would be funny to serenade the captain and the other firemen attendees and sings a mocking song that leads to a fight between he and Smokey. Red appears to win the brawl until the women are finally let into the backroom and Smokey knocks him out while he’s not looking. Smokey then proceeds to win the dance contest with Betty while Red is coming to his senses.

However Red does enroll in the fireman’s academy and along with a fast friend named Skillet Michaels (Acuff) passes all the tests. He and Skillet are (naturally) assigned to work in Captain Shannon’s fire station. As it turns out Shannon has an attractive younger sister named Margie (Sheridan) who catches Red’s constantly roving eye. Red decides to pursue Margie in part because it’ll make her brother mad. It consumes all his attention such that he uses his friend Skillet whose been saving his money to buy his mother dentures. Though Red had given Skillet $20 for the dental work he borrows it back one sawbuck ($10) at a time. He’s then too fresh with Margie kissing her against her wishes but she forgives him this transgression even though she too later realizes she’s being used. Red then neglects his work which leads to an accident that breaks Skillet’s leg causing the rest of the station to resent Tyler even more. He’s brought up on charges but he’s only suspended for two weeks before being reassigned to a fire tug squadron.

Red makes it up to Skillet by sending his mother a ticket. Mrs. Michaels (May Beatty) is then able to visit her son sporting a new set of choppers also paid for by Red. He’s also able to repay the captain and truly win Margie’s heart when a three alarm fire at a dockside warehouse draws all departments to the blaze and Red’s able to bravely save Captain Shannon’s life. The story ends with both firemen recovering in a hospital ward being visited by Margie.