His First Flame

Fire Chief Amos McCarthy, a confirmed misogynist, advises his nephew Harry Howells to avoid marriage at all costs. Yet Harry is determined to marry his beloved Ethel. Everything changes when it turns out that Ethel is nothing but a gold digger. Disillusioned, Harry spends the night in his uncle's barracks trying to forget his troubles... until the fire alarm sounds. Will this clumsy man become a hero?

A fair judgment can hardly be made on this silent comedy when two fifths of the film are missing from the only copy, its image being horribly smoky into the bargain. However, what survives in spite of everything is Harry Langdon and his poetic man in the moon personality, one very funny gag (Harry, whose clothes have been stolen by a shoplifter, finds himself in the lady's outfit with all the developments one can imagine) and a rather stunning final sequence (Harry's new love interest starts a fake fire he will have to fight, hoping he will come out of the ordeal as a hero).