Fireman, Save My Child! (1932)

Joe Grant is an inventor, fireman and baseball player in his small home town. He gets an offer to play in a big team, he hopes to get more money for his inventions. But he is invited to ... See full summary »

Director:

Lloyd Bacon

Writers:

Ray Enright (story), Robert Lord (story)

Stars:

Joe E. Brown, Evalyn Knapp, Lilian Bond

Cast

Complete credited cast:
Joe E. Brown	...	Joe Grant
Evalyn Knapp	...	Sally Toby
Lilian Bond	...	June Farnum
Guy Kibbee	...	Pop Devlin
Richard Carle	...	Dan Toby
George MacFarlane	...	St. Louis Fire Chief
Frank Shellenback	...	Pitcher
Virginia Sale	...	Miss Gallop
Curtis Benton	...	Radio Announcer

Storyline

Joe Grant is an inventor, fireman and baseball player in his small home town. He gets an offer to play in a big team, he hopes to get more money for his inventions. But he is invited to present his invention to a fire-extinguisher company at the same time when he is supposed to play. Will he be able to show the effectiveness of his invention and win the game ?

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Plot Keywords:

athlete | firefighter | fire | fire extinguisher | small town | 

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Taglines:

He'll Be Wearing Red Pajamas When He Comes (Print Ad- Southeast Missourian, ((Cape Girardeau, Mo.)) 29 February 1932)

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Genres:

Comedy | Sport

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Did You Know?

Trivia

Despite the unusual title, this film is not related to Fireman Save My Child (1918), Fireman, Save My Child (1927), or Fireman Save My Child (1954).

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Goofs

After the fire starts, the doors to Mr. Platt's office are closed twice between shots.

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Connections

Spoofed in Officer, Save My Child (1932)

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Soundtracks

Hesitation Blues
(uncredited)
Written by Billy Smythe, Scott Middleton and Art Gillham
Sung by Lilian Bond while in the boat

User Reviews

At the sound of a fire alarm

I have no doubt that the legendary pitcher Rube Waddell was the model for Joe E. Brown's character in Fireman Save My Child. Waddell was one of the true zanies that ever donned a baseball uniform. One of his foibles was that he loved to chase fire trucks and watch the firefighters at their job. Unlike Brown in the film Waddell was a tippler of enormous proportion. He died way too young as well of tuberculosis.

In Fireman Save My Child Brown is a pitcher for the St. Louis Cardinals who would leave a gang at the sound of a fire alarm. Brown can't choose between his two passions, baseball and firefighting. He also has two other passions, good girl Evelyn Knapp and bad girl Lillian Bond.

Brown in real life was one of the biggest baseball fans that ever worked in the movie capital right along with William Bendix and William Frawley. He later did two other baseball related films Elmer The Great and Alibi Ike. His son in fact became a baseball executive, most notably as the general manager of the 1960 world champion Pittsburgh Pirates. Shooting at minor league park Wrigley Field in Los Angeles for the baseball sequences must have been heaven for him.

I also have no doubt that the World Series that Brown participates in was used the World Series newsreel footage of the Yankees and Cardinals to good advantage from both 1926 and 1928. Guy Kibbee who like Connie Mack never puts on a uniform plays the Cardinal manager. As it turns out Mack also managed Rube Waddell in the major leagues for the Philadelphia Athletics with a lot more patience than Kibbee shows in this film.

Brown has that rube character of his he used in so many of his films hewn to perfection. This one is enjoyable for both fans of Joe E. Brown and the great American pasttime.

Details

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Release Date:

20 February 1932 (USA)

Also Known As:

Fumo e Fumaça

Filming Locations:

Warner Brothers Burbank Studios - 4000 Warner Boulevard, Burbank, California, USA

Box Office

Budget:

$214,000 (estimated)

Company Credits

Production Co:

First National Pictures

Technical Specs

Runtime:

67 min 66 min (Turner library print)

Sound Mix:

Mono

Color:

Black and White

Aspect Ratio:

1.37 : 1