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 ?

---

Plot Keywords:

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

---

Taglines:

Laugh with the Clown Prince. (Newspaper ad).

---

Genres:

Comedy | Sport

---

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).

---

Goofs

The opening baseball game began at 2:30 pm and included 13 runs. Joe's pitching in the top of the 9th inning is interrupted by a fire alarm, for which he runs several blocks to the fire station, grabs his hat and coat, then drives the hose wagon to the factory fire which appears to be on the outskirts of town. After an extended effort to extinguish the large blaze, he returns to the baseball field to finish his inning. A clock at the field reads 4:30. It does not seem possible that a game with that many runs and a long "fire delay" could be completed in just over two hours (2:30-4:30).

---

Connections

Spoofed in Officer, Save My Child (1932)

---

Soundtracks

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

User Reviews

Once again, Joe E. Brown plays a doofus who plays baseball

I just don't understand the phenomenon that was Joe E. Brown's career in the 1930s. Again and again in films he played a doofus--and often a tough to like one. In this movie he wasn't ask selfish and despicable as he was in another one of his baseball films, ELMER THE GREAT, but he nevertheless seemed to care little about disappointing his teammates or the fan. And throughout the film, his main schtick was his love of fire prevention and his rubbery face. To me, after a while, this all wore very, very thin.

Fortunately, despite my general ill feelings towards Brown's characters, the rest of the film was a very interesting time capsule, as the film is about the 1932 St. Louis Cardinals and their race to the World Series. Unfortunately, cameos by old-time athletes are not featured in the film.

Also, while you might not readily notice, this movie's plot was re-worked into the great film THE NATURAL. Think about it--a country bumpkin comes to the big leagues and becomes a star, only to be de-railed by a "bad woman" (forgetting his sweetie back at home in the process).

Overall, it's a mildly interesting time-passer and that's about it. This film sure hasn't aged well.

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