1904 cinema's thirstiest fire safety PSA: burning buildings, burning morals.
This short, otherwise unremarkable feature is of some interest because of the way that it unabashedly caters to the tastes that it perceived in its audiences. Besides combining the elements of the risqué 'blue' movies of the era with the popularity of movies about fires, it also attempted to use the combination to get extra mileage out of it. The movie's title summarises the setup, and most of the footage shows firefighters using ladders to rescue stage girls, clad in portions of their costumes, from an upper level. Although it all seems pretty tame by today's standards, it no doubt provided its male viewers with some brief moments of excitement as the various women hurried down the ladders with their costumes in disarray.
Practical Effects
Actual fire effects + actual ladders = actual chaos.
Costume
Strategic disarray achieved through 'emergency' undressing.
Trivia, insights & behind the scenes
This exemplifies 'blue movies' of the nickelodeon era—films that skirted censorship by framing nudity within 'educational' or 'newsworthy' scenarios like fires, baths, or medical examinations.
Fire films were so popular that some theaters would stage fake fire alarms to clear and refill seats for repeat viewings—this film combines that trend with the equally profitable 'disaster rescue' genre.
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