She Loved a Fireman

I have to second that first assessment I read. Ann Sheridan IS the only reason to watch this. However, it is also the reason TO watch it. Ann Sheridan might be the most underrated actress in motion picture history. She is always worth watching. Anything and everything she does is worth watching. This was made before she was being given significant roles which all changed with the James Cagney/Pat O'Brien classic, "Angels with Dirty Faces". That performance brought to the attention of Hollywood that she was much more than a pretty face. The three of them teamed up again in "Torrid Zone" and by then she was coming into her own. She had a tremendous off screen brother/sister repoire with Humphrey Bogart from their film "San Quentin". Although the media has consistently reminded everyone of Betty Grable as a pin-up during WWII, Ann Sheridan was right there with her.

Red Tyler (Dick Foran) leaves the political racket for firefighting. The arrogant newcomer is following Captain Shannon as his mentor, but the Captain is not happy when Red starts pursuing Margie Shannon (Ann Sheridan), the Captain's sister. Red passes the training and joins Shannon's firehouse.

Red is not a likeable character. His arrogance is done for comedy, but none of it is funny. It does allow for his later character growth, but by then, I stop caring about him. More compelling firefighting action could have saves this. The training is remarkably thin. There is a big climatic fire with stock fire footages and some camera tricks. In the end, this is a less than compelling B-movie.

One of the things that left me speechless with She Loved A Fireman was the notion that Dick Foran could get a firefighting job through political connections. Which he tries with Captain Robert Armstrong at first which turns off Armstrong naturally. I suppose back in the day you could. Now they demand quite a bit mire professionalism.

She Loved A Fireman came right off the Warner Brothers assembly line and has the look of a Cagney/O'Brien project and that's whom it might have been meant for at one time. Foran's the wise guy who gets on Armstrong's bad side at the same time he's courting Armstrong's sister Ann Sheridan. You don't need a road map tosee where this goes.

She Loved A Fireman also has Veda Ann Borg a plus for any movie and some nice firefighting sequences The stuntmen earned their pay here.

Wonder what a present day firefighter might think?

It's very hard to believe that John Farrow directed this. He was an excellent director. The movie is at best ordinary and, more precisely, pretty terrible.

It's totally formulaic. One can plot the whole thing, right through to the end, after the first five minutes or so.

Dick Foran is new to me. This was enough of him. Robert Armstrong did some good work in other movies and he isn't bad here. Ann Sheridan is her usual self but given little to work with.

One thing that annoyed me about the movie is its premise: Foran plays a stock 1930s character. He's the wise guy who's been involved in shady doings. Here, that guy decides to make a point by becoming a fireman. He wants to show what an easy job it is.

Was there ever a time, since the days of the cavemen, that fire was considered benign? Is it possible that anyone could belittle the hard, dangerous work done by brave firemen? I really don't think so. And there goes the movie.

Dick Foran--more famous (or infamous) for playing singing cowboys--plays a wise-ass who joins the fire department to show a fireman he doesn't like how easy the job is. Robert Armstrong plays the fireman in question, and he does what he can with it. Ann Sheridan is Armstrong's sister, who Foran is interested in, and Armstrong doesn't want him near her. Sheridan shows the warm, easygoing but sexy personality she used to great effect later in her career, even though she only has a fairly small part here. This is strictly a bottom-of-the-bill quickie, directed by John Farrow who went on to bigger and better things, as did Sheridan. Foran didn't, pretty much staying in the "B" rut for the rest of his career. He's supposed to be a ladies man here, but he just doesn't pull it off, coming across as a conceited, arrogant jackass. Sheridan sparkles in a small part, and Armstrong is always interesting to watch. Unfortunately, the picture isn't. If you're an Ann Sheridan fan you'll want to see this. If you're not, you won't.