''The Third Alarm'' is a 1930 American

pre-Code Pre-Code Hollywood was the brief era in the Cinema of the United States, American film industry between the widespread adoption of sound in film in 1929LaSalle (2002), p. 1. and the enforcement of the Motion Picture Production Code censorshi ...

drama film In film and television, drama is a category or genre of narrative fiction (or semi-fiction) intended to be more serious than humorous in tone. Drama of this kind is usually qualified with additional terms that specify its particular super-g ...

directed by

Emory Johnson Alfred Emory Johnson (March 16, 1894 – April 18, 1960) was an American actor, director, producer, and writer. As a teenager, he started acting in silent films. Early in his career, Carl Laemmle chose Emory to become a Universal studio leading ...

. The film is based on the original story by

Emilie Johnson Emilie Johnson (1867 – 1941) was a Swedish-American author, scenarioist, and movie producer. She was the mother of American actor, director, producer, and writer Emory Johnson. In 1912, Emory Johnson dropped out of college and embarked upon a ...

and is set in

San Francisco San Francisco (; Spanish language, Spanish for "Francis of Assisi, Saint Francis"), officially the City and County of San Francisco, is the commercial, financial, and cultural center of Northern California. The city proper is the List of Ca ...

California California is a U.S. state, state in the Western United States, located along the West Coast of the United States, Pacific Coast. With nearly 39.2million residents across a total area of approximately , it is the List of states and territori ...

. The photoplay stars

Anita Louise Anita Louise (born Anita Louise Fremault; January 9, 1915 – April 25, 1970) was an American film and television actress best known for her performances in ''A Midsummer Night's Dream'' (1935), ''The Story of Louis Pasteur'' (1935), ''Anthony ...

, James Hall, and

Jean Hersholt Jean Pierre Carl Buron (12 July 1886 – 2 June 1956), known professionally as Jean Hersholt, was a Danish-American actor. He is best known for starring on the radio series '' Dr. Christian'' (1937–1954) and in the film ''Heidi'' (1937).Obitua ...

. The movie was released on November 30, 1930, by Tiffany-Stahl Productions __TOC__

Plot

This story unfolds by introducing the audience to the fireman working at Engine House No.8. One fireman is veteran Frank ‘Dad’ Morton, played by

. ‘Dad’ Morton is a widower. Though alone, he has assumed the responsibility of raising his two motherless children – a girl and her younger brother Jimmy. The children love hanging around the engine house with their dad. The children are especially fond of firemen Dan, played by James Hall and 'Beauty' Johnson, played

Paul Hurst Paul Michael Hurst (born 25 September 1974) is an English football manager and former player who is the manager of club Grimsby Town. As a player, he was a defender from 1993 to 2008, notably playing his entire career at Rotherham United, b ...

. Suddenly, the fire alarm sounds. All the firemen quickly board their firetrucks and depart to fight the fire. At the scene of the fire, ‘Dad’ Morton dies while battling the flames. His death leaves his two children orphans. The children are scheduled to go to the local orphanage. Dan and Beauty have an alternate plan for the kids. They offer to adopt the two children. Because they are bachelors, the local authorities reject their proposal. The children are sent to the orphanage until they become of age. Both Dan and Beauty start pursuing another avenue to adopt the kids. Both firemen, while keeping it from each other, decide to get married. The years pass, and we find Dan has proposed to Neeta, played by

Mary Doran Mary Doran (September 8, 1910 – September 6, 1995) was an American actress. She appeared in more than 80 films from 1927 to 1944. Biography Doran was born in New York and attended public schools there before graduating and going to Colum ...

. Neeta accepts Dan's marriage proposal. 'Dad' Morton's daughter has now grown into a beautiful young woman. The daughter, played by

, still lives at the orphanage. Now, she finds out about Dan's engagement with Neeta. She has always had a secret fondness for Dan. She becomes heartbroken. Neeta senses Milly Morton's fascination with Dan is deeper than plain friendship. Prompted by forces, Dan does not understand; he makes a trip to the orphanage. One thing leads to another; the orphanage matron calls the police. Dan is taken into custody for contributing to the delinquency of minors. Dan pays his bail and is released. Thinking about his actions, Dan starts to understand his true feelings for Milly. Meanwhile, the fire chief suspends Dan from duty. The scene switches to the orphanage where someone is ironing clothes. They are called away and inadvertently leave the iron directly on the ironing board. It catches fire. The ironing board fire soon builds into a much more massive fire. Soon the orphanage is engulfed in flames. The burning building has turned into a three-alarm fire. The fire alarm starts ringing at Engine House No 8. The men jump into their firetrucks and head to the orphanage. Dan finds out the orphanage is on fire and, even though he's suspended from duty, heads out to fight the blaze. Dan arrives at the scene of the fire. He realizes the children, including ‘Dad’ kids, cannot escape the burning orphanage. Dan rushes into the blazing inferno saving all of the trapped children. While saving the children, Dan comes to realize he loves Milly Morton. After the blaze is extinguished, Dan tells Milly how he feels. Dan and Milly eventually get engaged. As it turns out, 'Beauty' Johnson also finds love in the end.

Cast

Production

's original story,

The Third Alarm ''The Third Alarm'' is a 1930 American pre-Code drama film directed by Emory Johnson. The film is based on the original story by Emilie Johnson and is set in San Francisco, California. The photoplay stars Anita Louise, James Hall (actor), James ...

, is reputed to be the basis for this film. Beyond the same titles, the only similarity these films have in common is - both stories are about firefighters. The film's director

had filmed the silent version of this film in 1922 -

. The first film was distributed by FBO. This film would be

's first release under his newly signed contract with Tiffany-Stahl Productions. This film is also

first talkie. This film would become

second to the last movie he directed before he faded from Hollywood. A minor but quite significant news blurb appeared on Page 4 of the September 4, 1930 edition of

Variety Magazine ''Variety'' is an American media company owned by Penske Media Corporation. The company was founded by Sime Silverman in New York City in 1905 as a weekly newspaper reporting on theater and vaudeville. In 1933 it added ''Daily Variety'', based ...

Emory Johnson, engaged by Tiffany to direct "The Third Alarm" on the strength of his silent film of the same title for FBO; has been off the picture since the first day's shooting. Martin Cohn, the editorial supervisor at Tiff, is finishing it, although direction credit will go to Johnson, besides a piece of the picture. Johnson objected to the supervision.

Actors

and Georgie Billins were "slightly burned" when a smoke pot exploded. The accident occurred with the players were shooting the final scenes of the movie "The Third Alarm." “The Third Alarm” was the last film

would make for Tiffany-Stahl Productions. Emory would break his contract with Tiffany and sign a new contract with another

Poverty Row Poverty Row is a slang term used to refer to Hollywood films produced from the 1920s to the 1950s by small (and mostly short-lived) B movie studios. Although many of them were based on (or near) today's Gower Street in Hollywood, the term did n ...

studio –

Majestic Pictures Majestic Pictures was an American film production and distribution company active during the 1930s. Under the control of Larry Darmour the company specialized in low-budget production, and was one of the more stable Poverty Row outfits during the p ...

. Note - Tiffany-Stahl would file for bankruptcy in 1932. Copyrights on most (if not all) of Tiffany's films were not renewed, and are now in the public domain.

Preservation status

This film is preserved in the

Library of Congress The Library of Congress (LOC) is the research library that officially serves the United States Congress and is the ''de facto'' national library of the United States. It is the oldest federal cultural institution in the country. The library is ...

collection.''Catalog of Holdings The American Film Institute Collection and The United Artists Collection at The Library of Congress'' p. 182 c.1978 by The American Film Institute

Gallery

References

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Third Alarm, The 1930 films Tiffany Pictures films 1930s action adventure films Remakes of American films Sound film remakes of silent films American black-and-white films American action adventure films Films about firefighting Films directed by Emory Johnson 1930s American films 1930s English-language films