Fire! (1977 film)

Fire! is a 1977 American made-for-television action-drama disaster film produced by Irwin Allen starring Ernest Borgnine, Vera Miles, Patty Duke Astin, Alex Cord, Donna Mills, Lloyd Nolan, Neville Brand, Ty Hardin and Erik Estrada. It was directed by Earl Bellamy, who directed another made-for-TV disaster film one year before titled Flood!.^[1]

Fire!
Genre	Action Drama Disaster
Written by	Norman Katkov Arthur Weiss
Directed by	Earl Bellamy
Starring	Ernest Borgnine Vera Miles Patty Duke Astin Alex Cord Donna Mills
Music by	Richard LaSalle
Country of origin	United States
Original language	English
Production
Executive producer	Irwin Allen
Producer	Irwin Allen
Production locations	Silverton, Oregon Yamhill, Oregon
Cinematography	Dennis Dalzell
Editor	Bill Brame
Running time	100 minutes
Production companies	Irwin Allen Productions Warner Bros. Television
Original release
Network	NBC
Release	May 8, 1977 (1977-05-08)

Plot

Convict Larry Durant escapes from an Oregon road gang, and starts a fire in a forest, which goes out of control and threatens to destroy a small mountain community. Involved are a lumber mill owner, Sam Brisbane; Martha Wagner, the widowed operator of a forest lodge; teacher, Harriet Malone, who is on a class outing; a country doctor, Doc Bennett, and a young couple, Doctors Alex and Peggy Wilson, whose shaky marriage is healed when battling the blaze brings out their better natures.

Cast

• Ernest Borgnine as Sam Brisbane
• Vera Miles as Martha Wagner
• Patty Duke Astin as Dr. Peggy Wilson
• Alex Cord as Dr. Alex Wilson
• Donna Mills as Harriett Malone
• Lloyd Nolan as Doc Bennett
• Neville Brand as Larry Durant
• Ty Hardin as Walt Fleming
• Gene Evans as Dan Harter
• Erik Estrada as Frank
• Michelle Stacy as Judy

Production

The film was directed in the cities of Silverton and Yamhill, in Oregon.

Release

Fire! premiered on May 8, 1977 on NBC on two-hours length; it was later cut to ninety minutes and rerun in tandem with another TV disaster movie, Flood!, also produced by Irwin Allen.

The New York Times called it "mindless escapism."^[2]

Titles around the world

• Det flammande helvevet (Sweden)
• El bosque en llamas (Spain)
• Horizons en flammes (France)
• Il colosso di fuoco (Italy)
• Horizont in Flammen (West Germany)
• Krwawe pieklo (Poland)
• Ti nyhta pou oi ouranoi epiasan fotia (Greece)
• Tuhoavat liekit (Finland)