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Frith FilmsFire! Patty Learns What to Do (1951)

Fire safety film filmed in and around the Chatsworth fire of 1947 in the San Fernando Valley of Los Angeles, at a time when many parts of the Valley were still farming communities. The film takes the point of view of a child whose family farm is threatened by the fire. Director: Emily Benton Frith. Narrator: Don McNamara.


This movie is part of the collection: Prelinger Archives

Producer: Frith Films
Sponsor: N/A
Audio/Visual: Sd, C
Keywords: Fires and firefighting; Safety: Fire; California: Los Angeles: History

Creative Commons license: Public Domain

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Reviewer: Christine Hennig - - July 22, 2006
Subject: Patty Learns to Stay Out of the Way
This fire safety film for grade-schoolers, made by Emily Benton Frith, is cheaply done, but it does have some striking images from the stock footage she borrowed liberally from. Captain Clemens of the Fire Department speaks at Pattyâs school on fire safety, including a memorable demonstration of what to do if your clothes catch fire that involves lighting a doll on the end of a stick on fire and waving it around. Then he talks about the terrible âChatsworth Fire,â a fire that really took place in California a few years before the film was made, and which allows the filmmakers to use lots of stock footage. Pattyâs family was involved in that fire, so we get to see a younger version of her looking worried as the adults and older kids work hard to prevent the fire from spreading further. Patty, being only 5, learns that the best thing she can do is stay out of the way, which, although accurate, is not a very exciting plan to present to grade-schoolers. But getting beyond Pattyâs story, the visuals in this film are very striking, including lots of color footage of burning buildings, collapsing buildings, and firefighters fighting huge flames. Fire buffs should enjoy this film despite its cheapness and stiltedness.
Ratings: Camp/Humor Value: **. Weirdness: ***. Historical Interest: ****. Overall Rating: ****.

Reviewer: Spuzz - - May 12, 2003
Subject: Terribly cheap and amateurish (which makes it great!)
Although noone wants to see a community burn to the ground, it's hard not to laugh at this terribly produced film. From the very beginning with it's cheap looking title cards, then the fire captain coming to the school and teaching 5-6 year olds how to light matches and then lighting one after the other and throwing them on the grass, we're in some looney material. to demonstrate how fast a fire can spread, Captain Clemens then lights a doll on fire and waves it in front of the students. No, I'm NOT making this up. One of the students throws himself on the ground rolling and yelling up a storm to, no, not protest about the atrocious movie he's in, but how to do a fire roll. Soon, the film-makers remember Patty, who was supposed to be the focus of the film. We learn of Patty and how her family's home avoided a big fire that engulfed many of their neighbors homes. But luckily, Patty, and her atrociously-actIng 'family' 'knew what to do'. Their homes were spared, but the barn burns to the ground and "2 of the animals burned to death!" eek! A pretty amazing film, this is a MUST SEE on this site!

Shotlist

ACTUAL HAPPENINGS AT THE GARMAN'S FARM WHERE A TERRIBLE FIRE, WHICH BURNED 50 HOMES, WAS STOPPED AT THEIR DOOR. THE MOST IMPORTANT LESSON IN THE FILM IS THE WAY IN WHICH EACH OF THE GARMAN CHILDREN RISES TO THE EMERGENCY, AND DOES HIS PART. Filmed in and around the Chatsworth fire of 1947 in the San Fernando Valley of Los Angeles, at a time when many parts of the San Fernando Valley were still farming communities.



Ken Smith sez: One of the many distinctive films by Emily Benton Frith, featuring the voice of "commentator" Don McNamara. In this production, "Captain Clemens" of the fire department teaches Patty Garman (see Bill Garman: 12-Year-Old Businessman) how to "chaperone your match" and demonstrates safety techniques by setting fire to a doll on the end of a stick. The bulk of this film takes place in flashback, as Patty relives (and Emily gets to use) footage from "the terrible Chatsworth fire," while the narrator tells us that such fires are to be expected "after an earthquake or an atomic bomb." Watch for the guest appearances by Bill Garman and Mother Mack (see Mother Mack's Puppies Find Happy Homes). Great fire footage.

School children congregated on a lawn
Close-up of a match being struck
Discarded wrapping paper piled near a Christmas tree
A boy wraps himself in a blanket as part of a fire safety demonstration
A little girl milking a goat
Geese
Three people followed by a dog running down a dirt road
A grass fire
A burning barn
Firefighters with hoses
A house engulfed in flames, collapsing
A little girl in a corral of goats
Three horses running loose, one limping
A group of reporters
Close up of a doll laying on ashes with a flame burning between her legs
Two children crying, standing in the remains of a charred building
FIRES EMERGENCIES FIREMEN FAMILY LIFE Fires Firefighting Firefighters Fire safety Los Angeles, Calif. (history and culture) Chatsworth, Calif. (history and culture) Buildings (burning) Garman, Patty (character) Families Fire trucks Trucks (fire) Danger Lurks