It starts off well enough...with an anti-smoking message ahead of it's time.
But from there, it's all downhill...
S*** hits the fan when a disgruntled employee at the local refinery decides to sabotage the plant after being let go from his job.
His actions lead to a quite impossible series of events, which trigger a chain reaction that, somehow, sets the whole city on fire.
Hence the title.
Workers inexplicably fall from heights. Seemingly random buildings blow up. And the masses go running through the streets.
But it's never explained- or very clear- how the fire is able to spread so quickly, and thoroughly, through the fictional city (which is actually Montreal).
Most of the plot is centered around a newly built, and ill equipped, hospital that has just received a generous grant from a wealthy heiress (played by Susan Clark).
Shady political schemes- which Montreal would be all too familiar with, considering this was produced amidst the reign of Jean Drapeau- are to blame for the hospital being unable to deal with the overwhelming number of victims...as stuff around the city keeps blowing up from some unseen demonic force straight out of hell.
As the city burns, the father-son team of Harrison (Richard Donat) and Albert (Henry Fonda) Risley, are tasked with battling the blaze, which is at risk of becoming a firestorm that would kill everyone trapped in the new hospital (which has not yet blown up, conveniently enough) if it gets to that point.
Their plan is to create a "water tunnel" in order to evacuate everyone from the hospital, before it is consumed by flames.
But the people in the hospital need to help from their end so that they can create a tunnel big enough for them to escape.
At least one person dies from spontaneous combustion, attempting to make a run for it before they're able to put their plan into action.
The mayor (played here by Leslie Neilson) is left to work with what he's got- after cutting costs at every corner- while the head doctor (played by Barry Newman) organizes and tends to the trapped patients.
All while the disgruntled psychopath- who has weaseled his way into the hospital- tries to woo the wealthy heiress...who couldn't be less concerned about his advances amidst all the turmoil and chaos.
Inevitably (almost) everyone escapes, just before the hospital blows up...and the fire burns itself out.
Unfortunately, the plotline had fizzled out well before that point.
Literally nothing makes sense in this film.
Not even an all star cast of washed up aging actors could save it from the travesty it had become.
Did I mention it also features Ava Gardner as a TV news host?
Oh right, I didn't...because her role is totally pointless...
Anyways, it's quite possibly the most implausibly ridiculous disaster film ever made.
Which is sort of a feat in itself, I suppose.
4 out of 10.
But from there, it's all downhill...
S*** hits the fan when a disgruntled employee at the local refinery decides to sabotage the plant after being let go from his job.
His actions lead to a quite impossible series of events, which trigger a chain reaction that, somehow, sets the whole city on fire.
Hence the title.
Workers inexplicably fall from heights. Seemingly random buildings blow up. And the masses go running through the streets.
But it's never explained- or very clear- how the fire is able to spread so quickly, and thoroughly, through the fictional city (which is actually Montreal).
Most of the plot is centered around a newly built, and ill equipped, hospital that has just received a generous grant from a wealthy heiress (played by Susan Clark).
Shady political schemes- which Montreal would be all too familiar with, considering this was produced amidst the reign of Jean Drapeau- are to blame for the hospital being unable to deal with the overwhelming number of victims...as stuff around the city keeps blowing up from some unseen demonic force straight out of hell.
As the city burns, the father-son team of Harrison (Richard Donat) and Albert (Henry Fonda) Risley, are tasked with battling the blaze, which is at risk of becoming a firestorm that would kill everyone trapped in the new hospital (which has not yet blown up, conveniently enough) if it gets to that point.
Their plan is to create a "water tunnel" in order to evacuate everyone from the hospital, before it is consumed by flames.
But the people in the hospital need to help from their end so that they can create a tunnel big enough for them to escape.
At least one person dies from spontaneous combustion, attempting to make a run for it before they're able to put their plan into action.
The mayor (played here by Leslie Neilson) is left to work with what he's got- after cutting costs at every corner- while the head doctor (played by Barry Newman) organizes and tends to the trapped patients.
All while the disgruntled psychopath- who has weaseled his way into the hospital- tries to woo the wealthy heiress...who couldn't be less concerned about his advances amidst all the turmoil and chaos.
Inevitably (almost) everyone escapes, just before the hospital blows up...and the fire burns itself out.
Unfortunately, the plotline had fizzled out well before that point.
Literally nothing makes sense in this film.
Not even an all star cast of washed up aging actors could save it from the travesty it had become.
Did I mention it also features Ava Gardner as a TV news host?
Oh right, I didn't...because her role is totally pointless...
Anyways, it's quite possibly the most implausibly ridiculous disaster film ever made.
Which is sort of a feat in itself, I suppose.
4 out of 10.