The Fire Brigade (1926)

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Arguably the best of Charles Ray's four MGM vehicles, The Fire Brigade casts Ray as the youngest in a large and rambunctious family of Irish-American firemen. While his older siblings busy themselves with extinguishing blazes, Ray spends his time a-courting May McAvoy, the daughter of a wealthy… More Arguably the best of Charles Ray's four MGM vehicles, The Fire Brigade casts Ray as the youngest in a large and rambunctious family of Irish-American firemen. While his older siblings busy themselves with extinguishing blazes, Ray spends his time a-courting May McAvoy, the daughter of a wealthy absentee landlord. A crisis of conscience arises when McAvoy discovers that her father's tenements are dangerous fire-traps; she storms out of her family mansion to inform Ray of the facts before it's too late. The climax of The Fire Brigade is a spectacular conflagration, expertly blending authentic fire footage, double exposures, and flawless miniature work. As a bonus, the final scene boasts a bizarre vignette in which the ghosts of firemen killed in the line of duty urge Ray on to rescue the helpless tenement dwellers! ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi