Celebrating 50 Years of Emergency!

Last month I attended a 50th Anniversary tribute for the TV series EMERGENCY! (1972-79) in Cerritos, California.

"50 Years of EMERGENCY! on Television" was hosted by the Los Angeles County Fire Museum at the Cerritos Center for the Performing Arts. I was thrilled to attend, as this series was a key part of my childhood -- "appointment viewing" every Saturday night. I was always so excited when the opening theme music started, eagerly anticipating the week's new adventures.

The series, created and produced by Robert Cinader and Jack Webb, originally aired just as the nation's first paramedic program was rolling out in Los Angeles; the show's popularity is widely credited with helping to inspire paramedic programs to become standard throughout the United States. As stated here, the show was "the first time most Americans had heard the term 'paramedic.'"

Such was the show's importance that today Los Angeles County Fire Station 127 in Carson, where the show's exteriors were filmed, is the Robert A. Cinader Memorial Fire Station. Cinader became such an expert on issues related to paramedics and emergency medicine that he was appointed to the county's Emergency Medical Services Commission in 1975, serving until his passing in 1982.

There were some wonderful cast photos in the lobby when we arrived. It was difficult to get good photos of all of them due to the glare of lobby lights and windows off the glass, but every single cast member was honored with a photo, including one of the stars, Julie London (above) and numerous supporting players such as Tim Donnelly (who sadly passed on in September 2021) and Marco Lopez:

The series inspired many people to become first responders. A large percentage of the audience stood up when paramedics and fire fighters were asked to stand.

An entire weekend of events and tours had been organized along with the anniversary program, with some fans flying in from around the country.

Stars Randolph Mantooth and Kevin Tighe were in attendance and interviewed as part of the program. Star Robert Fuller is still with us at the age of 89 but was not there that evening.

Randolph Mantooth's sister, Tonya Mantooth, moderated their interview. Mantooth and Tighe struck me as still very much "Johnny" and "Roy" in their relationships and responses to one another. I felt as though perhaps the actors were cast to portray characters fairly close to their real-life personalities.

I don't take notes of interviews at such events, so that I can be "in the moment," and consequently I don't tend to have a lot of anecdotes to share later on. My main takeaways were 1) The importance of the show encouraging the development of paramedic programs; and 2) The affection the actors and everyone involved with the series felt for one another. The actors especially loved Julie London!

Along with the lead actors, separate interviews were held with the show's paramedic and medical advisors and Hannah Louise Shearer (below right), who wrote many episodes.

Mantooth and Tighe are seen here with two of L.A. County's original paramedics, who served as technical advisors on the show.  The moderator on the right is Steve Martin, a retired firefighter.

Randolph Mantooth and Kevin Tighe remain close friends to this day. Together they have recently coproduced a documentary, INTO THE UNKNOWN: THE PARAMEDICS' JOURNEY.

I happened to enter through a side door and sadly didn't realize that the Squad 51 truck was parked out front, so I missed a chance to photograph it, but someone else shared photos on Twitter!

A 50th anniversary documentary on EMERGENCY!, subtitled THE SHOW THAT SAVED YOUR LIFE, recently aired on Cozi TV. The documentary features some of the same guests at we saw the live program and utilizes some of the same "clip reels" we saw that night. The documentary is currently available on YouTube, and I recommend that my fellow fans check it out.

The EMERGENCY! series is available on DVD. When my own kids were young they loved it just as I had and watched the show in its entirety. It's recommended viewing.

2025 Update: EMERGENCY! has now been released in a wonderful Blu-ray set. My review is here.

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Tonight's Movie: The Last Train From Madrid (1937) - A Kino Lorber Blu-ray Review

A touch of SHANGHAI EXPRESS (1932), a bit of CASABLANCA (1942), a dash of ARISE, MY LOVE (1940), and a large cast add up to THE LAST TRAIN FROM MADRID (1937), just released on Blu-ray by Kino Lorber.

THE LAST TRAIN FROM MADRID is set during the Spanish Civil War, which took place from 1936 to 1939, but viewers are never told exactly which characters are fighting for which side. Indeed, one of the film's opening title cards reads "We neither uphold nor condemn either faction of the Spanish conflict. This is a story of people...not of causes."

It rather reminded me of how the enemy was never disclosed in TOP GUN: MAVERICK (2022). Truly, "everything old is new again."

The 1937 film's noncommittal attitude about good guys and bad guys is all the more interesting given contemporaneous events in Europe. One suspects Paramount Pictures didn't want to lose a foreign market when future European business was already on shaky ground.

As THE LAST TRAIN FROM MADRID begins, a radio announcer (Henry Brandon) tells listeners that the title train will be leaving at midnight and that only those with special passes will be allowed to board.

In short order we're introduced to numerous characters, beginning with Captain Ricardo Alvarez (Anthony Quinn), who is working at the office where the train passes are distributed. Quinn is billed ninth but deserved more prominent billing playing one of the film's most significant characters.

Captain Alvarez manages to save his old army friend Eduardo de Soto (Gilbert Roland) from execution, at great risk to his own life. The men belatedly realize that they both love Carmelita (Dorothy Lamour).

Meanwhile American newspaperman Bill Dexter (Lew Ayres) is highjacked by young Maria (Olympe Bradna), a Spanish soldier who flees certain death at the front in order to visit her condemned father in prison. Bill takes Maria to see her father and the two grow close.

Juan Ramos (Bob Cummings) is another military defector "sentenced" to death at the front; he hopes to board the train with Lola (Helen Mack). Karen Morley plays a Baroness attempting to help Eduardo leave Madrid, but Michael Balk (Lee Bowman) stands in her way...

THE LAST TRAIN FROM MADRID is a mid-range film which isn't especially distinguished, but I found it worth seeing for its interesting cast and relatively unusual setting. It has a few excellent moments, including an exciting opening credits sequence, and everyone in the cast looks great thanks to the beautiful black and white photography of Harry Fischbeck.

As someone who loves "train movies" I would have rated the film more highly if we had seen more of the title train, which doesn't appear onscreen until the movie's final minutes.

Roland is impossibly handsome, Quinn and Cummings impossibly young, and Bowman impossibly sleazy. (I'm a Bowman fan and was quite surprised by his character!) Lamour is lovely and haunting, Ayres dashing and kind, and Bradna appealing as a girl who falls head over heels for Ayres in short order. (Well, I probably would have too.)

Alan Ladd is said to have had a bit as a soldier, but despite being a huge fan I didn't spot him on this viewing. There are lots of other familiar faces in the film including Lionel Atwill, Charles Middleton, Bess Flowers, Harry Woods, Francis Ford, Stanley Andrews, and Robert Middlemass.

One of the moments I enjoyed most was when Maria (Bradna) is marching in a column of women soldiers...and "Spain" turned out to be Iverson Ranch. When the camera pulls back to show a plane strafing the group, I've stood exactly in the spot where everyone is running for cover. That kind of personal experience definitely makes viewing a film more fun.

The screenplay by Robert Wyler (brother of director William Wyler) and Louis Stevens, based on a story by Paul Hervey Fox and Elsie Fox, might be described as serviceable; it's nothing especially memorable -- and at times it's overly melodramatic -- but it gets the job done while being entertaining enough to hold viewer attention.

The film was directed by James P. Hogan at a fast clip, running 77 minutes; incidentally, IMDb says it's an 85-minute film but that was not the case.

The Kino Lorber Blu-ray, from a brand-new 2K master, looks very good, showing off the polished Paramount Pictures look at its best.

Extras consist of the trailer; a gallery of trailers for six additional films which are available from Kino Lorber; and a commentary track by Bryan Reesman which I'm looking forward to hearing soon.

Thanks to Kino Lorber for providing a review copy of this Blu-ray.

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Tonight's Movie: See How They Run (2022)

It was looking like a fairly bleak fall, in terms of new movies, when SEE HOW THEY RUN (2022) popped onto my radar screen. My attention was immediately caught by a trailer with the appealing actress Saoirse Ronan and the period London setting.

SEE HOW THEY RUN is a comedic murder mystery which takes place in the London's West End in the early '50s; more specifically, it's centered around the original theatrical production of Agatha Christie's THE MOUSETRAP. To which I must add that I had no idea Richard Attenborough and Sheila Sim (A CANTERBURY TALE) were in the original cast!

I found the film's concept particularly enjoyable as, like many tourists, I've seen the London production of THE MOUSETRAP, which has now been running for seven decades; in my case, I saw it on a college trip to London in the early '80s.

Adrien Brody plays U.S. movie director Leo Kopernick, who intends to film THE MOUSETRAP from a screenplay by Mervyn Cocker-Norris (David Oyelowo). They're a bit stymied by the fact that the movie contractually can't be made until the play closes -- and it shows no signs of closing soon! However, that might be a good thing as they can't agree on the script. Of course, the inside joke for viewers in the know is that the thing will never close, rendering all the arguing moot!

Kopernick, in fact, is a pretty unlikeable fellow who ends up dead in THE MOUSETRAP's costume department in the movie's opening minutes. Whodunit?! It's up to Inspector Stoppard (Sam Rockwell) and Constable Stalker (Ronan) to find out.

SEE HOW THEY RUN, written by Mark Chappell and directed by Tom George, isn't entirely successful, but overall I found it a fun watch.

Running through the down sides first, the movie gets overly silly in the late going, particularly regarding the Agatha Christie (Shirley Henderson) character, and the mixture of characters based on real people (Harris Dickinson and Pearl Chanda as Attenborough and Sim) with fictional is a bit distracting.

I was also pulled out of the story by the colorblind casting, wondering how realistic the characters played by Oyelowo and Pippa Bennett-Warner were -- although I have the impression there was less segregation in the UK than in the U.S. in that era, so maybe it works?

Finally, Sam Rockwell has many fans but I felt he underplayed so much as the alcoholic inspector that he was dull. I would have liked a detective with a bit more "oomph" and a lot less drinking, though he does have some good moments as Ronan's straight man.

That's the extent of my complaints. On the positive side of things, Ronan is quite adorable as the earnest constable, who writes everything down in her notebook, and she's also not quite as silly as it appears from the trailer. I enjoyed her tremendously, and since she's onscreen a majority of the time, it works! It's particularly fun since she plays a film fan, given to murmuring comments such as "Rex Harrison, wonderful actor" in the middle of her investigatory questioning.

The movie also has a good time with some clever "meta" concepts. I just about choked on my popcorn laughing when a character complained he hated flashbacks...in a flashback! The movie is filled with little moments like that which are quite entertaining. The creative editing, with multiple perspectives onscreen at the same time, also gives the movie a little something extra which is distinctively different.

And it's only 98 minutes long! With so many movies these days dragging things out for 2-1/2 hours or so, a compact hour-and-a-half-plus film was delightful; the movie never felt like it was going on too long and didn't know when to stop.

SEE HOW THEY RUN was attractively filmed by Jamie D. Ramsay.

Parental Advisory: This film is rated PG-13. There's a dead body (or two...or three), but it's easy to look away, and there are some mildly inappropriate moments such as the wrong sketch making it in the director's movie storyboards. There is also a bit of cussing. Overall, it's a fairly mild PG-13, as these things go these days, and age 13 seems just about right.

All in all, SEE HOW THEY RUN was a fun "popcorn movie" which provided a pleasant hour and half "at the movies."

Previous reviews of Saoirse Ronan films: BROOKLYN (2015), LADYBIRD (2017), and LITTLE WOMEN (2019).

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A Birthday Tribute to Barbara Britton

Lovely actress Barbara Britton was born in Long Beach, California, on September 26, 1920.

Some sources state Britton was born in 1919, but the marker at her final resting place in New York gives the 1920 date.

I've always felt a particular affinity for Britton as we were born in the same city; indeed, three generations of my family have been born in Long Beach.

According to James Robert Parish's wonderful book HOLLYWOOD PLAYERS: THE FORTIES (1976) Britton attended Long Beach Polytechnic High School and Long Beach City College.

Representing Long Beach on a Rose Parade float led to a screen test with Paramount Pictures, and Britton made her film debut in the Hopalong Cassidy film SECRET OF THE WASTELANDS (1941).

Britton appeared in a number of good Westerns during her career, including THE VIRGINIAN (1946), seen here with Brian Donlevy and Joel McCrea:

GUNFIGHTERS (1947), a fine Randolph Scott Western in which Britton had a particularly good role as Dorothy Hart's lookalike sister, who's in love with a ranch foreman played by Bruce Cabot.

Another good Western was Samuel Fuller's I SHOT JESSE JAMES (1948), costarring John Ireland and Preston Foster.

With Gene Autry in LOADED PISTOLS (1949):

I loved her in the title role of BANDIT QUEEN (1950), a minor yet highly enjoyable film for low-budget Lippert Pictures.

And she was part of a fine cast, including Rod Cameron, in RIDE THE MAN DOWN (1952):

My very favorite Britton film isn't a Western, but the small-town Christmastime mystery COVER UP (1949), seen here with Helen Spring, Art Baker, Ann E. Todd, and Dennis O'Keefe. I've seen it multiple times, and it's become favorite Christmas viewing.

Britton appeared opposite Richard Denning in TV's MR. AND MRS. NORTH from 1952 to 1954.  She also did considerable theatrical work in the latter part of her career.

Britton married Dr. Eugene Czukor in 1945, a union which lasted until her passing in 1980. Britton is said to have believed that physicians made the best husbands and cited the case of Irene Dunne, who married a dentist. Britton might have been correct about that, as several classic film actresses who wed doctors had successful marriages, including Ann Blyth, Joan Leslie, and Audrey Totter.

The Czukors had four children, of whom only two survived, Theodore (Teddy or Ted) and Christina Britton Conroy. Ted became an actor and yoga teacher, while Christina became an actress, music therapist, and novelist; there's an interesting interview with her from 2013 in the Juilliard Journal.

Barbara Britton was only 59 when she passed away due to cancer, dying in New York City on January 17, 1980. She was interred at Woodlawn Cemetery in New York.

Reviews of Barbara Britton films at Laura's Miscellaneous Musings: REAP THE WILD WIND (1942) (bit role) (also reviewed here), WAKE ISLAND (1942), YOUNG AND WILLING (1943), SO PROUDLY WE HAIL! (1943) (also here), THE VIRGINIAN (1946) (also here), GUNFIGHTERS (1947), I SHOT JESSE JAMES (1949), COVER UP (1949), RIDE THE MAN DOWN (1952), and BWANA DEVIL (1952).

Reviews of Britton films for my Western RoundUp column at Classic Movie Hub: GUNFIGHTERS (1947) and BANDIT QUEEN (1950).

Additional notable films starring Barbara Britton include TILL WE MEET AGAIN (1944), THE RETURN OF MONTE CRISTO (1946), ALBUQUERQUE (1948), CHAMPAGNE FOR CAESAR (1950), DRAGONFLY SQUADRON (1954), and THE SPOILERS (1955).

2024 Update: Related Post: Christmas Day Wishes.

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Tonight's Movie: Time Out of Mind (1947) - A Kino Lorber Blu-ray Review

TIME OUT OF MIND (1947), a Gothic melodrama from Universal Pictures, was recently released on Blu-ray by Kino Lorber.

Despite the interesting cast, directed by film noir great Robert Siodmak, I was completely unfamiliar with this film prior to its Blu-ray release.

This is just the kind of movie I love having the opportunity to discover for the first time; to be sure, it was an imperfect film, but it was also a very entertaining 88 minutes. To the best of my knowledge, TIME OUT OF MIND never had a prior DVD or VHS release, so I'm very appreciative that Kino Lorber has made it available for home viewing.

TIME OUT OF MIND is based on a novel by Rachel Field. Field also wrote the books which inspired the films ALL THIS, AND HEAVEN TOO (1940) and AND NOW TOMORROW (1944). She also wrote now-classic books for children, including PRAYER FOR A CHILD, for which illustrator Elizabeth Orton Jones won the Caldecott Medal, and HITTY: HER FIRST HUNDRED YEARS, for which Field herself won the prestigious Newbery Medal.

TIME OUT OF MIND is set in the 1800s and has a bit of the feel of Britain's "Gainsborough Melodramas," including the fact that it stars Gainsborough actress Phyllis Calvert, star of films such as THE MAN IN GREY (1943) and MADONNA OF THE SEVEN MOONS (1945).

Calvert plays Kate Fernald, the maid in a beautiful, if gloomy, seaside Maine mansion owned by Captain Fortune (Leo G. Carroll).

Captain Fortune's son Christopher (Robert Hutton) is due home on his father's ship the Rainbow, but when it docks the family learns Christopher is in a coma due to a recent shipboard accident.

Kate and Christopher's devoted sister Clarissa, aka Rissa (Ella Raines), watch anxiously over his bedside while his brusque father, who no longer sails due to his own injury, carries on life as usual.

Christopher finally regains consciousness but quickly learns that having done his duty on one voyage wasn't enough; his father expects him to sail again in short order. This knowledge torments Chris, a pianist and aspiring composer who has no interest in life at sea.

Kate helps engineer Christopher and Rissa's escape to Paris before the Rainbow sails again, which devastates their father. And Kate herself discovers she has reason to be quite unhappy when brother and sister return after several years and Chris has married wealthy Dora Drake (Helena Carter).

That's only about half the story in a movie jam-packed with plot, and indeed, one of the film's issues is tantalizing wandering threads which end up going nowhere. For instance, why does fishmonger Jake (Eddie Albert) agree to lend Kate and Christopher money -- was there a quid pro quo from Kate? Why does Rissa's relationship with Chris go beyond sisterly love to obsession and wanting him to herself? What exactly did Rissa mean when she told her father he had crushed their mother, is there more to the story it would be helpful to know? Why does one of the "help," Kate, have such a privileged position in the household, dancing among guests and referred to as "like a daughter" by Captain Fortune? And so on.

The other main issue is that while Robert Hutton is fine in light comedies about young people such as JANIE (1944) and WALLFLOWER (1948), he seems rather out of place here as a tormented musician who goes through a period of alcoholism. The role cries out for a more compelling actor, though I'm not precisely sure who offhand. Hutton does put across Chris as a whiny young man, with some of the issues being part and parcel of the character, but a more dashing actor would have had the audience rooting much harder for his redemption. Instead we aren't really emotionally invested in him but focus more on how his behavior impacts the three main women in his life.

I like Calvert but frankly she's fairly bland as well, though likeable. Happily the other two main ladies in the cast are absolutely scrumptious. Raines is incredibly gorgeous as Rissa, and it's fascinating trying to scrutinize her character's behavior and motives. We're honestly never quite clear about her, even at the end, but it's a fun ride nonetheless.

Carter is ostensibly the villainess of the piece, particularly at the end, but the fact is that her character drops plenty of "truth bombs" midway through the movie which need to be said. She may not be entirely likeable, but she's also not wrong, and like Raines she's beautiful to look at.  I would have enjoyed seeing a little more of her, but what we get is quite entertaining.

Speaking of beautiful to look at, the mansion design is absolutely incredible and makes the movie worth watching in and of itself. The many windows and staircases, the piano room, Captain Fortune's bedroom designed with a ship's bunk...the set design and art direction are absolutely superb.

Throw in excellent black and white cinematography by Maury Gertsman, gowns by Travis Banton, a score by Miklos Rosza and Mario Castelnuevo-Tedesco, and a deep supporting cast, and you've got yourself a movie worth seeing, flaws and all. I found it quite entertaining.

The supporting cast includes Lilian Fontaine (mother of Joan Fontaine and Olivia de Havilland) as Chris and Rissa's aunt, plus Samuel S. Hinds, Henry Stephenson, Janet Shaw, John Abbott, Olive Blakeney, Maudie Prickett, William Frambes, and Houseley Stevenson.

Kino Lorber's print is from a new 2K master. There was one scene with Eddie Albert where the picture briefly went slightly fuzzy, but for the most part the film looks and sounds great.  What a treat to not only have this film available but to be able to see it looking so good!

I'm going to make time for the commentary track by Lee Gambin and Elissa Rose in the near future, as I'd love to learn more about this movie. The disc also includes a gallery of trailers for five additional films available from Kino Lorber.

As hinted at by the stills accompanying this review, TIME OUT OF MIND is a visually enticing film with a (mostly) interesting cast. While acknowledging the movie's issues, I recommend it for those who find what I've described of interest. I enjoyed it and will definitely watch it again. Kudos to Kino Lorber for this release.

Thanks to Kino Lorber for providing a review copy of this Blu-ray.

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Around the Blogosphere This Week

Miscellaneous bits of news and fun stuff from around the internet...

...Just published by McFarland: THE FILMS OF JUDY GARLAND by James L. Neibaur. Neibaur is the author of FRANK SINATRA ON THE BIG SCREEN, reviewed here in July, and the recently published THE GEORGE RAFT FILMS, which I mentioned here in August.

...Farran Smith Nehme has written a lovely article, "Angel and the Bad End," on Gail Russell and the haunting MOONRISE (1948). I revisited MOONRISE last spring at the Arthur Lyons Film Noir Festival and was just as moved as I've been watching it on other occasions.

...I enjoyed Annette Bochenek's account of her experience attending Noir City Chicago. Incidentally, Eddie Muller had to pull out of hosting Noir City Detroit this weekend, explaining: "Some recent health issues hit me out of the blue, and while not life-threatening, doctors have advised me not to push it and to avoid traveling for a while." I'm very sorry to hear that and wish Eddie the best.

...Kino Lorber has announced a November 29th Blu-ray release date for two Esther Williams dramas, THE UNGUARDED MOMENT (1956) and RAW WIND IN EDEN (1958).

...Two more Kino Lorber releases announced for November 29th are PEKING EXPRESS (1951) with Joseph Cotten and William Wyler's DETECTIVE STORY (1951); the latter film will have a commentary track by Alan K. Rode.

...The new space exploration documentary GOOD NIGHT OPPY (2022), about the Mars rover, sounds interesting.

...Entertainment Weekly has a list of all the upcoming 2022 Hallmark Christmas movies. There are 39 Christmas films and one Hannukah-themed story. Many familiar Hallmark faces are in the casts -- and one even features Ann-Margret!

...Glenn Erickson reviews THE SCARLET HOUR (1955), which has just been released on a region-free Blu-ray by the Australian label Viavision/Imprint. I enjoyed this relatively obscure movie, a crime thriller directed by Michael Curtiz, at the 2019 Arthur Lyons Film Noir Festival; the Blu-ray has a commentary track by the Lyons Festival's producer and host, Alan K. Rode. Glenn mentions that Alan provides the addresses of the L.A. locations, which sounds great!

...Chris Yogerst, author of HOLLYWOOD HATES HITLER!, which I reviewed two years ago, has written about Ken Burns' new documentary series on the Holocaust for The Hollywood Reporter. He discusses the documentary's omission of a key event chronicled in his book, the 1941 U.S. Senate investigation into "motion picture propaganda," an attempt to stop Hollywood's "warmongering." That issue was effectively ended by the events of December 7, 1941. It's a very interesting and undercovered bit of U.S. history which unfortunately has been ignored once more; Yogerst says it's "a missed opportunity in an otherwise commendable docuseries."

...The 3D film I, THE JURY (1953), which is being released in November by ClassicFlix, will be released in the UK by StudioCanal in October.

...The Cinegrill has reopened at the Hollywood Roosevelt Hotel on Hollywood Boulevard. Originally opened in 1936, it's been closed since 2001.

...Last weekend I mentioned it's the 50th anniversary of the TV series THE WALTONS (1972-81). Josh Shepherd shares 10 favorite episodes at The Federalist. The classic 1973 Easter episode would definitely make my own Top 10 list.

...Here's Leonard Maltin on Preston Sturges' THE GREAT MOMENT (1944), a film starring Joel McCrea which I reviewed here last spring.

...Notable Passing: William Reynolds has passed away at the age of 90. Like many actors of his era, I first knew him as a guest in several episodes of MAVERICK, which I initially watched in '70s reruns. He starred in multiple TV series including PETE KELLY'S BLUES (1959), THE ISLANDERS (1960-61), THE GALLANT MEN (1962-63), and THE F.B.I. (1966-74). I've seen him in numerous films over the years, including HAS ANYBODY SEEN MY GAL (1952), SON OF ALI BABA (1952), ALL THAT HEAVEN ALLOWS (1955), THERE'S ALWAYS TOMORROW (1956), and THE LAND UNKNOWN (1957), to name just a few.

...More Notable Passings: Another MAVERICK alum, Oscar-winning actress Louise Fletcher, has died at 88...Sara Shane, whose film career included THE KING AND FOUR QUEENS (1956), has died at 94.

...For additional recent links of interest to classic film fans, please check out my September 17th roundup.

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