Firehouse (1973 TV Movie) User Reviews

Not too bad for a TV movie

[mickya · 5/10 · 26 February 2006]

I remember seeing this movie when it came out in 1973. I believe it was a made for TV film, but it had better production values than the usual made for TV fare.

Just watched it again for the first time in over 30 years last night. I got it on one of those cheap DVDs you find at the dollar store.

Firehouse starts of interesting enough. With some John Carpenter horror movie synthesizer music and heartbeats pounding, we see fire starters setting an urban building ablaze. The city fire department arrives shortly thereafter. The firefighting scenes were grainy and realistic. They may have been real firefighters, but I am not sure.

From here, we are introduced to the firefighters at a particular station. Led by Captain Parr (Andrew Duggan), we meet Spike (Vince Edwards), Hank (Richard Jaeckel), and Sonny (Val Avery). Another fireman, Eddie, dies in the blaze that begins the movie. Spike is a bigot who blames the fire on blacks and the others go along with him.

Meanwhile, Shelly Forsythe (Richard Roundtree) is the first black to join the station. He is a "probbie". Shelly is reluctant to join the fire department and gets into an argument with his wife, who threatens to leave him if he doesn't join.

Racial tensions develop as soon as Shelly arrives. Spike makes it difficult for him. The captain is spineless (in once seen he gives Spike an order and Spike replies "Don't tell me what to do.") and tells Shelly just to ignore the verbal abuse.

Some of the racial issues are stereotyped and clichéd. I thought it was unrealistic that a large city would not have hired any black firemen by 1973. And I doubt if Spike's behavior was realistic. His hostility toward Shelly should have gotten him fired, but everyone called him a hero so they looked the other way.

It plays like a movie pilot.

[planktonrules · 7/10 · 30 May 2020]

In many ways, "Firehouse" feels like it's a pilot for an upcoming television series. A year later, a short-lived series called "Firehouse" debuted...but from what I could see it really wasn't like this made for TV movie and the title is probably just a coincidence...though one of the actors in the movie (Richard Jaeckel) did appear in both.

When the film starts, the firemen are putting out yet another arson blaze. One of the men is killed and soon a new probationary firefighter, Shelly Forsythe (Richard Roundtree) is hired to replace him. There are several problems with this. First, the men miss the dead guy and replacing him is not easy. Second, some of the men are simply bigots and hate that Forsythe is black. Third, Forsythe also has a chip on his shoulder and it makes his transition to the department even more difficult. Can he manage to survive his probationary period and become an accepted member of the team?

The reasons I said it felt like a pilot was mostly because things were NOT completely settled and the movie left a lot unsaid which could easily have been dealt with had they made additional films or a TV series. It might have been interesting...especially since the movie was so blunt about racism...more so than shows you see today.

wrong box cover

[SloanSterling · 5/10 · 15 April 2006]

The box cover on this page has a picture of Fred Williamson who is NOT in the movie. It's Richard Roundtree in the movie!! Where did this picture come from?? These two guys don't look alike!!

Not too bad of a 70's movie. I know the fire department scenes were fairly accurate portrayals of life in the station since I come from a family of firefighters. Tension between the guys, racial and otherwise, was and still is typical for any group of people living and working in a tight space such as a firehouse. I especially liked the stunts pulled on the rookie.

Richard Jaeckel (Hank Myers) went on to star in the TV series that was spawned off of this movie.

Dated TV movie, but odd in other aspects

[vandino1 · 13 June 2006]

This is from 1973, when New York City was still a hotbed of hate and racial tensions were still high. You've got the usual good-black-man-fights-white-racism storyline with nothing new added (you know as soon as the bitter racist, played by Vince Edwards, lays into Roundtree that they'll overcome their animosity and bond in some climactic fire). It's still just a TV movie with the usual cheap soundtrack, including the cliché dramatic outro-to-commercial music every fifteen minutes. Roundtree is humorless throughout, but then it's hard to offer any lightness when Vince Edwards' character is an open-all-night cafe of anger. Talk about a one-note performance: Edwards seethes from the beginning to the end. And although the fire sequences are effectively smoky (unlike the typical TV fire sequences that are all gas jets and smoke free) the opening sequence that features the death of Edwards much-loved buddy is badly bungled. Instead of rushing out of the burning building, the firemen are seen standing around inside, smoke and flames seemingly inches away from them, joking with each other---one of them coming down the burning stairs with a kitten in his hands and then stopping to share some banter with his pals, until the ceiling caves in on him. Absurd. Actually, some other odd things about this film: Duggan, the firehouse captain, seems to have almost no authority, pushed around by Edwards and even Roundtree, the new guy; and then there is the fact that both the writer and director of this film died within a month of each other in 1989; and beyond the movie itself is the DVD box that features a picture of what looks like Fred Williamson with a cigar in his mouth and a fireman's helmet on. If it IS Williamson, then where did it come from? Did Williamson ever play a fireman? Because if he didn't, then the company that put out the DVD must've taken a picture of Williamson and pasted a fireman's helmet on him. Why not take a shot of Roundtree from the film? And does this provide a weird example of racism to the effect that slapping any black actor on the cover is okay since the buyer won't notice.... because blacks all look the same, right?

Progress Has been Made

[whpratt1 · 6/10 · 28 October 2006]

Went through a discount store and found this 1973 TV film and enjoyed looking back at how much society has progressed since this film was produced. However, there still remains a wall that needs to be torn down between races of all kinds. In this film, Vince Edwards,(Spike Ryerson), "Invasion of the Space Preachers",'90,

plays the role of a fireman who had a family that grew up in this particular Fire House in New York City and feels threatened by an African American who is going to work in an all white station house. Spike does everything in his power to discourage Richard Roundtree,(Shelly Forsythe),"Wild Seven",'06 to quit being a fireman. These two guys even beat each other up on a handball court and still cannot come to some agreement. The entire United States is a melting pot and not just New York City an longer, Progress is being made.

Firehouse

[BandSAboutMovies · 3/10 · 19 November 2023]

Richard Roundtree - a star from Shaft making a TV movie a year later, was that a step back? - is Shelly Forsythe, a black firefighter bringing racial tensions to a firehouse. This is even worse when Spike Ryerson (Vince Edwards), the oldest firefighter, claims that an arsonist has to be black. The men include Val Avery as cook Sonny Caputo, Richard Jaeckel as Hank Myers, Michael Lerner as Ernie Bush and Andrew Duggan as Captain Jim Barr.

This was based on Report From Engine Company 82 by retired FDNYC firefighter Dennis Smith. Another thing you may catch - the firehouse for this movie would one day be the Ghostbusters' building.

What's strange is that this became a TV series with Richard Jaeckel the only cast member to appear in both the TV movie and the series. They dropped the black firefighter angle for the show when that's the main reason we're watching this.

To save money, most of the firefighting is newsreel footage. That said, the idea that Shelly has to fit in with racist co-workers, have the black community not think he's an Uncle Tom and still not die in a fire are all great plot elements.

Firehouse was directed by Alex March (Serpico, Shane and Paper Moon - the TV shows) and written by Frank Cucci (The Andros Targets)

A story as bitter as a backdraft.

[mark.waltz · 4/10 · 4 November 2021]

A Lower East Side New York City Fire Department becomes a controversial House of racism after a white fireman is killed in a fire set off by two young black man and a black firefighter is hired to replace him. Richard Roundtree, a very good actor, doesn't really get much opportunity to be anything but bitter towards his situation, aiding the reasons why he is not very well liked at his new post. His wife tries to advise him in ways to fit in, but he's not hearing any of this, and goes in with a chip on his shoulder. That makes him difficult to like and that unfortunately makes this a very difficult TV movie to get into with its dated attitudes and one dimensional perceptions. Only during the actual scenes of a fire for potential disaster are the team allowed to show that when firemen are out on a job they don't see color, and when Roundtree learns the truth about a series of arsons, he isn't allowed through the writing to make a strong moral decision, further destroying his character.

How can you root for any of the characters who are so filled with anger? Yes, it is real life drama and potent, but there seems to be no fixing of the conflict and everybody seems to be at odds and unwilling to even attempt to compromise. That makes them very unrelatable as humans and the results are very disappointing and in spite of the theme, a colorless drama. Of the cast, only Andrew Duggan as the chief does the only one allowed to show any type of understanding throughout with Vince Edwards, Paul Le Mat and Michael Lerner not given any real dimension. While there are some decent scenes of action, the script isn't very well done and a lot of the film is extremely boring.

Par performance for Richard Roundtree

[Pfeutz · 8/10 · 23 June 2001]

Richard Roundtree gives an emotional performance as a dedicated black firefighter who is a fish out of water in an all-white firehouse. His character does not beat around the bush when it comes to confronting his co-workers about the race issue. If you like Richard Roundtree, you will enjoy this film.

Fair but Fun

[Michael_Elliott · 26 February 2008]

Firehouse (1973)

** (out of 4)

Two black men set an apartment building on fire, which leads to the death of a white firefighter. That firefighter is replaced with a black man (Richard Roundtree), which doesn't set well in an all white firehouse. Like many other made for TV flicks, this one here really just touches the surface of many issues but never really dives deep into them. The film is mildly entertaining at just 72-minutes but God knows there are better films dealing with the race issue. Roundtree is pretty wooden in his role and it's rather strange because we're suppose to feel sympathy for him but at the start of the film he really comes off as one mean SOB.