Foreign Fire Departments (downloaded from Prelinger Archive). [Category: Industrial]

This 30s firefighting film has lots of stuff about the Boston fire department, some of it I’m sure I’ve seen before, but I’ll press on in the assumption that at least some of this is new. Most of the first half features demonstrations of lots of different firefighting equipment, including a pipe that blows smoke out of cellars. The second half features footage of various fires, most of which I know I’ve seen in other Stillman films, especially the footage from Yokohama. Not much new to see here, actually, unless you’re a firefighting completist.

Ratings: Camp/Humor Value: **. Weirdness: **. Historical Interest: ***. Overall Rating: **.