The 3rd Alarm (Silent) (DVD)

Of those gallant souls who, in the hour of need, so gladly offer their own lives so that others may live - All honor to them - the Firemen. For 20 years, fireman Dan McDowell has been the driver of Engine #7, and beloved as a friend to all in town. But when the decision is made to replace the horses with a modern fire truck, Dan finds himself obsolete and is laid off. His son Johnnie decides to follow in his footsteps as a fireman, but Dan is still inconsolable. When Johnnie's girlfriend is trapped in a raging apartment fire, Dan is her only hope and must find the inner strength and courage to be a hero once more.

The 3rd Alarm is one of the first examples of the Hollywood disaster film, culminating in a spectacular and terrifying inferno with blazing special effects that remain impressive nearly a century later. Illinois-born Ralph Lewis (1872-1937) was already an experienced stage actor when he made his screen debut, appearing mostly in shorts until playing a featured role in D.W. Griffith's landmark epic The Birth of a Nation (1915). He reunited with Griffith for Intolerance (1916), also appeared in director Frank Lloyd's 1917 A Tale of Two Cities, director Tod Browning's 1918 Western Revenge, the 1924 adaptation of Dante's Inferno and many others. He was accidentally killed at age 65 when he was struck by a car driven by the chauffeur of studio head Jack L. Warner in Los Angeles.

• silent