City on Fire (1979) on Netflix
Herman Stover, a refinery worker denied a promotion and fired, opens the valves that flood the city's sewers with gasoline. The blaze spreads toward the hospital where Dr. Frank Whitman works.
- Netflix3.0/5
- IMDb4.5/101,793 votes
- Rotten Tomatoes91%
Trailer
Plot summary
In an unnamed American city near the Canadian border, Mayor William Dudley has let an oil refinery stand in the middle of town, with no river, lake or reservoir near it. Herman Stover, a disturbed worker at the refinery, is passed over for a promotion and then fired for turning down a transfer. He opens the valves on the storage vats, sending gasoline and chemicals into the sewers, and the spill ignites, setting off explosions that spread a sheet of flame across the city. At the new hospital, Dr. Frank Whitman and his staff take in thousands of casualties while fire chief Albert Risley stays in contact with companies losing ground. Reporter Maggie Grayson sees the disaster as her route to a national audience, and socialite Diana Brockhurst-Lautrec, who knows Dr. Whitman, is among those at the hospital.
Cast
- Mavor Mooreas John O'Brien
Did you know?!Facts and trivia about City on Fire (1979)
Can contain spoilers, watch the movie first.
- Principal photography was scheduled to begin on August 10, 1978, on what became one of the largest film sets in Canada at the time, costing about $400,000; the set was built on the east side of the city and took roughly 45,000 gallons of fuel to set ablaze.
- The film needed several urban blocks that could be set on fire, so the production scouted Atlanta, Edmonton, St. Louis and Cincinnati before Montreal was eventually chosen to represent the fictional American city.
- City on Fire was later taken apart on television, featuring as episode 16 of Mystery Science Theater 3000 during the show's early KTMA era.
