The Flaming Urge (1953)

Load of rubbish!!

As Good As It Gets

Absolutely Brilliant!

This is a dark and sometimes deeply uncomfortable drama

If there is a movie I won't recommend, it is "The Flaming Urge". No strong cast, flat direction, very strange and boring story of a young man running after the fires. It happens in a little town, and everything is so calm, it seems completely amateur, like a movie shot by friends. Now, the question is : what I am gonna do with that print as I won't recommend it to anybody? Burn it (Ah Ah ...)? Total loss of time.

FLAMING URGE is, in its way a remarkable film by one time director-writer Harold Ericson which ought to be better known. It concerns the arrival in a small town of Tom Smith (Harold Lloyd, Jnr). Tom has a problem - he is irresistibly attracted to fires and compulsively chases every fire engine which is en route to a blaze. He has chosen this town as the level of fire incidents is the smallest on record that he can discover, in order to help himself overcome his pyrophilia. Tom finds himself a job in a local store with an understanding boss, but soon discovers that the number of fires locally is suddenly increasing and, despite his protests, he becomes chief suspect as the local arsonist...A pleasant and curious enough film about an unusual fetish on first viewing, it is only when one discovers (as other reviewers here note) that 'flaming' is homosexual slang for quick arousal/or 'flaunting effeminate traits' that the real sociological interest emerges. In real life Harold LLoyd Jnr was the great comedian's gay, alcoholic son who died early at age 40, victim of his life style. In manner and speech in this, one of his few starring vehicles, he reminds one of his famous father, albeit without the signature glasses. Thus FLAMING URGE's early comic scenes in the drapery store where the young man works, recall the elder LLoyd's work in the first half of SAFETY LAST, even to the point of a couple of sly, specific visual references to the older comedy. Lloyd snr of course was straight; some of the impact of FLAMING URGE is an implied gay deconstruction of a famous screen persona - one wonders what dad said when he saw it.In short, a fun film with substantial gay coding throughout - right down to the good deal of banter situated around the tie counter (at one point the star creates a gigantic bow tie, by way of marketing) and play on pencils. Tom's 'problem' is treated with a calmness and respect for difference throughout - miles away from the sniggering and caricature with which it might have been received elsewhere. And while the film necessarily ends with a heterosexual wedding, it proves unconvincing. FLAMING URGE can be recommended, especially to those who like lesser known gay/camp classics such as TURNABOUT.

My brother-in-law asked me to help him find a copy of this and I did. Turns out that the film-maker filmed a lot of the movie in my brother-in-law's grandmother's house!!! How odd is that to watch a movie that was shot in the house you spent your summers in as a kid!!!!!!!!!!

The Flaming Urge tells an unusual story but is moderately entertaining. The town it is set in is a slice of small town America, somewhat similar to the town of Mayfield in Leave It to Beaver; in other words, it is the perfect town, and one that doesn't exist in reality. The setting is upset by the arrival of a stranger, and soon fires break out all over town. This turns the story into a detective tale, and leads to a suprising ending.The film is worth watching for the portrayal of the townspeople, whose sources of entertainment seem to be limited to going to the beach and chasing firetrucks; this latter activity leads to some funny moments.Lots of black humor abounds.The Flaming Urge is pretty much a forgotten film today, but worth watching if you get the chance to see it.