Review of Life of an American Fireman

. . . as opposed to the grand documentary suggested by the Edison title. I've seen many bits and pieces from this 6 minute, 45.28 second crazy quilt in other Edison shorts from the previous decade (some from possibly ACTUAL fire runs with REAL firemen!). The long ending sequence at the prop house with smoke machines and histrionic actors was especially familiar to Edison peep show viewers who were repeat dupes--I mean, customers. If you watch this mish-mash closely, it makes little sense. The part I find most ludicrous is the lingering shot of the alarm being sounded by someone pulling the lever inside a fire box. This alarm box is located on a city sidewalk, and the fire turns out to be in the suburbs at a frame house five or ten miles away! Presumably, old Tom's entertainment empire henchmen thought so little of their viewers' intelligence that they would assume a passerby could see a fire, saunter for an hour or two till reaching the big city call box, pull the alarm, wait for three different convoys of fire vehicles to reach the country, arriving just as the lady of the house (who has apparently been stumbling around in the smoke FOR 3 HOURS!) finally collapses onto a conveniently placed bed. I've heard of the suspension of disbelief, but Thomas Edison figured his suspenders reached to the moon!