City on Fire is a 1979 disaster film directed by Alvin Rakoff and featuring an “all-star cast,” as was the custom for that time. The film’s plot revolves around a disgruntled civil servant who sets fire to an oil refinery, setting off a blaze which engulfs an entire city. Various people try to either fight or flee the fire as it spreads throughout the city. Some elements of the disaster depicted reflect the infamous Texas City Disaster of 1947.
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City on Fire is a 1979 disaster film directed by Alvin Rakoff and featuring an “all-star cast,” as was the custom for that time. The film’s plot revolves around a disgruntled civil servant who sets fire to an oil refinery, setting off a blaze which engulfs an entire city. Various people try to either fight or flee the fire as it spreads throughout the city. Some elements of the disaster depicted reflect the infamous Texas City Disaster of 1947.
The film was partially financed by the government agency Telefilm Canada and filmed on a relatively confined budget. Some of the fire sequences utilized stock footage from both existing movies and news footage. City on Fire was ultimately a failed venture for the company and had a limited run at the American box office. The film was resurrected from obscurity by Mystery Science Theater 3000 in 1989, and has since been known as an example of campy disaster B-movies.
William Dudley (Leslie Nielson) is a corrupt mayor of a nameless Midwestern U.S....
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