Arson, Inc.

At barely an hour in length, Arson, Inc (also known as Firebug Squad and Three Alarm Fire) barely has time to tell the story it has. Mercifully, director William Berke and screenwriter Maurice Tombragel find a way to cram in quite a bit of story without it feeling rushed or incomprehensible. There are some casualties because of the short screentime, especially in a romantic relationship that develops over the course of the film, but for the most part this film flows along far better than it has any right to. 

The film opens like a documentary with a narrator explaining how fires cause millions in damages in the Los Angeles area every year and how the fire department tries to minimize that damage. It then transitions away to the story at hand, that of Joe Martin (Robert Lowery) who has been promoted to the Arson Detail. His first assignment is to investigate a suspicious fur store fire that is suspected of being set by the owner for the insurance money. Joe’s predecessor in the Arson Detail was killed investigating this fire and all his files with everything he had discovered weren’t recovered. This is just one of many suspicious fires in the last few years, and the insurance claims have all been filed by the same agent, Frederick P. Fender (Douglas Fowley). 

Thus kicks off a series of events, including going somewhat undercover when it is assumed that he is a man who can be bought off. Soon he is working for Fender, driving a car for some of Fender’s men as they go off to set another building on fire. Joe plays along, building up evidence against Fender as well as another man, Pete (Edward Brophy), who has gambling debts he uses the insurance money to cover. 

This is a taut and well-staged drama that doesn’t have enough time to grow repetitive or boring. Instead, we have a likable protagonist who, despite being a bit too earnest, carries this B-picture right up to the inevitable guns-blazing finale. There may not be any real mystery to the proceedings but that matters little when the film is as fun as this one is. It starts out on shaky ground with the stodgy opening narration but once the story gets going it doesn’t let up until the final shot of Los Angeles and the end title overlapping it. 1949 - 63 minutes