Go to Blazes (1962 film)

Go to Blazes is a 1962 British comedy film directed by Michael Truman and starring Dave King, Robert Morley, Norman Rossington, Daniel Massey, Dennis Price, Maggie Smith, and David Lodge.

Having parked their engine in a big shed in Smithfield, they identify a jeweller to rob on a corner near Berkeley Square, and get firemen's uniforms in a costume shop.

While Harry is dodging the police, he escapes into a show of wedding dresses, where he meets the French owner Chantal, and pretends he is the son of Lady Hamilton, one of her rich clients.

Their attempts to pump out the flat make matters worse, because they only add water, and they flee the scene with hoses trailing behind them when the real fire engine arrives.

Failure only makes them more determined, and they decide they need to be more professional so they can pass as trained firemen, their obvious incompetence at the flooded flat having ruined their plans.

Chantal has a meeting with her boss, Madame Colette, who reveals the business is in financial difficulty but the dress collection is insured for £20,000.

The Monthly Film Bulletin wrote: "Given the Englishman's traditional reverence for fire-engines (almost as intense as his worship of obsolete trains) and a script more good-humoured than astringent, the comedy could hardly shape up as anything more striking than an Ealing imitation.

The humour, though quaint, isn't forced; and the three engaging crooks are played with disciplined ease by Dave King, Daniel Massey and Norman Rossington, which makes the raving eccentricity of Robert Morley and Miles Malleson that much funnier.

Dave King and Daniel Massey generate few comic sparks, but there's a fun cameo from Robert Morley as an obliging arsonist.