I regret a previous review I made of this film. After viewing it again I have to say that it is one of Waynes worst if not the worst. The only character that I could ever see as a real fire fighter out of this bunch would be the Bruce Cabot character. Jim Hutton was horribly miscast in his role and would have been better had he been cast as an office clerk at the Buckman Company(the name of the Oil Well Fire Fighting Company in this picture) or better yet as the receptionist vice Barbara Stuart as Irene Foster. What totally drags this film down like a dried up oil well is the Katherine Ross Jim Hutton married couple thing. Ross portrays the estranged daughter of Waynes character Chance Buckman who doesn't really care for her Hellfighter Daddy but loves the money he makes and obviously funds her with. She meets, initially can't stand then falls in love and marries the Hutton character then wants to tag along to all the fires he fights. This only helped turn a potentially entertaining film into a boring soap opera. The best thing to do if you have a copy of this is to pour lighter fluid on it set it ablaze and then play Hellfighter yourself by turning an extinguisher on it.
Review of Hellfighters
