Firelight

I would have loved to see this short when it was on the theater in 1960s! Steven probably owns this movie and won't release to the public!! When he dies we might see it!! But I watched a 3 minute version on YouTube! And it was epic, confusing in some places and thrilling too!! This would be a good movie if it was released today! I think people would see this and love it!! 20 years later, Steven would make Close Encounter of the Third Kind, and ET.

Firelight (1964)

This film from director Steven Spielberg was filmed for $500 and according to the director it made a dollar profit when it was shown at a local theater. Sadly the film is now missing two-reels so it's impossible to fully judge the movie. What's available is a couple minutes worth of footage, which has been shown at a few festivals and can be found online. Obviously with so much footage missing it's impossible to judge the movie but it's certainly entertaining to watch. Of the remaining footage we basically get to see a few lights in the sky as well as a couple of the characters. Again, one really shouldn't watch this and judge anything in it but it's certainly fascinating to watch considering what Spielberg would eventually turn into.

Firelight (1964)

Firelight is seventeen year old Steven Spielberg's first feature feature film, the bulk of which is now lost.

Nevertheless, what images survive might seem very familiar. Whilst it's impossible to follow a plot, it's clear that a small town's residents are being terrorised by lights in the sky. Unlike the commanding and beautiful light show of Close Encounters, these early Spielberg visitors look more like bokeh Chinese lanterns. What stands out with even more recognition than glowing flying saucers is the Spielberg brand of horror which occurs throughout many of his major films; horror infused with entertainment and wonder. We feel frightened for Brody and Hooper, for Alan Grant and Ian Malcolm, but we still want to see more of those velociraptors and great white sharks. The scared looks of a young couple driving toward a luminescent UFO are a prototype for this hallmark balance of fear and fun.

Spielberg gave two reels of Firelight to an LA production company, which soon after went bust, and the reels disappeared. In all likelihood, we will never see whether Spielberg succeeded or not in sustaining a first feature length film. Perhaps it's just as well. What we are left with are enigmatic visual cues, fragments of dialogue, and the beginnings of a style that would entertain cinema-goers for decades.

***

Well worth watching for Spielberg completists or budding film historians but can only be judged as the corner piece of a lost ark.