History Film / CityOnFire

* AxCrazy: [[spoiler: Herman in the first part of the film when he fouls up the refinery and releases flammable chemicals into the city's sewers.

* JerkassFacade: Dr. Frank Whitman. The opening of the film shows he's a regular womanizer, and he's shown having spent the night with one of the hospital's new nurses and isn't all that interested in taking things further. He also has an antagonistic relationship with the hospital's biggest benefactor, Diana. But he's an excellent doctor, and keeps it together when the hospital is under threat by fire. [[spoiler:Whitman and Diana also develop an attraction to each other over the course of the film, and end up together.]].
* KarmaHoudini: The final scene of the movie has Mayor Dudley playing the HumbleHero to the press after his admittedly brave actions to help evacuate the hospital (which included standing out in the fire to spray down everyone else in the last wave of evacuees so they could run to safety with less risk of burning, being the second to last person to evacuate, and actually going back to help after Whitman gets trapped behind some debris), with everyone forgetting the poor policy decisions he made that allowed the fire to become so serious in the first place.
** Also, in a way, Herman [[spoiler:His insane decision to sabotage the refinery later causes the majority of the city to burn, and results in the deaths of thousands of people. While he doesn't survive, he dies without ANYONE ever finding out about his direct involvement in causing the substantial fires around the city.]]
* LaserGuidedKarma: [[spoiler:Herman, who sabotaged the refinery, in part, to try to get his secret crush Diana's attention, fails to do so, and ends up being killed by disrupted and falling scaffolding after an explosion he directly caused by releasing gas and chemicals into the city's infrastructure which later catches fire.]]

* {{Paparazzi}}: A photographer has been stalking Diana to get some incriminating pictures.

* TheCasanova: Dr. Frank Whitman. We see him making breakfast for the young, attractive new nurse at the hospital that's occupying Whitman's bed, and it becomes fairly clear this isn't an uncommon occurrence for him. He also declines her invitation to make him dinner later that night so she can see him again. [[spoiler:Subverted by the end, when Whitman and Diana demonstrate they have feelings for each other, and are going to purse a romantic relationship. Even though Whitman and Diana both say it will never work, it doesn't stop them from smiling and kissing each other.]]
* The Hero: Everyone has their moments. Dr. Whitman, Nurse Harper, Diana, and Chief Risley are the main heroes, and Whitman ends up getting the girl. Even Mayor Dudley has his heroic moments, especially towards the finale. Herman also helps, but since the fire was largely instigated by his actions, he hardly qualifies.
* TheLoad: Subverted. Initially, Diana's main attributes seem to be marrying older, powerful men and spending money charitably, but when the disaster strikes, she doesn't hesitate to get her hands dirty and help out the situation, as the hospital is swarmed with fire victims and just doesn't have enough of a staff to handle them all.
* TheMedic: Despite essentially serving as the new hospital's administrator, Dr. Frank Whitman is very hands-on throughout the entirety of the film, even before things go sideways and it's all hands on deck. Diana also ends up as this. Despite seemingly being just a rich, pampered, socialite, she takes an active role in helping the fire victims, and assisting a woman give birth when there's no medical staff available.
* ThoseTwoActors: Creator/LeslieNielsen and Creator/SusanClark played love interests in an episode of {{Columbo}}, "Lady in Waiting." [[spoiler:They didn't end up together there either, as Clark played the killer.]]

* BadassInCharge: Dr. Whitman at the hospital, and Fire Chief Risley overall.

* BadassinCharge: Dr. Whitman at the hospital, and Fire Chief Risley overall.

* DumpedviaTextMessage: [[spoiler:Despite the secretive relationship Diana has been maintaining with Mayor Dudley, by the end, she's fallen for Dr. Whitman, and starts to pursue him romantically as Dudley gives a post-fire speech on T.V.]]

* {{Paparazzi}}: A photographer has been stalking Diana to get some incriminating pictures.

* RetIrony: Subverted. Fire Chief Risley shows his son a yacht he intends to purchase when he retires in a couple of months, making the audience suspect that the fire foreshadowed by the film's title will result in Risley's OneLastJob, but he remains a key player throughout the film, and easily survives the events to presumably purse that retirement after the credits roll.

* Big Good: Fire Chief Risley, who coordinates all of the response to the fire situation around the city, and is the one that quickly notices that the environment around the hospital is rapidly deteriorating and that Whitman, Dudley, and everyone else needs to evacuate immediately or risk being killed. [[spoiler:He's quickly proven right when, after the final survivors are evacuated, the hospital explodes.]]

* TheyReallyDoLoveEachOther: Dr. Frank Whitman and Diana are at odds in the early goings, and Whitman is resentful of the rumor that he only got the job as the new hospital's administrator by sleeping with Diana. He also coldly asks her if she enjoyed the show as she watches Whitman's attempts to save a gravely-injured firefighter fail, and snidely takes over giving Diana a tour of the new hospital, since she made a $3 million donation to fund it. [[spoiler: Over the course of the film, both his and Diana's selflessness in helping others during the disaster spark an attraction between them, and at the end, she dumps Mayor Dudley to pursue a relationship with Whitman.]]

* AndStarring: Creator/HenryFonda as fire chief Albert Risley. And unlike other films of the decade in which he was given special billing due to his still highly-recognizable name, he actually gets to play a substantial role in this, and show off his abilities.

* ActionPolitician: While a lot of the disaster can be attributed to Mayor Dudley's unscrupulous decisions regarding the location of the chemical plant in the city, Dudley doesn't become a sniveling coward. He proactively uses the hospitals firehose to try to keep the flames at bay, then uses it to wet down the patients and staff when they have to abandon the hospital out of concerns for their safety. He's the next to last person to leave, and only leaves at the insistence of Dr. Whitman. Also, when Whitman becomes trapped, he goes out of the way, even putting himself in some danger, trying to guide Whitman out of the flames, and he gets a KarmaHoudini.

* AllLoveIsUnrequited: Herman has it BAD for Diana, to the point where he clips out newspaper articles with her picture, and occasionally goes to events where Diana's charitable donations are being highlighted and she's going to be present. Herman's WIFE even spots him in the crowd in the background of one on T.V. Diana ends up having no idea he's attracted to her, and the few times he tries to let her know, it's when she's in the middle of something more important, such as, you know, helping the victims of the fire HE helped cause. It doesn't help that she was a freshman in high school when Herman was a senior, so they were barely in school together for a year. And up until the finale, she seems to have a, um...Preference for the older set. The REAL older set.

* WealthyPhilanthropist: Diana, Dr. Whitman's eventual love interest.

* AllLoveIsUnrequited: Herman has it BAD for Diana, to the point where he clips out newspaper articles with her picture, and occasionally goes to events where Diana's charitable donations are being highlighted and she's going to be present. Herman's WIFE even spots him at one on T.V. She has no idea he's attracted to her, and the few times he tries to let her know, it's when she's in the middle of something more important, such as, you know, helping the victims of the fire HE helped cause. It doesn't help that she was a freshman in high school when Herman was a senior, so they were barely in school together for a year. And up until the finale, she seems to have a, um...Preference for the older set. The REAL older set.

* ActionPolitician: While a lot of the disaster can be attributed to Mayor Dudley's unscrupulous decisions regarding the location of the chemical plant in the city, Dudley doesn't become a sniveling coward. He proactively uses the hospitals firehose to try to keep the flames at bay, then uses it to wet down the patients and staff when they have to abandon the hospital out of concerns for their safety. He's the next to last person to leave, and only leaves at the insistence of Dr. Whitman. Also, when Whitman becomes trapped, he goes out of the way, even putting himself in some danger, trying to guide Whitman out of the flames.

* AllLoveIsUnrequited: Herman has it BAD for Diana, to the point where he clips out newspaper articles with her picture, and occasionally goes to events where Diana's charitable donations are being highlighted. Herman's WIFE even spots him at one on T.V. She has no idea he's attracted to her, and the few times he tries to let her know, it's when she's in the middle of something more important, such as, you know, helping the victims of the fire HE helped cause. It doesn't help that she was a freshman in high school when Herman was a senior, so they were barely in school together for a year. And up until the finale, she seems to have a, um...Preference for the older set. The REAL older set.

* AllLoveIsUnrequited: Herman has it BAD for Diana, to the point where he clips out newspaper articles with her picture. She has no idea he's attracted to her, and the few times he tries to let her know, it's when she's in the middle of something more important, such as, you know, helping the victims of the fire HE helped cause. It doesn't help that she was a freshman in high school when Herman was a senior, so they were barely in school together for a year. And up until the finale, she seems to have a, um...Preference for the older set. The REAL older set.