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RUNTIME
Did you know
Tight 20-minute runtime — shorter than most television pilots.
MoodPlayr · trivia#01
To Build a Fire
1928 0h 20m EN
🙌
8.0
BANGER
★8.0TMDB · 1
Drama
Synopsis
Spoiler shield
"To Build a Fire" is a short story by American author Jack London, published in two different versions of in 1902 and 1908. It was made into a film in 1928 by Claude Autant-Lara. Despite being warned about the subzero temperature, a single man ventures out into the Yukon forest to find his destiny.
“Some stories are better left unspoiled.”
Cast
José Davert
Credits
Behind the camera
- Director
- Claude Autant-Lara
- Writers
- Jack London
- Languages
- French
- Countries
- France
Want more? Switch to Cinephile mode in the header for DP, composer, budget, box office, production companies, keywords, and release history.
Did you know?
Fun facts 🍿
Cinephile deep dive
The take
Claude Autant-Lara directs. Enrique Barreyre behind the camera. Runs lean at under 100 minutes. Produced in France. Dialogue in French.
Trivia
Things worth knowing
- 1Tight 20-minute runtime — shorter than most television pilots.
- 298 years old — a genuine piece of film history.
- 3Lean credit list — fewer than 30 people officially credited.
- 4Directed by Claude Autant-Lara, shot by Enrique Barreyre. Note their partnership — DPs and directors often return to each other across a career.
- 5IMDB entry: tt0019787 — still the authoritative cross-reference for credits and trivia.
- 6Only 1 TMDB ratings — you're getting ahead of the curve on this one.
The technical file
- Cinematography
- Enrique Barreyre
- Runtime
- 20 min · 0h 20m
- Status
- Released
- Original language
- EN
Also by
Claude Autant-Lara
Key crew
Themes & keywords
What it's about, really
- short film
Release history · US
When it landed
- Theatrical (limited)1928-01-03
