MSC, you always seem to choose scenes for these posts that I absolutely ADORE! That scene between Burke and Miss Hoffman is better than HEROIN (not that I know what Heroin is like, but if I did, it would be BETTAH). It's a Land-o-Lakes moment like two sticks of BUTTAH lashed together in a rough-hewn manner!
I love how Miss Hoffman gets treated by Burke "just like one of the boys" and the two of them discuss the future of his courtship with Vicki. The dialogue may be occasionally banal but the way the two actors play this scene is absolutely priceless.
As for the firetrap thing--I've heard Marie Wallace tell the story more than once about how, in one of the scenes where Eve travelled back in time to revisit her 18th century life as Danielle Roget, her wig caught on fire and Irene Hamalain had to frantically rush in and douse the flames.
G.