F.P.1

I was surprised that others commented that the technology presented here was impractical or immediately obsolete. FP 1 is really an aircraft carrier, stuck in the middle of the Atlantic, true, but looking mighty like an aircraft carrier to my untechnological eyes.

I haven't seen the German version, but for me the main attraction of this one was Conrad Veidt's role. He was very funny and charming, and dashing, too!

The story did seem to have some holes in it--I would have liked to pinpoint the emotional problem of Ellisen's disappearance,but even more certain technical points: that the rescue plane doesn't bring a radio or radio parts for the silenced station; that Ellisen's plane was seriously damaged after landing on FP 1 (? or did they use a junk plane to go get help because they knew it would have to be ditched?); exactly what happened to the diesel oil on FP 1, why there was no backup supply, and why any passing ship would have the required quantity to spare; what happened to that storm that necessitated opening the valves in the first place?

All the same, this was fun to watch.

Compared to the German language version of the same film that was made simultaneously, this is a disappointment. Conrad Veidt is simply too mature and sensitive for the role of the wild, impulsive aviator, and the whole production seems rushed and underrehearsed. Since it parallels the German film scene by scene, though, it's worth seeing if you don't speak German and only have access to the unsubtitled video prints of "F.P. 1 Antwortet Nicht" currently in circulation.

(This review refers to the English-language version of "F.P.1", which was made in simultaneous German and French-language versions with three different casts. The French-language version is presumed to be lost.)

"F.P.1" is of greatest interest as one of very few science fiction features made in the 1930s. Curt Siodmak's screenplay was based on his own novella, the story of Flight Platform 1, a huge aircraft refueling station in mid- Atlantic. Designed to aid transoceanic flight, it frustrates surface shipping interests, who connive to destroy it. Amidst the intrigue is a love triangle between the F.P.1's creator, his aviator buddy, and the shipping heiress who makes it all possible.

It's a great premise, with some unique model and effects work and moments of real adventure. However, there just isn't enough of them. It's not just that the airplane and action scenes are so brief (the German version included a good bit more.) It's that what is left over is so typically tepid and slow-moving - a real tragedy for a film with any pretense to futurism. Result: a muddle, though an intermittently entertaining one.

And what the heck is Conrad Veidt, that preening, sinister aristocrat of the B's, doing playing a daring round-the-world aviator? His Major Elissen spends more time in white tie and tails than in a flight suit, and his appeal to strongheaded heiress Claire (Jill Esmond, delectable in white satin evening dress) is hard to explain. Perhaps he slipped something into her drink. Veidt didn't yet speak English very well in 1932, and his performance is a bit off, leering and simpering over Esmond rather than enveloping her in suave allure. His sidekick "Sunshine" (Donald Calthorp), a shabby news photographer, could have been Veidt's comic foil if he weren't so very underplayed.

Claire eventually does throw Elissen over in favor of his best pal, straight-arrow Commander Droste (Leslie Fenton, "Nails" Nathan from "The Public Enemy"), designer-captain of the F.P.1. The romance angle recedes at that point. Droste is merely a stand-up guy, although he needs Elissen's help not just to build the F.P.1, but eventually to save it from the shipping cabal.

An actual floating soundstage was built in the Baltic Sea just off Hamburg for the F.P.1 sequences. It's fascinating to see, with its broad expanse of concrete flight deck, humungous ballast valve system, and chromium Art Deco chairs for Elissen to throw through windows during a gas attack. Yet Elissen's plane is an open-cockpit Junkers whose slab sides and corrugated aluminum skin give it all the grace and aerodynamics of a grain silo. And few other planes - except a derelict old crate - figure in the action.

The German-language version, "F.P.1 Antwortet Nicht" (F.P.1 Doesn't Answer) retains more of the techno-geek footage and is worth hunting down if you are curious. Not that it's much better in pacing or performance. Hans Albers and Paul Hartmann, the male leads, are way overage for their roles, and Albers is an awful ham even if you don't understand a word of German. But there's Sybille Schmitz as a strong and hauntingly sexy Claire, and Peter Lorre as the sidekick has a more substantial piece of the picture.

An aside in the narrative unintentionally calls the whole F.P.1 concept into question. Elissen at one point is said to be flying a new plane that can go around the world without refueling! You have to love a sci-fi flick where the key technology is already obsolete by the end of the second reel.

The real problem with "F.P.1" was beyond the director's or the studios' control. It should have been made by Frank Capra, then still in his Poverty Row adventure days ("Flight", "Dirigible"). It positively cries out for Joel McCrea, Fay Wray, a streamlined Lockheed Vega monoplane, and American-style snappy patter to leaven the love stuff. And what a formidable "Sunshine" Lionel Stander might have made...

This is a remarkable film, made with a huge budget. F.P.1 stands for 'Floating Platform' One. It is a floating island in the middle of the Atlantic Ocean for transatlantic aircraft to land on and refuel. It therefore foreshadows the naval aircraft carriers of the coming world war. Conrad Veidt is extraordinarily convincing, with the mad recklessness of a man addicted to dangerous adventures, but also with the lonely pathos which this brings him personally. It is one of his finer roles. The imaginative sweep of this semi-sci fi story is remarkable for the 1930s. It is a pity that the film is not better known. I have not seen the German or French versions, but this one is superb. One of the most haunting shots in the film is of a lengthy corridor full of men who have been gassed and are lying unconscious. No expense was spared to make this a big production. However, the producers should have realized that films with initials in their titles do not 'click' at the box office, give no hint to anyone what they are about (except to those familiar with this novel already), and no one could imagine what F.P.1 could stand for until they had seen the film! As a milestone in the history of the cinema, this strange and wildly ambitious film should not be overlooked.

Films with the theme of transatlantic transportation were quite common in this era.I can think of High Treason and The Tunnel.Additionally films made in two or three language versions were quite common.The acting of Conrad Veidt overpowers everyone else.