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F. P. 1 Doesn't Answer

Original title: F.P.1
  • 1933
  • Passed
  • 1h 14m
IMDb RATING
6.1/10
220
YOUR RATING
Jill Esmond, Leslie Fenton, and Conrad Veidt in F. P. 1 Doesn't Answer (1933)
AdventureSci-Fi

An artificial island in the Atlantic functions as an aerodrome. A sabotage attempt is thwarted by a renowned aviator's intervention, securing the island's safety.An artificial island in the Atlantic functions as an aerodrome. A sabotage attempt is thwarted by a renowned aviator's intervention, securing the island's safety.An artificial island in the Atlantic functions as an aerodrome. A sabotage attempt is thwarted by a renowned aviator's intervention, securing the island's safety.

  • Director
    • Karl Hartl
  • Writers
    • Curt Siodmak
    • Walter Reisch
    • Robert Stevenson
  • Stars
    • Conrad Veidt
    • Jill Esmond
    • Leslie Fenton
  • See production info at IMDbPro
  • IMDb RATING
    6.1/10
    220
    YOUR RATING
    • Director
      • Karl Hartl
    • Writers
      • Curt Siodmak
      • Walter Reisch
      • Robert Stevenson
    • Stars
      • Conrad Veidt
      • Jill Esmond
      • Leslie Fenton
    • 13User reviews
    • 8Critic reviews
  • See production info at IMDbPro
  • See production info at IMDbPro
  • Photos13

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    Top cast12

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    Conrad Veidt
    Conrad Veidt
    • Maj. Ellissen
    Jill Esmond
    Jill Esmond
    • Claire Lennartz
    Leslie Fenton
    Leslie Fenton
    • Capt. B.E. Droste
    George Merritt
    George Merritt
    • Lubin
    Donald Calthrop
    Donald Calthrop
    • Sunshine, the Photographer
    Alexander Field
    • A Sailor
    Francis L. Sullivan
    Francis L. Sullivan
    • A Sailor
    • (as Francis Sullivan)
    Warwick Ward
    Warwick Ward
    • First Officer
    Nicholas Hannen
    Nicholas Hannen
    • Matthias Lennartz
    William Freshman
    • Conrad Lennartz
    Philipp Manning
    • Ship's Doctor
    • (as Dr. Phillip Manning)
    Will Van Allen
      • Director
        • Karl Hartl
      • Writers
        • Curt Siodmak
        • Walter Reisch
        • Robert Stevenson
      • All cast & crew
      • Production, box office & more at IMDbPro

      User reviews13

      6.1220
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      Featured reviews

      5Anne_Sharp

      Lost in translation

      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.
      4wes-connors

      That Sinking Feeling

      The acronymic "F.P.1" stands for "Floating Platform #1". The film portends the building of an "F.P.1" in the middle of the Atlantic Ocean, to be used as an "air station" for transatlantic plane flights. Based a contemporary Curt Siodmark novel; it was filmed in German as "F.P.1 antwortet nicht" (1932), in French as "I.F.1 ne répond plus" (1933), and in English as "F.P.1" (1933). Soon, technology made non-stop oceanic travel much more preferable.

      Stars Conrad Veidt (as Ellissen), Jill Esmond (as Droste), and Leslie Fenton (as Claire) find love and sabotage on and off the Atlantic platform. Karl Hartl directed. Mr. Veidt is most fun to watch; but, he is not convincing in the "love triangle" with Ms. Esmond and Mr. Fenton. The younger co-stars were the spouses of Laurence Olivier and Ann Dvorak, respectively. Both the concept and film have not aged well.

      **** F.P.1 (4/3/33) Karl Hartl ~ Conrad Veidt, Jill Esmond, Leslie Fenton
      mail-671

      It seemed a good idea,at the time!

      This was one of those early 30s attempts to look into the future but with more imagination than practicality little realizing how the technology and fascination of cross-channel air travel would swiftly develop. There was also the idea mooted in "TransAtlantic Tunnel"(1935)which featured Richard Dix & George Arliss that virtually sunk without trace but then actually sort of became reality with the excavation & opening of the(English) Channel Tunnel now a popular and functional reality to change access to Europe forever. But H G Wells got it right in a somewhat ironic way in "Things To Come".

      I would like to correct a blind error of confusion & hindsight by some critics who should know better. The film had a long forgotten theme song "Lighthouse Across The Bay" which was later released on record. Conrad Veidt did not sing to this recording, he only recited the words pretty much as Rex Harrison preferred to do in "Dr Doolittle" much later.
      7paulwl

      could have been better, but ahead of its time

      (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...
      6malcolmgsw

      A familiar theme

      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.

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      Related interests

      Still frame
      Adventure
      James Earl Jones and David Prowse in Star Wars: Episode V - The Empire Strikes Back (1980)
      Sci-Fi

      Storyline

      Edit

      Did you know

      Edit
      • Trivia
        During a scene Conrad Veidt's character says: "You see, Drost (Leslie Fenton's character) and I have known each other for years". That was true in real life too. Conrad Veidt and Leslie Fenton had played opposite each other in the 1929 silent, "The Last Performance".
      • Goofs
        Conrad Veidt's plane is shown back to front as he approaches F.P.1.
      • Alternate versions
        Filmed simulataneously with different casts and in three languages by Karl Hartl.
      • Connections
        Alternate-language version of F.P.1 Doesn't Answer (1932)
      • Soundtracks
        Where the Lighthouse Shines Across the Bay
        Music by Allan Gray

        Lyrics by Donovan Parsons

        Performed by Conrad Veidt

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      Details

      Edit
      • Release date
        • April 3, 1933 (United Kingdom)
      • Countries of origin
        • United Kingdom
        • France
        • Germany
      • Language
        • English
      • Also known as
        • F.P.1
      • Filming locations
        • Cuxhaven, Lower Saxony, Germany
      • Production companies
        • Gaumont British Picture Corporation
        • Les Productions Fox Europa
        • Universum Film (UFA)
      • See more company credits at IMDbPro

      Tech specs

      Edit
      • Runtime
        • 1h 14m(74 min)
      • Color
        • Black and White
      • Sound mix
        • Mono
      • Aspect ratio
        • 1.37 : 1

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