F.P.1 Doesn't Answer (1932) User Reviews

Hiigh Tech Dream of 1932

[zsenorsock · 6/10 · 28 February 2005]

This film was made at a time when technology was moving almost faster than the imagination. Only a few years after Lindbergh's non-stop flight across the Atlantic, in this Germany decides to solve the problem of long transatlantic flights not by building planes that can fly further, but by building a gigantic platform in the middle of the Atlantic where planes can land and refuel. Only there are forces at work trying to keep the Floating Platform (hence F.P. #1) from becoming a success. Sabotage and spies add a layer of intrigue to what essentially is a love triangle between the commander of F.A. #1 and a gregarious pilot who both love the same woman. For the time, this film is quite impressive for its North Sea location photography as well as its flying scenes. Peter Lorre has a couple of good scenes as the hero's photographer buddy. I'd rate it higher, but many parts of the story either don't hold up or don't make sense. Still, glad I got to see it once.

The American Version Is Far More Entertaining!

[JohnHowardReid · 5/10 · 2 February 2008]

The German version of this sci-fi yarn comes a big disappointment all around. Chief liability is Hans Albers, a ham of the first water, who is not only allowed to dominate every scene but indulged with more dialogue than all the rest of the players put together. He just never stops talking. Exotic Sybille Schmitz manages to collar a few nice close-ups, but Peter Lorre is wasted. Most of the time, Lorre simply serves as a listening post for the garrulous Albers.

Oddly, the Droste character (played with reasonable force by Paul Hartmann) has even less footage here than in the cut American version. Indeed, despite the amazing fact that this German version runs 40 minutes longer, the action scenes are more complete and far more convincing in the 74-minute edit. The little bit of extra footage in which Albers is not featured are merely propaganda shots of the German air force conquering the skies.

Only for huge aviation fans

[Horst_In_Translation · 4/10 · 22 June 2016]

"F.P.1 antwortet nicht" or "F.P.1 Doesn't Answer" is German movie that came out during the Christmas holidays 1932, so this one is already almost 85 years old. As such, it is of course still in black-and-white, but has sound already. And even if this was made one year before the Nazis came into Power here in Germany, it is just another example of how Hans Albers had already worked for a long time as an actor and was very much experienced here. The title may seem a mystery to many and I include myself here, but apparently the letters and number describe a certain airplane. The reason is that this film is about an aviator named Ellissen, played by Albers and we get to witness his struggles high up in the air and also those of a more personal nature down on the ground. The film comes fairly close to the 2-hour mark, but I must say it should have been shorter as there were in fact several sequences that were not too interesting and where the film dragged quite a bit. It's not Albers' fault. He gives his best and is nicely charismatic just like he usually is. I guess who is really to blame here are script writers Walter Reisch and the somewhat famous Curt Siodmak, who also wrote the novel this is based on. The director is Austrian Karl Hartl, who was among the most successful German-language filmmakers in the 1930s. But this one here does not make me curious about other efforts from his body of work. It is really only worth checking out if you are a huge aviation (film) fan and don't mind black-and-white movies. I give it a thumbs-down.

German guy fun!

[Anne_Sharp · 8/10 · 10 January 2001]

This big-budget technothriller-romance was state-of-the-art for 1932, featuring a top-notch cast (especially Hans Albers as the rowdy, untamed hero and Peter Lorre as his long-suffering sidekick) and a lickety-split plotline in which industrial sabotage, sexual politics and the psychology of heroism are artfully intertwined. An English-subtitled video version of this SF classic is long overdue.

Life is adventure, but could be even more than that

[unbrokenmetal · 8/10 · 16 February 2009]

The famous pilot Ellissen (Hans Albers) helps his friend Droste (Paul Hartmann) to have FP1 built, a platform in the middle of the Atlantic Ocean which will make a connection between the continents possible (in a time when non-stop flights with passengers were science fiction). During the years when FP1 is built and Ellissen is far away, his girlfriend Claire (Sybille Schmitz) falls in love with Droste. Saboteurs try to destroy FP1, so Ellissen must come to the rescue. "FP1 antwortet nicht" is an excellent piece of work for its time. First, the science fiction novel by Curt Siodmak provided a spectacular story. But then, Albers portrays a really interesting hero, a man who often doesn't succeed (he loses his plane in a crash in Australia, he loses Claire to his best friend) but always comes back. Claire tried to teach him the advantages of a normal life, but no, it will always be adventure for him, "life is too short", he once says. With this charismatic performance, it is easy to see why Albers was one of the most popular stars of his time. Peter Lorre of "The Maltese Falcon" fame is responsible for the comic relief here as a photographer who tries to get the first picture of FP1. Last not least, a memorable musical score with the theme song "Flieger, grüß mir die Sonne" contributes to the fame of the movie.

Great

[cynthiahost · 10/10 · 25 August 2013]

A highly entertaining Sci Fi German classic A year before Germany would change. Hans was good as the aviator flier Ellison wanting to encourage the development of the plat form,by stealing it and putting it in the office of his old friend Droste ,played by Paul Hartman.Sybil Schmitz plays the Heiress to the main company,whom she has a percentage of investment in it, that same year she was in Vampyr.A pudgy and blond hair Peter Lorre plays his sidekick and photo journalist.Well eventually this platform is built.Sybil for a while has Romantic interest in Hans,but,she has a conflicting interest in Hartmann.Well after everything is built ,right before it opens,Herman Speelman, part of the ship , all of a sudden declares mutiny and shoots Paul Hartmann and start to Gas everyone.When Sybil pleads, to Hans, to take her to f.p.i. to find out what happen to Paul,he agrees.When both arrive and Hermann take off, Sybil shows her true color about Paul,he's only injured.After waking everyone up the crew want to quit .So they leave except a few.But when Paul Hartmann takes his pale out to leave ,Hans takes off to go to a ship and to inform ,on radio about the availability of the platform for planes.It finally does business,Rudolph Platte shows up as a radio operator ,who is shot .This was worth watching and collecting too at Grape vine video,which also has English version, and ,I think Germnwarfilms.com 8/25/13