F.P.1 Doesn't Answer Blu-ray

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S E A R C H D V D B e a v e r

(aka "F.P.1 Fails to Reply" or "F.P.1 Doesn't Answer")

Directed by Karl Hartl
Germany 1932

A spectacular German science fiction film in the tradition of Metropolis (1927) and Gold (1934), F.P. 1 Doesn’t Answer dramatizes the creation of a massive floating airport serving as a way station between four continents. Hans Albers (The Man Who Was Sherlock Holmes) stars as Ellissen, a dashing pilot who helps persuade an heiress (Sybille Schmitz, Vampyr) to fund the visionary project. When communication with Floating Platform 1 is mysteriously interrupted, Ellissen risks his life to investigate its disappearance. Produced just as the Nazi government was taking control of the German film industry, F.P.1 was writer Kurt Siodmak’s last film before emigrating to England and eventually America, where (as Curt Siodmak) he would write The Ape, The Wolf Man, Donovan’s Brain, and many other classic Hollywood horrors). It was also the last pre-war German film of Peter Lorre (M, The Maltese Falcon), who costars as a sly photojournalist. This special edition includes both the restored German-language version of F.P.1 Doesn’t Answer as well as the English-language version, Secrets of F.P.1, featuring Conrad Veidt (The Man Who Laughs).

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F.P.1 is a huge airplane landing dock in the Atlantic where pilots making the transatlantic flight can stop. Yet a saboteur tries to sink the technical wonder in this classic German science fiction film from 1932. The film was also created with English and French speaking actors at the same time.

Posters

Theatrical Release: December 22nd, 1932

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Review: Kino - Region 'A' - Blu-ray

Box Cover		CLICK to order from: Bonus Captures:
Distribution	Kino - Region 'A' - Blu-ray
Runtime	F.P.1 Doesn't Answer: 1:52:03.416 Secrets of F.P.1: 1:17:43.017
Video	1.19:1 1080P Dual-layered Blu-ray Disc Size: 42,637,439,461 bytes Feature: 26,011,599,168 bytes Video Bitrate: 26.00 Mbps Codec: MPEG-4 AVC Video
	NOTE: The Vertical axis represents the bits transferred per second. The Horizontal is the time in minutes.
Bitrate Blu-ray:
Audio	LPCM Audio German 1536 kbps 2.0 / 48 kHz / 1536 kbps / 16-bit Commentary for F.P.1 Doesn't Answer: LPCM Audio English 1536 kbps 2.0 / 48 kHz / 1536 kbps / 16-bit
Subtitles	English, None
Features	Release Information: Studio: Kino 1.19:1 1080P Dual-layered Blu-ray Disc Size: 42,637,439,461 bytes Feature: 26,011,599,168 bytes Video Bitrate: 26.00 Mbps Codec: MPEG-4 AVC Video Edition Details: • Audio commentary by film historian Eddie von Mueller on F.P.1 Doesn't Answer • The complete English-language version, Secrets of F.P.1, starring Conrad Veidt, Jill Esmond, and Leslie Fenton (1:17:43) Blu-ray Release Date: August 10th, 2021 Standard Blu-ray Case Chapters 11

Comments:

NOTE: The below Blu-ray captures were taken directly from the Blu-ray disc.

ADDITION: Kino Blu-ray (August 2021): Kino have transferred Karl Hartl's F.P.1 Doesn't Answer to Blu-ray. The package includes the English language version, Secrets of F.P.1, and both are restored by the Friedrich-Wilhelm-Murnau-Stiftung. The film was developed as a multilingual effort, with one film each in German, French, and English with different actors but the scenes are virtually duplicated throughout. So Kino give us the German and English versions in 1080P. There are marks and frame-specific damage (see sample below.) Contrast can waver and grain support can be uneven. There may be some green-infiltration in spots. The stock air-footage is a notch lower. The shorter English language version may look a bit better with fewer marks. Both are very watchable, and thankfully restored, but there are imperfections that surface.

NOTE: We have added 46 more large resolution Blu-ray captures (in lossless PNG format) for DVDBeaver Patrons HERE

On their Blu-ray, Kino use a DTS-HD Master dual-mono track (16-bit) in the original German language. An early sound film their are similar imperfections to the video sounding hollow and scattered. F.P.1 Doesn't Answer has aggressive moments including aviation effects that come through with modest flat depth and a score by Allan Gray (The African Queen, I Know Where I'm Going, The African Queen, The Life and Death of Colonel Blimp, A Matter of Life and Death, A Canterbury Tale) adding to the 'Amazing Stories' pulpy feel of the film. Kino offer optional English subtitles on their Region 'A' Blu-ray. NOTE: There are none for the English-language version.

The Kino Blu-ray offers a new commentary by Dr. Eddie von Mueller fro F.P.1 Doesn't Answer. He discusses Hans Albers, Sybille Schmitz, Paul Hartmann, Peter Lorre and others including the director Karl Hartl, WW2, Nazism, German filmmaking and much more. I found it quite educational. The addition of Secrets of F.P.1 with Conrad Veidt, Jill Esmond and Leslie Fenton is a bona-fide curiosity. Inclusion of the French version as well, with Charles Boyer as the lead, might have been a good idea creating a more complete package (we have been told it is 'lost'.)

The science-fiction element of Karl Hartl's big-budget techno-thriller F.P.1 Doesn't Answer is, essentially, the large aircraft carrier utilized as a gas-station for airplanes in the Atlantic Ocean. It's from the imagination of Curt Siodmak's novel (spelled 'Kurt' back in 1932) with help on the screenplay by Walter Reisch (Gaslight, Journey to the Center of the Earth etc.) The production escaped the silent-era and is clever and melodramatic. Peter Lorre fans may be disappointed at the briefness of his screen time. I had never seen F.P.1 Doesn't Answer and really enjoyed the adventurous aspects that evoke early Fritz Lang. I liked this in the same way I could appreciate Hartl's Gold (1934.) The Kino Blu-ray has a lot going for it with this rare gem of a large-scale pulpy production, the commentary and English-language version with different cast - as supplements. Strongly recommended!