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F.P.1 Fails to Reply
hardcover
First published January 1, 1933
13 people want to read
About the author
Curt Siodmak
62 books20 followersCurt Siodmak (1902–2000) was a novelist and screenwriter, author of the novel Donovan's Brain, which was made into a number of films. He also wrote the novels Hauser's Memory and Gabriel's Body.
Born Kurt Siodmak in Dresden, Germany, Curt Siodmak acquired a degree in mathematics before beginning to write novels. He invested early royalties earned by his first books in the movie Menschen am Sonntag (1929), a documentary-style chronicle of the lives of four Berliners on a Sunday based on their own lives. The movie was co-directed by Curt Siodmak's older brother Robert Siodmak and Edgar G. Ulmer, with a script by Billy Wilder.
In the following years Curt Siodmak wrote many novels, screenplays and short stories including the novel F.P.1 Antwortet Nicht (F.P.1 Doesn't Answer) (1933) which became a popular movie starring Hans Albers and Peter Lorre.
Siodmak decided to emigrate after hearing an anti-semitic tirade by the Nazi propaganda minister Joseph Goebbels, and departed for England where he made a living as a screenwriter before travelling to the USA in 1937.
His big break came with the screenplay for The Wolf Man (1941) which established this fictional creature as the most popular movie monster after Dracula and Frankenstein's monster.
In The Wolf Man Siodmak made reference to many werewolf legends: being marked by a pentagram; being practically immortal apart from being struck/shot by silver implements/bullets; and the famous verse:
"Even a man who is pure in heart, And says his prayers by night May become a Wolf when the Wolfbane blooms And the autumn Moon is bright" (the last line was changed in the sequels to The Moon is full and bright).
Siodmak's science-fiction novel Donovan's Brain (1942) was a bestseller and was adapted for the cinema several times. Other notable films he wrote include Earth vs. the Flying Saucers, I Walked With a Zombie and The Beast With Five Fingers.
Born Kurt Siodmak in Dresden, Germany, Curt Siodmak acquired a degree in mathematics before beginning to write novels. He invested early royalties earned by his first books in the movie Menschen am Sonntag (1929), a documentary-style chronicle of the lives of four Berliners on a Sunday based on their own lives. The movie was co-directed by Curt Siodmak's older brother Robert Siodmak and Edgar G. Ulmer, with a script by Billy Wilder.
In the following years Curt Siodmak wrote many novels, screenplays and short stories including the novel F.P.1 Antwortet Nicht (F.P.1 Doesn't Answer) (1933) which became a popular movie starring Hans Albers and Peter Lorre.
Siodmak decided to emigrate after hearing an anti-semitic tirade by the Nazi propaganda minister Joseph Goebbels, and departed for England where he made a living as a screenwriter before travelling to the USA in 1937.
His big break came with the screenplay for The Wolf Man (1941) which established this fictional creature as the most popular movie monster after Dracula and Frankenstein's monster.
In The Wolf Man Siodmak made reference to many werewolf legends: being marked by a pentagram; being practically immortal apart from being struck/shot by silver implements/bullets; and the famous verse:
"Even a man who is pure in heart, And says his prayers by night May become a Wolf when the Wolfbane blooms And the autumn Moon is bright" (the last line was changed in the sequels to The Moon is full and bright).
Siodmak's science-fiction novel Donovan's Brain (1942) was a bestseller and was adapted for the cinema several times. Other notable films he wrote include Earth vs. the Flying Saucers, I Walked With a Zombie and The Beast With Five Fingers.
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Displaying 1 of 1 review
August 3, 2007
F.P.1 Fails to Reply, Kurt Siodmak, Collins, 1933
F.P.1 (Floating Platform 1) is a floating airport to be anchored in the middle of the Atlantic Ocean. Measuring several hundred yards wide by a quarter-mile long, it is to be a mid-journey refueling stop for airplanes flying between America and Europe. It has all the latest conveniences, including a luxury hotel. But the operation to get it to its anchor spot is full of problems.
Several senior members of the crew are on dry land, sick with dysentery. The ship which was doing the towing suddenly lets go, in the middle of the night, leaving F.P.1 drifting. Three tugboats conveniently show up and continue with the towing. Droste, one of F.P.1’s creators, takes over command, to keep things on schedule. The schedule is vital because Lennartz, the owner of the German shipyard where F.P.1 was built, has staked his company’s future on the platform. If it is not in its proper position, and open for business, by a certain date, just a few days away, a large loan from the German government, on which the shipyard is depending, will disappear. Bankruptcy, and the sale of the company to Hansly, Lennartz’s rival, will result.
Someone really wants F.P.1 to be late. The three tugboats unhook from the platform and take off, leaving it drifting. The radio is destroyed, having come in contact with several thousand volts of electricity. Doors are opened in the pylons to suck in water for ballast, but the valves to close the doors mysteriously vanish. Panic and near-mutiny sets in among the hotel waiters, convinced that F.P.1 will sink, and they will drown, while the crew is able to leave. Unless those valves are found, drowning awaits everyone. From land, a private search is made for F.P.1 by air, that includes Lennartz’s daughter, Gisela, who happens to be in love with Droste. Any publicity that F.P.1 is "missing" would be a disaster for Lennartz. Will F.P.1’s "maiden voyage" turn into a trip to Davy Jones’ locker?
I really enjoyed this story, which will certainly keep the reader’s interest. This would make a very good adventure film, the kind that are seen on TV on weekends.
F.P.1 (Floating Platform 1) is a floating airport to be anchored in the middle of the Atlantic Ocean. Measuring several hundred yards wide by a quarter-mile long, it is to be a mid-journey refueling stop for airplanes flying between America and Europe. It has all the latest conveniences, including a luxury hotel. But the operation to get it to its anchor spot is full of problems.
Several senior members of the crew are on dry land, sick with dysentery. The ship which was doing the towing suddenly lets go, in the middle of the night, leaving F.P.1 drifting. Three tugboats conveniently show up and continue with the towing. Droste, one of F.P.1’s creators, takes over command, to keep things on schedule. The schedule is vital because Lennartz, the owner of the German shipyard where F.P.1 was built, has staked his company’s future on the platform. If it is not in its proper position, and open for business, by a certain date, just a few days away, a large loan from the German government, on which the shipyard is depending, will disappear. Bankruptcy, and the sale of the company to Hansly, Lennartz’s rival, will result.
Someone really wants F.P.1 to be late. The three tugboats unhook from the platform and take off, leaving it drifting. The radio is destroyed, having come in contact with several thousand volts of electricity. Doors are opened in the pylons to suck in water for ballast, but the valves to close the doors mysteriously vanish. Panic and near-mutiny sets in among the hotel waiters, convinced that F.P.1 will sink, and they will drown, while the crew is able to leave. Unless those valves are found, drowning awaits everyone. From land, a private search is made for F.P.1 by air, that includes Lennartz’s daughter, Gisela, who happens to be in love with Droste. Any publicity that F.P.1 is "missing" would be a disaster for Lennartz. Will F.P.1’s "maiden voyage" turn into a trip to Davy Jones’ locker?
I really enjoyed this story, which will certainly keep the reader’s interest. This would make a very good adventure film, the kind that are seen on TV on weekends.
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