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6.2/10
Senior Film Conservator
A definitive 6.2/10 rating for a film that redefined the boundaries of cult cinema. F.P.1 Doesn't Answer remains a cornerstone of transgressive art.
If you have any love for old-school retro-futurism, you need to watch F.P.1 Doesn't Answer tonight.
It is a weird, loud German sci-fi from 1932 that feels like a fever dream about airplanes. Anyone who loves gigantic miniatures and Peter Lorre looking incredibly greasy will have a blast.
But if you cannot stand old melodrama where men in leather coats scream at each other, you will probably hate this. 🛩️
The plot is basically... well, its about this giant floating runway in the middle of the ocean.
Before long-range flights were a real thing, people actually thought we would need giant floating platforms in the Atlantic so planes could gas up. It is a wild concept, and the movie builds this massive, beautiful model to show it off.
Honestly, the model of F.P.1 is the best actor in the movie. It looks so heavy and real in the water, especially when the waves start crashing against it.
The actual human actors are a mixed bag, to be honest.
The main hero is Ellissen, played by Hans Albers. The guy is a human golden retriever on speed.
He laughs too loud, he punches people for no reason, and he wears his pilot cap at a ridiculous angle. I found myself wanting to throw a shoe at him after about thirty minutes, but you cannot deny his energy.
Then you have Peter Lorre, who plays a sweaty photojournalist named Johnny.
Lorre is just... doing his own thing here, and it is wonderful. He looks like he has not slept in three weeks, and his eyes are constantly darting around like he expects a piano to fall on him.
He has this one scene where he is trying to get a picture and just slumps against a wall, looking totally defeated. It is so funny and weirdly relatable.
It is a far cry from the stylized stuff of the era, or even the weird fantasy of something like Chu-Chin-Chow, which came out around the same decade. This movie wants to feel like the gritty future, even if that future involves a lot of men singing sea shanties.
Oh yeah, there is a lot of singing. Why does every 1930s German movie have to have a musical number?
Albers sings this song about being a pilot, and it goes on for about two minutes too long. The extras in the background are just swaying back and forth, looking like they want to go home.
The sabotage plot is where the movie gets a bit draggy.
Some shadowy corporation wants to ruin the platform, so they get a guy on the inside to wreck the engines. The middle hour of the film is basically just people running up and down metal stairs while steam shoots out of pipes. ⚙️
One reaction shot of a worker staring at a pressure gauge lingers so long it becomes funny.
You can almost feel the movie trying to convince you this moment matters, but we all know they are just going to turn a valve and fix it.
Still, the climax on the floating island has some great tension.
When the platform loses power and just sits there in the fog, the silence starts to feel awkward rather than emotional, but then the planes show up. The sound design of the roaring engines is incredibly loud and harsh.
It actually made my dog bark.
I do wish Sybille Schmitz had more to do than just look worried in a very nice trench coat.
She is supposed to be the love interest, but she mostly just stands around while the men argue about who gets to fly the coolest plane. It is a bit of a waste of her talent.
But look, if you want a cozy Sunday afternoon movie with great model work and some historical novelty, this is it.
Just be prepared for Hans Albers to scream directly into your face for two hours.
IMDb 4.3
1926
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