Secrets Of F.P.1 (1933)

A dashing pilot (Conrad Veidt) wants to help his friend (Leslie Fenton) whose designs for an air station in the middle of the Atlantic ocean languish away at a major factory. While bringing attention to his friend's designs, he falls in love with the sister (Jill Esmond) of the brothers who run the company. But his ambition gets in the way of the romance and fate deals the three of them a major blow. Based on the novel by Kurt Siodmak (DONOVAN'S BRAIN) and directed by Karl Hartl. Simultaneously filmed in German (with Hans Albers in Veidt's role) as F.P.1 DOESN'T ANSWER and French (with Charles Boyer in Veidt's role) as well as English. This English language version is over a half hour shorter than the German version. While it makes it a leaner and tighter movie, it does seem rather rushed as if it had a time limit. The film itself is a mixture of adventure movie and disaster movie and works very well in that regard. If not as detailed as the 1932 German version, this one is like a compact Readers Digest version and I enjoyed it too. With Donald Calthrop and Francis L. Sullivan.