"The F.P. of the title is agigantic mid-Atlantic floating aerodrome designed to solve the then apparentlyinsoluble problem of Atlantic air travel without refueling. (In 1937, inBritain's Non-Stop New York, the theme still had to be treated in a futuristicfashion.) The original German version (F.P. 1 Antwortet Nicht/F.P. 1 Doesn'tAnswer), with Hans Albers and Peter Lorre, was admittedly better, because theGermans always took these things so seriously. Needless to say, there was aMabuse-like super-criminal whose worldwide organization seeks to wreck the wholeproject! The British version (Secrets of F.P. 1), shot in Germany at the sametime and on the same sets, eliminated (the) rousing air force opening that musthave delighted Hermann Goering while the American version-the one we're showingtonight-shortened it still further, editing it into a tight adventure melodrama.However, all of the highlights and its serial-like structure remain. ArguablyConrad Veidt's performance is superior to that of Hans Albers-although Conraddoesn't exactly turn his back on the histrionic potential°"-William K.Everson