Show Notes
As always there are spoilers ahead! In 1951 Poland, during its Stalinist era, acclaimed science fiction writer Stanislaw Lem released his first book: The Astronauts. (He had already written the novel The Man from Mars which was serialised). In 1960 The Astronuats would go on to become the basis of East Germany's ambitious communist sci-fi film Der schweigende Stern or The Silent Star. The script would go through 12 drafts before filming by which time Lem had removed his name from the project. Although the script lacks focus it is full of historical and cultural significance and is a strong an indictment of why ideological control should not be asserted on the arts. The film is idealistic, looks great with some beautiful design and does not feature Christopher Nolan (link to Instagram post). I have two top notch academics to discuss the film. Sonja Fritzsche is a professor of German Studies and Senior Associate Dean at Michigan State University. She has also written/edited many books about science fiction. Evan Torner is an Associate Professor of German Studies and Niehoff Professor of Film & Media Studies at the University of Cincinnati.
Chapters 00:00 Intro 01:53 Post Metropolis German Sci-Fi 09:50 East German filmmaking in 1960: DEFA, Kurt Maetzig & Utopian futures 16:34 The Bitterfelder Weg programme: the working class in the arts 18:50 The Polish influence: Stanislaw Lem, ideological space & the Polish October 24:31 12 drafts of the scripts: Too many cooks 29:24 Influences: Forbidden Planet, Woman in the Moon and If All the Guys in the World 32:03 The communist ideal in spaaaace! 38:32 Visual delights: Box office draw and Nazi Agfacolor 45:11 The stolen US edit: First Spaceship on Venus 47:15 Legacy, language and recommendations
NEXT EPISODE! Back to Blighty for some good old fashioned evil children in Village of the Damned (1960). The film is easy to rent or buy on an array of streaming platforms including YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cujvDkHxFcg You can check the Just Watch website for details of where to find it in your region.
More from Every Single Sci-Fi Film Ever*
"Please read the show notes!" She screamed into the void of a blank page. (I realise no one apparently reads the show notes but this time I genuinely think it might be useful to you.) This is episode two of the 2001: A Space Odyssey mini-series! I like to keep episodes under an hour to make them digestible but there is a 15 minute longer version of the episode available for Patreon members or to buy as a one off for £3 or $3. You can find it here: https://www.patreon.com/everyscififilm It is being released early because I am going on holiday and I have no idea how great my internet is going to be or how often I'll be able to check it while I am away. (I do know that in the summer of 2024 it once took somewhere between 3 and 6 hours to upload the podcast from my mum's house.) We have two more episodes to go (one about the sound and the other about Kubrick). If you missed the first episode I would suggest you go and take a listen to both parts. If you have not watched 2001: A Space Odyssey you can find an overview of it here on the Wikipedia page. I have also mentioned the IMDB page during the episode and the full list of credited cast and crew can be found here: https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0062622/fullcredits/?ref_=tt_cst_sm This episode is about some of the mind-blowing, ahead of their time (by at least 11 years or so when Star Wars came along) and fantastical special effects of the film. I never watch videos for podcasts myself, but I would perhaps consider it for this episode as Paul expresses the practicalities of special effects quite well with hand gestures. There are clips of the special effects you may want to look at. You can find the video on YouTube and on Spotify. As always, there are spoilers ahead! You can follow the podcast on social media on Threads, Instagram and Bluesky. The special effects for 2001: A Space Odyssey were shocking in 1968 but still amaze almost sixty years later. I have managed to procure two heavyweight guests to talk us through this mammoth achievement. (I wanted to make an ape pun but I remembered I don't actually like puns.) Paul Franklin is a Special Effects Supervisor for many blockbuster films including the Dark Knight series and has won Oscars for his work on Interstellar and Inception. Julie Turnock is Professor of Media and Cinema studies at the University of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign she has written extensively about special effects in cinema including in Kubrick's 2001: A Space Odyssey. Chapters 0:00 Intro 01:35 Special vs Visual Effects 06:12 Impact of 2001 A Space Odyssey special effects 12:45 Douglas Trumbull and more 29:03 The Discovery centrifuge 33:38 A slow visionary film 39:35 Defying gravity 41:47 Joy Sneddon's moon 43:51 The floating pen 45:34 Front projections on The Dawn of Man 49:53 Legacy 54:36 Recommendations
As always there are spoilers ahead! This is episode one of a four-episode mini-series. To make things even more confusing Episode 1 has two parts. This is part 2. If you have arrived here before treading the ground of part 1 turn back now! The idea is to most definitely watch the film before listening to the episode. If you don't want to do that and still want an overview of the film and the plot you can check out the Wikipedia entry here: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2001:_A_Space_Odyssey Please refer to these very show notes for some extra information or clarification. (Yes I'm repeating the same text from part 1. Do you even know how busy I've been and now I must copy and paste to get this out on time!) You can follow the podcast on social media on Threads, Instagram and Bluesky. If you have money to invest in further space or other scientifically romantic adventures and would like to be a patron of the podcast, pay heed! You can join Patreon and for £3 or $3 a month you can get ad free version of the show. https://www.patreon.com/everyscififilm
As always there are spoilers ahead! As we chronologically venture through science fiction history it is finally time to examine one of the heaviest of heavyweight sci-fi films. 2001: A Space Odyssey. The idea is to most definitely watch the film before listening to the episode. If you don't want to do that and still want an overview of the film and the plot you can check out the Wikipedia entry here: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2001:_A_Space_Odyssey This is episode one of a four-episode mini-series. To make things even more confusing Episode 1 has two parts. This is part 1. Part 2 is also out. (Why two parts? Because I prefer a more digestible length of podcast.) Please refer to these very show notes for some extra information or clarification. You can follow the podcast on social media on Threads, Instagram and Bluesky. If you have money to invest in further space or other scientifically romantic adventures and would like to be a patron of the podcast, pay heed! You can join Patreon and for £3 or $3 a month you can get ad free version of the show. https://www.patreon.com/everyscififilm This is the longest episode I've ever recorded (hence the two parts) and I simply couldn't cut much of it down because of my phenomenal guests. Michael Benson is an artist, filmmaker and author of a range of exciting books including the magnificently comprehensive 2018 Space Odyssey: Stanley Kubrick, Arthur C. Clarke, and the Making of a Masterpiece. Scott Bukatman is a cultural theorist and Professor of Film and Media Studies at Stanford University. He has written extensively about popular culture with a focus on how it mediates between modern technologies and the human experience. He is also the author of the wonderful BFI book on Blade Runner (which we will get to in good time). 34:48 The literal translation of "alte kackers" which is how Stanley Kubrick's wife Christiane described the people at the premiere is "old shitters".
As usual there are spoilers ahead! You can follow the podcast on social media on Threads, Instagram and Bluesky. If you have an air of gravitas and money to spend and would like to be a patron of the podcast, please do! You can join Patreon and for £3 or $3 a month you can get ad free version of the show. https://www.patreon.com/everyscififilm The novel Planet of the Apes was released in 1963 in France by French author Pierre Boulle. In that same year publicist Arthur Jacobs bought the screen rights while he was looking for something "like King Kong". Five years later in 1968 the film was released with one of the most famous twist endings of cinematic history. The film is a fun "off-planet" sci-fi adventure story with heavy commentary on societal expectations and standards. I have two lovely guests to help us understand this sci-fi classic. John Wills is a Professor of American Media and Culture at the University of Kent. He has written lots about popular culture including his new book Doom Town USA Phil Nichols is Senior Consultant to the Ray Bradbury Center at Indiana University, and formerly Film & Television course leader at the University of Wolverhampton. The Scopes trial was a 1925 case in the USA in which a teacher was accused of violating the law by teaching evolution in schools. The trial was set up on purpose to challenge the Butler Act which prevented the teaching of evolution.
As always, there are spoilers ahead. You can follow the podcast on social media on Threads, Instagram and Bluesky. If you have an air of gravitas and money to spend and would like to be a patron of the podcast, please do! You can join Patreon and for £3 or $3 a month you can get ad free version of the show. https://www.patreon.com/everyscififilm Graphic novels and comics were widely considered to be for children in the early 1960s. It was a relatively small number of artists and publishers who were working to have comics seen as a viable form of art as well as making comics for adults. Although the history of comics for adults is definitely older, this period marks a surge in European interest in the medium. Famous film producer Dino de Laurentiis helped this when he bought the filming rights to adult comics Diabolik (from Italy) and Barbarella (from France) turning them both in to movies in the 1960s. De Laurentiis originally wanted Bridget Bardot for the title role and after she turned it down, he looked to Sophia Loren who did the same. His third choice was Jane Fonda who initially rejected the script until her then husband Roger Vadim convinced her to take it. Vadim joined as Director and the rest is kitschy sci-fi history. I have two fantastic guests to talk through this swinging 60s sci-fi space opera oddity. Lisa Yaszek is Regents' Professor of Science Fiction Studies at Georgia Tech and has written/edited extensively on science fiction. Hugo Frey is Professor of History at the University of Chichester. He has a special interest in graphic novels and is co-author of the 2026 book The Look of the 1960s. Barbarella and the Pulp Pop Comics. CORRECTION: In the question about the legacy of Barbarella I say Star Trek when I mean Star Wars.