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Western Star, whole no. 3, August 26, 1950
Page 3
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dragged on and Hans' eternal battlecry became, "See you next Tuesday with the complete magazine. But Tuesday was elusive, so when August was almost over, and only eight pages out of twenty had been printed, with the printer planning to take a vacation, Agnes Rundle decided to kidnap what was done and issue the first half of the magazine as RENE ONE, sans cover by Bruce Berry, story by Dick Rafael, film history by P.C. Dunbar, and a number of other items by Stewart Metchette and yours truly. But half a mag's better than none, and there is some good material in it. SHOULD OLD FANS BE SHOT is a fine peach by George Ebey. Hal Bertram's study of the history of the GOTHIC TALE is good critical research. Metchette's imaginative reconstruction of future history of fandom is a stimulating bit of reading. And Kenneth McNichol's critical review of DIANETICS (written a week after the appearance of the ASF article) is the best we've seen on this subject. Two bits will bring you a copy. A quick digression across the Bay, to note that the next RHODOMAGNETIC DIGEST will probably be out this week, and it promises to be a beauty. Back to the Golden Gate Futurians and the big announcement is that the Frederick Street address is being abandoned. Unless there is some last minute change of plans, Agnes Rundle should be in the process of moving, and the club is looking for a new home, preferably by an actual clubroom. Hope to announce a new and permanent location in the next issue of the WESTERN STAR. There will not be another regular meeting of the GGFS til September 15th, at which time there will be reports on the NORWESCON. ????? WHERE ????? METROPOLIS Friday, August 25th, about 45 members of the FANTASY FILM GROUP gathered at 236 McAllister for a showing of Fritz Lang's classic German social fantasy, METROPOLIS. The version, slightly cut, still ran to two hours, and those who had not seen it before were astounded at its wealth of technical ingenuity and the forceful direction. The story is in a setting reminiscent of Wells' Time Machine, a splendid city with luxury above ground, giant machines underground, and far below those, draw tenements for the workers. The plot mixes an idealistic son of the ruler with a pacifist girl, leader of the workers. The girl is kidnapped by a villanous scientist who puts a robot in her place. The mechanical harridan whips the workers into a frenzy, and they wreck the machines, nearly destroying themselves in the process. However, the heroine escapes and together with the ruler's son, saves the day, and restores peace together with a rpomise to lighten the load of exploitation somewhat. As social analysis, it was confused and immature, but its presentation was overwhelming. Brilliant use of photomontage, breathtaking architectural conceptions, sombre sets and photography, and a real genius for handling large crowds of people make this film truly worthy of its fame. The archaic, over-stagey style of acting, largely pantomime, was a bit hard on some of the fans shooled in Hollywood's thespian standards. September 8, the Film Group will show Cabinet of Dr. Caligari. And while still on the subject of films, your editor had a chance to see again DESTINATION MOON. He had already shocked many members of the GGFS by indicating that the picture deserved criticism on some points and he was glad of the chance to give it another try. --3--
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dragged on and Hans' eternal battlecry became, "See you next Tuesday with the complete magazine. But Tuesday was elusive, so when August was almost over, and only eight pages out of twenty had been printed, with the printer planning to take a vacation, Agnes Rundle decided to kidnap what was done and issue the first half of the magazine as RENE ONE, sans cover by Bruce Berry, story by Dick Rafael, film history by P.C. Dunbar, and a number of other items by Stewart Metchette and yours truly. But half a mag's better than none, and there is some good material in it. SHOULD OLD FANS BE SHOT is a fine peach by George Ebey. Hal Bertram's study of the history of the GOTHIC TALE is good critical research. Metchette's imaginative reconstruction of future history of fandom is a stimulating bit of reading. And Kenneth McNichol's critical review of DIANETICS (written a week after the appearance of the ASF article) is the best we've seen on this subject. Two bits will bring you a copy. A quick digression across the Bay, to note that the next RHODOMAGNETIC DIGEST will probably be out this week, and it promises to be a beauty. Back to the Golden Gate Futurians and the big announcement is that the Frederick Street address is being abandoned. Unless there is some last minute change of plans, Agnes Rundle should be in the process of moving, and the club is looking for a new home, preferably by an actual clubroom. Hope to announce a new and permanent location in the next issue of the WESTERN STAR. There will not be another regular meeting of the GGFS til September 15th, at which time there will be reports on the NORWESCON. ????? WHERE ????? METROPOLIS Friday, August 25th, about 45 members of the FANTASY FILM GROUP gathered at 236 McAllister for a showing of Fritz Lang's classic German social fantasy, METROPOLIS. The version, slightly cut, still ran to two hours, and those who had not seen it before were astounded at its wealth of technical ingenuity and the forceful direction. The story is in a setting reminiscent of Wells' Time Machine, a splendid city with luxury above ground, giant machines underground, and far below those, draw tenements for the workers. The plot mixes an idealistic son of the ruler with a pacifist girl, leader of the workers. The girl is kidnapped by a villanous scientist who puts a robot in her place. The mechanical harridan whips the workers into a frenzy, and they wreck the machines, nearly destroying themselves in the process. However, the heroine escapes and together with the ruler's son, saves the day, and restores peace together with a rpomise to lighten the load of exploitation somewhat. As social analysis, it was confused and immature, but its presentation was overwhelming. Brilliant use of photomontage, breathtaking architectural conceptions, sombre sets and photography, and a real genius for handling large crowds of people make this film truly worthy of its fame. The archaic, over-stagey style of acting, largely pantomime, was a bit hard on some of the fans shooled in Hollywood's thespian standards. September 8, the Film Group will show Cabinet of Dr. Caligari. And while still on the subject of films, your editor had a chance to see again DESTINATION MOON. He had already shocked many members of the GGFS by indicating that the picture deserved criticism on some points and he was glad of the chance to give it another try. --3--
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