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Centauri, issue 4, Summer 1945
Page 17
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-Pro and Con- Page 17 and he was enthusiastic about the idea shortly before he died. Daugherty has explained in Fanews, however, why Warners was unenthusiastic. Leigh Prackett is a good influence to have working at Warners, tho. And --aside to Leigh-- you might see what they've ever done about that S. Fowler Wright property they own, "Love in the year 55 E.E.", the redbook printing of one of the shorts in his book, "The New Gods Lead". A local semifan once had MGM just about sold on a series, so he said, of specialty shorts like the Pete Smith & Bob Benchley novelties, "Crime Does Not Pay", etc. In 13 installments, each complete in itself, they were to portray the face of the Future...transportation, recreation, architecture, warfare, etc. I told all about this once in Shangri-L'Affaires. But nothing ever came of this swell scheme. Passifans Dolens & Harryhausen of LA, both competent amateur movie makers, have some ideas up their sleeves that may blossom forth in the postwar world. So you see, some of us are not idle along this line, negative or unapparent as the results may be. After 15 years I still can't point with pride to a production of, say, "Sinister Barrier" and declare "There, I was responsible for the filming of that story!" But I plan to go back into the film industry in an advertising, writing or publicity capacity, so maybe yet it gives the scientifilmette. In my native enthusiasm for fantasy, I feel convinced the public would look forward to a featurettes based on simple scientifictional concepts, amusing "idea" stories, and especially Unknown type material. They might call them "these crazy short pictures Studio X puts out like 'He built a Cockeyed House', with that 4-door unmentionable stuff---wasn't it a riot?" Television may have a lot to do with the popularization of visible fantasy in short form, with telecasting of "canned" plays like "Stay Tuned for Terror", "macabre" & "Inner Sanctum". Bloch, Bond & Leiber might well be the fair-haired boys of this particular future. ----Forrest J Ackerman * * * * * * Most science-fiction is not well suited to movie showing, for the simple reason that a really adequate presentation requires the use of entirely too much clever trick photography, and the observer knows that it is faked. There are exceptions of course; exceptions in which the personalities are the main factors, and the faking is relatively unimportant. Care and restraint might make possible the production of such a story as "If This Goes On" for example. Good, modern fantasies are the best possibilities for movie production --- stuff of the Unknown type. I enjoy such pics as "A Guy Named Joe". "The Uninvited" is about as far in the horror direction as I would go; I liked that very much, but think it was a success largely because of the male lead, with his rather comic attitude of poking fun at the audience. I would also class "The Song of Bernadette" as a fantasy, and a remarkably fine one; but some fans wouldn't do so, and of course, highly religious people would not; they would be insulted by such a description. ----D. R. Thompson
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-Pro and Con- Page 17 and he was enthusiastic about the idea shortly before he died. Daugherty has explained in Fanews, however, why Warners was unenthusiastic. Leigh Prackett is a good influence to have working at Warners, tho. And --aside to Leigh-- you might see what they've ever done about that S. Fowler Wright property they own, "Love in the year 55 E.E.", the redbook printing of one of the shorts in his book, "The New Gods Lead". A local semifan once had MGM just about sold on a series, so he said, of specialty shorts like the Pete Smith & Bob Benchley novelties, "Crime Does Not Pay", etc. In 13 installments, each complete in itself, they were to portray the face of the Future...transportation, recreation, architecture, warfare, etc. I told all about this once in Shangri-L'Affaires. But nothing ever came of this swell scheme. Passifans Dolens & Harryhausen of LA, both competent amateur movie makers, have some ideas up their sleeves that may blossom forth in the postwar world. So you see, some of us are not idle along this line, negative or unapparent as the results may be. After 15 years I still can't point with pride to a production of, say, "Sinister Barrier" and declare "There, I was responsible for the filming of that story!" But I plan to go back into the film industry in an advertising, writing or publicity capacity, so maybe yet it gives the scientifilmette. In my native enthusiasm for fantasy, I feel convinced the public would look forward to a featurettes based on simple scientifictional concepts, amusing "idea" stories, and especially Unknown type material. They might call them "these crazy short pictures Studio X puts out like 'He built a Cockeyed House', with that 4-door unmentionable stuff---wasn't it a riot?" Television may have a lot to do with the popularization of visible fantasy in short form, with telecasting of "canned" plays like "Stay Tuned for Terror", "macabre" & "Inner Sanctum". Bloch, Bond & Leiber might well be the fair-haired boys of this particular future. ----Forrest J Ackerman * * * * * * Most science-fiction is not well suited to movie showing, for the simple reason that a really adequate presentation requires the use of entirely too much clever trick photography, and the observer knows that it is faked. There are exceptions of course; exceptions in which the personalities are the main factors, and the faking is relatively unimportant. Care and restraint might make possible the production of such a story as "If This Goes On" for example. Good, modern fantasies are the best possibilities for movie production --- stuff of the Unknown type. I enjoy such pics as "A Guy Named Joe". "The Uninvited" is about as far in the horror direction as I would go; I liked that very much, but think it was a success largely because of the male lead, with his rather comic attitude of poking fun at the audience. I would also class "The Song of Bernadette" as a fantasy, and a remarkably fine one; but some fans wouldn't do so, and of course, highly religious people would not; they would be insulted by such a description. ----D. R. Thompson
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