Transcribe
Translate
Venus, v. 1, issue 1, June 1944
Page 11
More information
digital collection
archival collection guide
transcription tips
-11- AT LANG LAST by FORREST J ACKERMAN (Editor's Note: Forry Ackerman has met most of the prominent persons of our field of our time. E.E. Smith, Dr. Keller, Virgil Finlay, Frank R. Paul, John W. Campbell Jr. And he has interviewed probably more important figures than any other fan: A. Merritt. Austin Hall. Catherine Moore. Robert A. Heinlein. Margaret Brundage. H.G. Wells. now he shares with us the experience of meeting, recently, a man whose work he has admired for 15 years--more than half his life--& whom he has finally succeeded in seeing: "Scientifilmaestro" , to borrow one of 4e Ackerman's coined expressions, FRITZ LANG.) ~ ~ ~ "I am going to New York and kick Campbell in the pants!" declared Fritz Lang a few minutes after I met him. Lang had seen my advance copy of Astounding, which John had failed to forward him. Lang is a science fiction fan. Fantasy, too; for he has been used to reading Unknown regularly. I knew that thru Bob Heinlein who learned it when he and Leslyn entertained Lang in their Hollywood home the year before last. But let us go back to the beginning, back a Lang, Lang time (the pronunciation is broad "a") to the day I saw "Siegfried". I was a knickerbockered schoolboy about 12 years old, then, and I'm sure I paid no attention whatsoever to who directed the film, but I was fascinated by it. For years I vividly remembered the flame-breathing dragon ...the invisible gnome...the men who turned to stone...the fire-encircled mountain...and the other special effects of the picture, which had a very special effect indeed on my imaginative mind. I wondered if indeed a man might not be able to understand the language of the birds, if he might not become invisible and invulnerable, as Siegfried. Then I saw Lang's "METROPOLIS", and nearly died of ecstasy. I got the book from which his "Spies" was produced, and, later, many papers featured reviews of and facts about his "Frau im Mond". I knew by now who Fritz Lang was. And after that wonderful nite when "Siegfried" was revived in San Francisco, where I lived at the time, I wrote Lang a letter care of UFA ("oofah"--magic name!) in Deutschland. Accompanying his response came a letter in Deutsch from his "sekretariat", which, when translated, I found to contain thanks for my appreciation of his work. Along with this letter came a small sepia foto, inscribed "To Forrest J. Ackerman with kindest regards. Fritz Lang Berlin.4.Nov.31." Lang certainly looked like a scientifilm director in the picture: A monocled man in three-quarters profile, hunched forward, dynamic-appearing in a black open-throat shirt. Time Marches on ... So years later he came to Hollywood and I wrote him a letter of welcome, to which he responded with recognition. After I saw the revival of "Metropolis" in '39, prior to its showing at the First World Science Fiction Convention, I made the maglet called Metropolis, of course sent Lang a copy, and elicited another letter. I had for some time had an invitation to visit him at his Santa Monica establishment, but I never found this possible. In Hollywood he directed "Fury", "You and Me", "Return of Jesse James", "Hangmen Also Die", but no new scientifilms.
Saving...
prev
next
-11- AT LANG LAST by FORREST J ACKERMAN (Editor's Note: Forry Ackerman has met most of the prominent persons of our field of our time. E.E. Smith, Dr. Keller, Virgil Finlay, Frank R. Paul, John W. Campbell Jr. And he has interviewed probably more important figures than any other fan: A. Merritt. Austin Hall. Catherine Moore. Robert A. Heinlein. Margaret Brundage. H.G. Wells. now he shares with us the experience of meeting, recently, a man whose work he has admired for 15 years--more than half his life--& whom he has finally succeeded in seeing: "Scientifilmaestro" , to borrow one of 4e Ackerman's coined expressions, FRITZ LANG.) ~ ~ ~ "I am going to New York and kick Campbell in the pants!" declared Fritz Lang a few minutes after I met him. Lang had seen my advance copy of Astounding, which John had failed to forward him. Lang is a science fiction fan. Fantasy, too; for he has been used to reading Unknown regularly. I knew that thru Bob Heinlein who learned it when he and Leslyn entertained Lang in their Hollywood home the year before last. But let us go back to the beginning, back a Lang, Lang time (the pronunciation is broad "a") to the day I saw "Siegfried". I was a knickerbockered schoolboy about 12 years old, then, and I'm sure I paid no attention whatsoever to who directed the film, but I was fascinated by it. For years I vividly remembered the flame-breathing dragon ...the invisible gnome...the men who turned to stone...the fire-encircled mountain...and the other special effects of the picture, which had a very special effect indeed on my imaginative mind. I wondered if indeed a man might not be able to understand the language of the birds, if he might not become invisible and invulnerable, as Siegfried. Then I saw Lang's "METROPOLIS", and nearly died of ecstasy. I got the book from which his "Spies" was produced, and, later, many papers featured reviews of and facts about his "Frau im Mond". I knew by now who Fritz Lang was. And after that wonderful nite when "Siegfried" was revived in San Francisco, where I lived at the time, I wrote Lang a letter care of UFA ("oofah"--magic name!) in Deutschland. Accompanying his response came a letter in Deutsch from his "sekretariat", which, when translated, I found to contain thanks for my appreciation of his work. Along with this letter came a small sepia foto, inscribed "To Forrest J. Ackerman with kindest regards. Fritz Lang Berlin.4.Nov.31." Lang certainly looked like a scientifilm director in the picture: A monocled man in three-quarters profile, hunched forward, dynamic-appearing in a black open-throat shirt. Time Marches on ... So years later he came to Hollywood and I wrote him a letter of welcome, to which he responded with recognition. After I saw the revival of "Metropolis" in '39, prior to its showing at the First World Science Fiction Convention, I made the maglet called Metropolis, of course sent Lang a copy, and elicited another letter. I had for some time had an invitation to visit him at his Santa Monica establishment, but I never found this possible. In Hollywood he directed "Fury", "You and Me", "Return of Jesse James", "Hangmen Also Die", but no new scientifilms.
Hevelin Fanzines
sidebar
