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.

As always there are spoilers ahead!

You can follow the podcast on Threads, Instagram and Bluesky.

HG Wells shadow is a long one and his seminal work on time travel was published in 1895. But well over a half a century later Hollywood was still hooked on Herbert (George Wells). The Time Machine was directed by George Pal and released 1960. From the turn of the century to the beginning of a new decade my amazing guests break down the themes and influences on this mid-century steampunk precursor.

Keith Williams is a Reader in English Literature at the University of Dundee where he runs the science fiction programme. He has a special interest in the pre 1945 period and is the author of the book H.G. Wells, Modernity and the Movies.

Ian Scott is a Professor of American Film and History at The University of Manchester. He has written extensively about politics and film in Hollywood.

Chapters

00:00 Intro

02:39 HG Wells in 1985: the book and the birth of cinema

05:37 1960s USA: the cusp of a new age

10:02 The influences on Wells: Thomas Henry Huxley and William Morris

17:21 James Bond: Rod Taylor’s missed opportunity

19:08 Time travel: the time machine, mannequins and the BBC

27:57 The far-flung future: evolution, class and nuclear war

35:32 Fritz Lang, Metropolis, and the death of flower power

39:24 The Legacy

47:09 Recommendations for the listener

NEXT EPISODE!

Next week I will be discussing the Eastern Block with brainy experts and discussing one of the first sci-fi films from the region Der schweigende Stern, AKA The Silent Star from 1960.

It was also re-edited and released as The First Spaceship on Venus. You may like to watch the MST3K version on YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BVmgb3jEimQ

If you are in the USA and have a public library card you should be able to find the film on Kanopy: https://www.kanopy.com/en/product/116646

The film is available to rent online depending on your region. Just Watch should be able to help.

If you felt very committed you could also buy this DVD collection of DEFA sci-fi which includes writing and interviews with the amazing Sonja Fritzsche, Evan Torner and Mark Bould: https://eurekavideo.co.uk/movie/strange-new-worlds-science-fiction-at-defa/

As always there are spoilers ahead!

Scroll down to read a brief synopsis of the film. The idea is to watch the film in advance before tuning in but apparently many of you listen without prep which is lovely albeit confusing! Next episode’s film is also listed below.

Roger Corman began his career in film in 1950 and would go on to leave a huge mark on the industry by mentoring many filmmakers in the 1970s (Peter Biskind’s book Easy Riders, Raging Bulls is a great read if you’re interested!).

The Wasp Woman from 1959 was produces and directed by Corman and rounds of the podcast’s fantastic foray into the 50s.*

A film that focuses on the CEO of Janice Starlin Enterprises: Janice Starlin herself! The company is suffering and Janice is ageing but scientist Dr Eric Zinthrop had discovered the secret to youth in extracts of royal jelly taken from queen wasps.

My two amazing guests are here to enlighten us on wasps, women and workplace* etiquette.

Roger Luckhurst is a Professor at Birkbeck, University of London. He specialises in literature, film, and cultural history from the 19th century to the present.

Sherryl Vint is Professor of Science Fiction Media Studies at the University of California, Riverside. She has written/edited many books about science fiction.

Chapters

00:00 Intro

02:00 Roger Corman

07:06 Women in 1959, the Mad Men era and real life women CEOs

09:38 The Fly: death, face reveals and campiness

15:52 The 1995 remake

18:13 The parasitic wasp

20:59 Royal jelly, royalty and matriarchs

22:50 Office politics: youth, beauty and 50s expectations

32:48 Teen market & production constraints.

35:14 Death of the Wasp Woman

36:42 Susan Cabot’s tragic death

40:00 Legacy of the film

46:38 Recommendations for the listener

Synopsis of The Wasp Woman

Dr Eric Zinthrop has been research the royal jelly of queen wasps and has discovered an elixir of youth that changes grown animals into baby ones. He is exactly what Janice Starlin, the ageing CEO of the hugely successful but failing cosmetics brand Janic Starlin Enterprises needs to change her and her companies fortune around.

A couple of the men who work for Janice do not trust Zinthrop. They enlist Janice’s secretary Mary to spy on her boss. Although Janice can see the effects of the new drug she impatient with the slow results and Zinthrop’s cautious attitude. She goes to the laboratory and injects herself to speed up results.

Meanwhile Zinthrop realises his formula makes his test animals crazy but before he is able to warn Janice he gets into a car accident. Janice cannot find him and so decides to continue to self-administer doses of the serum and begins to look increasingly younger.

When Zinthrop is finally found by Janice she pays for and takes over his care sleeping at the office. She also discovers the serum has an unfortunate side effects of turning her head into that of a huge wasp and causing her to kill! This all leads to a big fight at the end in which Janice Starling’s wasp form is attacked and thrown off a high floor balcony.

NEXT EPISODE!

We will be shimmying into 1960 with the classic HG Wells adaptation The Time Machine. The film is available to buy or rent online from major outlets including Apple. You can check the Just Watch website to see where the film is available in your region.

*I would like a gold star for alliteration please.