Hot on the heels of releasing two new, fascinating videocasts focused on classic British Science Fiction, author, publisher and editor Phil Harbottle has released his eagerly anticipated look at John Russell Fearn’s long-lost 1952 film, Black Saturday.
As we previously reported, Phil trailed this presentation with The Story of Black Saturday, John Russell Fearn’s Lost Film, offering a fascinating history of one of the author’s short stories, “Black Saturday” first commissioned in 1947 for Walter Gillings’ UK SF magazine, Fantasy, but never published.
Phil recounted how post war writers formed their own publishing house, Nova Publications Ltd., which he was part of while Fearn, blocked from deeper involvement with Nova by an exclusive contract, turned instead to amateur filmmaking, radically reworking his story into a more expansive cosmic film, which Harbottle rediscovered in 1982, following the death of Fearn’s wife, Carrie, but has had transferred to DVD.
Episode 83 presents this long-lost 16mm film produced by John Russell Fearn and directed by Peter Ogden publicly for the first time since its screening at MANCON in 1952, the first Manchester Convention held in Manchester at the Waterloo Hotel, Hightown, Manchester. Organised by The Mancon Society, the event’s programme notes the screening presented by “The Nor’ West Science Fantasy Club” as part of a busy day of events. It seems to have been well received.
Professionals at the event included author John Brunner, former New Worlds and Tales of Wonder artist Harry Turner and fellow artists John White and Terry Jeeves; and John Russell Fearn.
Compared with his original story, Philip feels, Fearn’s film version was much more imaginative and cosmic in scope, although, unfortunately the film is silent. The soundtrack was separately tape-recorded, and this has been lost. Phil also notes some of the reels have also been mixed or lost, so the sub-plots are unclear.
The opening credits reveal all the people involved were friends of Fearn, and members of his Fylde Cine-Club, of which he was the founder and Chairman in 1949. By September 1950, as it gained popularity, it became known as the Fylde Cine and Dramatic Club, their activities often reported in the Blackpool Gazette at the time.
Two of the cast are of especial interest: Billy Worth, who would die just two years later in 1954, leaving a widow, Carrie Fearn, whom Fearn would later marry in November, 1956. The other was Peter Ogden (1932 – 2017), a young SF fan. Shortly after completing his role, Peter would emigrate to the United States, and become well known as the editor and publisher of the respected long-running Burroughs fanzine, Erbania.
John Russell Fearn himself plays a scientist leading a spaceship expedition to Mars, with Ogden amongst the crew, who experience the crushing pressure of acceleration to reach escape velocity.
En route, the ship appears to briefly land on the Moon, and there are effects shots of Mars and its two moons, Phobos and Deimos.
After encountering a space warp that negates light, sweeping past Mars and briefly enveloping the spaceship as it sweeps through space towards the Earth, the explorers eventually land safely on Mars, and Fearn’s character has radioed a warning to Earth.
Fearn and Peter Ogden are then seen exploring Mars, using the Blackpool Sandhills as a stand-in for the red planet. They set up scientific experiments and collect specimens of plant life. Meanwhile, astronomers on Earth detect and track the approach of the space warp. The world is alerted, and radio stations broadcast warnings that it will strike the Earth on a Saturday, at 11.00am.
Ordinary men, women and children are seen going about their business in differing fashions, until Earth is clear of the warp and a black-out is lifted.
“Considering its shoestring budget, I think you will agree Fearn and his mother and friends made a commendable fist of this, for an amateur film!” Phil enthuses.
John Russell Fearn, also widely praised for his detective fiction, was born in Manchester but lived at South Shore Blackpool, and continued to write science fiction until his death, the result of a heart attack, in September 1960.
Black Saturday was not his only local production. In March 1953, the Jack Rose Repertory Players presented his comedy, Unexpectedly Yours, at Blackpool’s Royal Pavilion.
Philip has long been an admirer of Fearn’s work, and contacted the acclaimed author about writing his biography just a year before his unexpected death.
Phil’s biography, The Multi–Man, was first published in 1968, but he has since tracked down many of Fearn’s works and associates, such as western writer Matt Jap, the result of a long quest reported, for example, by Blyth News in 1978.
Fearn’s widow, Carrie, asked Philip to act as her literary representative. He arranged for the publication of Fearn’s stories around the world, and when Fearn died in 1982 she bequeathed Fearn’s copyrights to Phillip in her will.
Philip Harbottle: Author and Archivist Extraordinaire
Philip Harbottle is a life-long science fiction fan, regarded as a world authority on the works of John Russell Fearn, whose credits encompass writing “Garth” for the Daily Mirror, and the “Golden Amazon” for Spaceship Away (adapting Fearn’s stories).
He’s also very kindly contributed a number of synopses of early “Garth” stories to downthetubes, which we are adding as time permits.
Back in the 1950s, he adapted some of the Radio Luxembourg Dan Dare radio shows into comics at a young age – the only record of some of these tales known to exist, since very few recordings survive.
• Subscribe to 1950s British Science Fiction YouTube Channel here
• Vultures of the Void: The Legacy by Philip Harbottle (AmazonUK Affiliate Link)
Philip Harbottle presents a fascinating guide to British science fiction publishing history
Head downthetubes for…
• You can read the background on MANCON 1952 here
• NEW WORLDS – the fanzine #2 (April 1939) – SCIENCE FICTION – 1950 by John Russell Fearn
- About the Author
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John is the founder of downthetubes, launched in 1998. He is a comics and magazine editor, writer, and Press Officer for the Lakes International Comic Art Festival. He also runs Crucible Comic Press.
Working in British comics publishing since the 1980s, his credits include editor of titles such as Doctor Who Magazine and Overkill for Marvel UK, Babylon 5 Magazine, Star Trek Magazine, and its successor, Star Trek Explorer, and more. He also edited the comics anthology STRIP Magazine and edited several audio comics for ROK Comics; and has edited several comic collections and graphic novels, including volumes of “Charley’s War” and “Dan Dare”, and Hancock: The Lad Himself, by Stephen Walsh and Keith Page.
He’s the writer of comics such as Pilgrim: Secrets and Lies for B7 Comics; “Crucible”, a creator-owned project with 2000AD artist Smuzz; and “Death Duty” and “Skow Dogs”, with Dave Hailwood.
Categories: Books, Digital Media, downthetubes News, Film, Other Worlds
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