Astounding Science Fiction (British Edition) — page 84: what you’re looking at

Machine-transcribed from the original scan — historical spelling and the odd misread are preserved.

82 death ray was chords. struck on three guitars, the sounds amplified, then played backwards and reverberated. Although it took months to come up with the sounds, once we had them it was a simple matter to record them In the picture. The nerve strain or co-ordination in a film like “War of the Worlds’’ is tremendous. Let one department fluff off and the whole result goes flooey no matter how the others have knocked themselves out for perfec- tion. You get so wrapped up in your own particular problems and your part of the teamwork that by the time the film is in the can, the whole thing is sort of a haze. You’ve knocked yourself out on de- tails and technicalities so that when someone asks you, “Is it good,” you can’t answer “‘yes” or “no” for sure. The whole thing is a blur. A conven- tional picture is considerably easier to produce and judge. That’s why the first sneak preview at the Paradise Theater in Westchester, a Los Angeles suburb, last November had all those who worked on the film The World | of tomorrow... WAITS FOR YOU IN THE COMING ISSUES OF | ASTOUNDING YOUR NEWSAGENT OR MAIL IT DIRECT TO THE PUBLISHERS AND YOU WILL RECEIVE YOUR, COPY THROUGH THE POST EACH MONTH POCO FEMS RENE DOSE HSOE ERED EFEH ESOS OHCASESE POCHEDER ESSE SETS SORTS PERO ORE ET ETE CEH ESR ESEM SESS ASTOUNDING SCIENCE FICTION slightly off this world’s gravity. We'd used our imagination and ingenuity —given it everything we had. Was it good or was it ripe for blase teenagers’ laughter? It was a fine feeling which the cast and creators shared when the preview cards came in “‘good.”’ Just to make sure that this favorable audience wasn’t an exception, we staged a sec- ond sneak preview in Santa Monica. Another top response. Then we really relaxed. Those Friday night audiences of youths from twelve to twenty-five in jeans and leather jackets are the toughest audiences in the world to please. We were satisfied that, if they took our version of H. G. Wells, we'd made the grade. Uncurling our fingers, almost ar- thritic with crossings, the print was shipped to New York. But was it time to vacation? Not by a planetful. Now let’s see: If we got disintegration in “War of the Worlds,’’ can we create artificial satellites in ‘“‘Conquest of Space’? I hope so. It’s the next sci- ence-fiction film on the agenda, you know. * Eh CT Im | RR jel ke EE ee By ER Se (your newsagent), or ATLAS PUBLISHING & DISTRIBUTING CO, LTD. 18 Bride Lane, London, E.C.4 Enclosed is my subscription for 6 issues (10/—) Enclosed is my subscription for 12 issues (20/—) (Strike out whichever is inapplicabie) | to ASTOUNDING SCIENCE FICTION SCIENCE FICTION | — Subscribe Now — | SIMPLY TAKE THE ATTACHED COUPON TO | POOP VOSS E TERETE THERETO REESE RH SHESOOE HK OOH OEHT HOSE SEEOEOESE SEH EE EE SESS POS ERSOSEEES HEED ROHS COOL SHER SSEE OOO REHSO RES FHOEDOSE DSSS ES EH HSETATEH TT SSTSSTSOSS DOSS HSS SOSEE AGES HOSE OBOSEOTS BLOCK CAPITALS PLEASE EComichbooksco mM.