Episode Details

Don Hartley has stumbled upon an invention that could make him fabulously wealthy—and give anyone who controls it the power to watch anyone, anywhere. Before he cashes in, he must decide whether some discoveries are simply too dangerous to share. The Vidiot by Ib Melchior. That’s next on The Lost Sci-Fi Podcast.

Another day, another author making his debut on the podcast. Ib Melchior was born in Copenhagen, Denmark, in 1917. His father was a celebrated opera singer who performed throughout Europe and the Americas from the 1920s through the 1940s, including appearances with the Chicago Opera, San Francisco Opera and the Metropolitan Opera in New York. Near the end of his career, he also appeared in character roles in MGM musicals.

Ib spoke six languages, and his fascination with movies began when he was only 11 years old. He saw the 1928 silent film The Man Who Laughs, featuring Conrad Veidt as Gwynplaine, whose striking appearance later helped inspire the visual creation of the Joker. Melchior walked away from the movie knowing exactly what he wanted to do—direct films.

In the late 1950s, Melchior met producer Sidney W. Pink, who told him he could direct a movie if he wrote the screenplay. There was just one problem: Melchior had never written a screenplay. But he wanted to direct, so he wrote one, and the result was The Angry Red Planet. That launched a career in science fiction movies that would last for years.

Melchior went on to write and direct science fiction films including Reptilicus, Robinson Crusoe on Mars, and The Time Travelers. He also wrote for television, including an episode of The Outer Limits.

Before his movie career took off, Melchior wrote three science fiction short stories. Later, he added two science fiction novels to a remarkably varied career that began with an 11-year-old boy sitting in a movie theater, already dreaming about getting behind the camera.

His first short story appeared in Fantastic Universe in March 1956 on page 51, The Vidiot by Ib Melchior…

Next on The Lost Sci-Fi Podcast, The people of Kana refuse to abandon their forgotten world, and Kenyon is determined to discover what could make them choose isolation over the stars. Deep beneath the strange islands, something ancient has already decided who belongs on Kana—and who will never leave. Blood Lands by Alfred Coppel

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