Saturn is the only known production house in Europe dedicated exclusively to erotic film, and is responsible for the first films in Austrian cinema.

Director Johann Schwarzer portrays classic erotic themes. The woman is the primary object of curiosity. Viewers are privy to real-life intimacy, as she wraps herself in blouses and negligees.  Voyeurism often takes place during bathing and posing scenes. The artist-and-model is a recurring combination.  Schwarzer portrays situations that photographs, sculptors and painters know well. But it is not always the case. The daring Austrian-Hungarian soldiers in Feminine Conscription, for example, are not to be outdone.

Saturn quickly became known across Europe for its mail-order catalogue. The terms of sale were as follows: orders shipped upon receipt of payment. The purchaser was honour bound not to show the film to minors. And to order a film under plain cover, a single word was required on the telegram: “Fotografen”. Censorship obliged!

Drawing his early inspiration from Charles Pathé’s risqué ''scènes grivoises'', Schwarzer soon created his own style that quickly become known by amateurs across Europe as "scènes viennoises". While he always revealed a little more skin than his competitors, Schwarzer never veered into pornography. His saucy films were harmless enough, aimed at a wide audience.

There are a total of 52 Saturn films, most of which come from Albert Fidelius’ collection in Berlin. Amateurs of the genre managed to save a few copies from the clutches of Austrian censorship. Albert Fidelius, the son of a German distributor, began collecting primitive films in 1933. The collection was then purchased in the 1950s by German film director Gerhard Lamprecht, who founded the Stiftung Deutsche Kinemathek several years later.

The films can be recognized by a star, the special Saturn trademark that is clearly visible in all their décor. In the 1990s, original nitrate-based films (mainly negatives) were restored by the Filmarchiv Austria.