Olympus OM-1N rewind crank keeps unscrewing, film stuck!

Hi, bought my first film camera recently (so am complete amatuer) and after being delighted with results from the the 1st roll - Ilford 400 b&w - I have been taking shots with the 2nd roll, Kodak UltraMax color. So, attempting to remove the film from the Olympus OM1 I turned the rewind release tab to R, then proceeded to turn the rewind lever to unspool the film. Made a noise that sounded like it was safely in the cassette so I opened the back and to my horror the film was still in the takeup spool and now exposed to the light. Quickly closed the cover and tried to rewind it some more but now the rewind crank turns so far and just unscrews itself from the camera. I keep re-attaching and trying again but with the same result.
Question 1; can someone recommend a way to retrieve the roll of film without the crank piece being attached?
Question 2: Can someone advise how I can fix the rewind lever?
Many thanks, in advance.
BTW, here's a few from my 1st roll

Welcome to Photrio!

If you are turning the rewind knob anti-clockwise to rewind your film, you are doing it backwards. The film is probably now jammed in the cartridge, because the end of the film where it attaches to the spool has formed a big hump inside the cartridge and there is no more room to retract the film into the cartridge.

The film is taped in such a way it cannot fold over smoothly when rewound the incorrect direction.

It is up to you, but since you fogged it and wound it incorrectly, the surviving pictures may have been flashed with light and/or have scratches from incorrect winding

You might just want to chalk this up to experience and save yourself film processing fees.

However, if you want to attempt to save what you have, you will need a changing bag or darkroom and a light-tight container. Just go in the dark and extract the film from the camera by lifting the rewind lever, press the rewind lever and gently pull the film off of the take-up spool. Personally, I would NOT try to wind it into the cartridge, but gingerly wind it around the canister and tape it down. Place it in the light-tight bag and hand deliver it to your lab. Talk to the person behind the counter and tell them what happened.

My 2 cents...

If the rewind crank unscrews you're turning it in the wrong direction.

Sean Mac said:

If the rewind crank unscrews you're turning it in the wrong direction.

Click to expand...

OK, really really embarrassed. I was turning it the wrong way, changed direction and it's in the cassette now. Can't believe I was so stupid.

Gregzilla75 said:

OK, really really embarrassed. I was turning it the wrong way, changed direction and it's in the cassette now. Can't believe I was so stupid.

Click to expand...

We all have to start somewhere

Wait until you try shooting 4x5 and see how many ways there are to be wrong.

They are lovely cameras and hopefully your next roll will go better....

Sean Mac said:

Wait until you try shooting 4x5 and see how many ways there are to be wrong.

Click to expand...

This. ^^^^

Yeah, the myriad ways to screw up using film are dang near infinite...

Gregzilla75 said:

OK, really really embarrassed. I was turning it the wrong way, changed direction and it's in the cassette now. Can't believe I was so stupid.

Click to expand...

In case you ever forget, when you open the rewind handle, observe the arrow next to the knob. May the force be with you!

You're not a pioneer with that one!

Given the varieties of errors available, the wiedrest one I've ever seen was when
a customer managed to completely fog not one but two entire rolls of film rolls of film
with his brand new Canon F1(his first camera). We had him shoot another roll and
bring the camera into the store to show us what he was doing...
First thing he did was to open the back, push the rewind button
and watch the film and go back into the cassette. Hard to keep a straight face
with that one.
Can you top that anyone?

You weren't stupid, you were ignorant. Now you know. If you do it again though, then you could possibly feel stupid...

We all do it. No big deal. The best way to learn is to make mistakes. Do it long enough and you'll probably make every mistake possible. Sometimes twice.

Yep, certainly won't make that mistake again. There'll be plenty other ones though I'm sure.