Today’s movie is a disaster film
with scenes occurring on May 6. I hope you will enjoy this motion picture and
watch it tonight.
THE HINDENBURG
The zeppelin Hindenburg is a symbol of Nazi Germany and thus many people have a
motive to destroy it. Franz Ritter and Martin Vogel are German agents sent
independently on board to protect it. Their suspicion falls on Boerth, a former
Hitler youth leader who has become disillusioned with the Nazi regime. When
Vogel tries to arrest him, he appeals to Ritter, whose son died the previous
year. Ritter agrees to help Boerth with his plot. When Boerth learns his
girlfriend has been killed trying to
escape arrest in Germany, he decides to stay on board as his bomb goes
off. The bomb is set to go off when all
passengers will be off the ship. Vogel becomes suspicious and again tries to
arrest Boerth. Ritter and Vogel fight and Vogel is knocked out. Boerth, who was injured in the fight, tells
Ritter where the bomb is. He now wants to disarm it as delays mean that the
bomb will go off when people are still on board. While trying to disarm the bomb,
Ritter is attacked by an awakened Vogel and the bomb goes off. The film segues
into the infamous newsreel showing the destruction of the ship on May 6, 1937.
[1:23:00 to 2:00:45]
Much better
at special effects than character development. Not the greatest disaster film
ever made, but it is watchable. This is
a fantasy, not a fact based film. To date no evidence has been found that there
was a bomb on the Hindenburg.
Air and Space Disasters of the World by Xavier
Waterkeyn (New Holland Publishers, London, 2007) at page 31 and the film at
1:23:10 give this date for the disaster
Screenplay- Nelson Gidding, Richard Levinson & William
Link
Awards- It won the Best Sound Effects and Best Visual
Effects Oscars. It was also nominated for the Best Art Direction, Best
Cinematography, and Best Sound Oscars at the 48th Academy Awards
Director - Robert
Wise
Producer - Robert Wise
Running Time - 2 hours and 5 minutes
Released - December
25, 1975
Starring -
George C. Scott as
Col. Franz Ritter
Anne Bancroft as
Ursula, The Countess
William Atherton as Boerth
Roy Thinnes as Martin Vogel
Gig Young as Edward Douglas
Burgess Meredith as Emilio Pajetta
Charles Durning as Capt. Pruss
Copyright by Ivan Walters 2014.
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