Zeppelin (1971)

User Rating:

5.9/10   

Director:

Etienne Périer

Writers:

Donald Churchill (screenplay)
Owen Crump (story)

Release Date:

6 October 1971 (USA)

Genre:

Adventure | Drama | War

Plot:

The outbreak of World War I places Scots officer Geoffrey Richter-Douglas in an uncomfortable position...

Plot Keywords:

Spy | Scotland | Zeppelin | Blimp | London

Cast

Michael York	...	Geoffrey von Richter-Douglas
Elke Sommer	...	Frau Dr. Ericka Altschul
Peter Carsten	...	Maj. Tauntler
Marius Goring	...	Prof. Christian Altschul
Anton Diffring	...	Col. Johann Hirsch
Andrew Keir	...	Von Gorian (LZ36 commander)
Rupert Davies	...	Capt. Whitney
Alexandra Stewart	...	Stephanie
William Marlowe	...	Cmdr. Anderson
Richard Hurndall	...	Adm. Blinker Hall (Chief of Naval Intelligence)
Michael Robbins	...	Cockney sergeant
George Mikell	...	German officer
Clive Morton	...	Lord Delford
Gary Waldhorn	...	Harlich
Alan Rothwell	...	Brandner

Runtime:

100 min | UK:97 min

Country:

UK

Language:

English

Color:

Color (Technicolor)

Aspect Ratio:

2.35 : 1

Sound Mix:

Mono

Certification:

UK:PG (TV rating) | Finland:K-12 | Sweden:15 | USA:G | UK:U

Filming Locations:

Cardington, Bedfordshire, England, UK

Company:

Getty & Fromkess Corporation

Trivia:

Alan Rothwell and Frazer Hines were dubbed

Goofs:

Miscellaneous: When showing Richter-Douglas around the airship,Erika Altschul tells him that the occupants of the observation capsule can communicate with their crew-mates by telephone.However no telephone cable is connected to the capsule.

Quotes:

Geoffrey von Richter-Douglas: Where are the parachutes?
Frau Dr. Ericka Altschul: What parachutes?
Geoffrey von Richter-Douglas: Well, for emergencies. How do you get out of here quickly?
Von Gorian: Jump.

My dad wrote the film and its history is interesting

Produced as Ronald Getty's (son of J.Paul Getty) venture into motion pictures it attempted to explore a subject that had up to its point only been explored through the explosion of the German airship Hindenburg. It attempted to tell the story of loyalties with the then current anti-military fashion (petty drum rolls when the more dramatic and militaristic "We Sail Against England" was originally written would have provided a contrast needed).

Since the general public's reaction to a philo-German film was unknown it was thought that any overt militarism (such as the "Blue Max") should be down because the subject matter of Zeppelins without swastikas (i.e., The Hindenburg) was an unknown commodity thus a safe course was taken and downed played and thus weakening the film. Originally, scenes of epic battles waging beneath the skies of blue were considered and deleted.

In a story meeting Bob Wise's underplay of German militarism in "The Sound of Music" was argued as the public's desire to see Germania topics -- as fodder for story antagaonists without their significance.

It remains at least to me an attempt to discuss loyalty, love's betrayal and history on a very very limited budget.

I remember researching it with dad. What interested Getty was that his father's oil company furnished Germany's airships during the First World War. His contribution despite his then titanic sums available to him for a variety of reasons was very modest. Rumor had it J. Paul called Jack Warner and was concerned that his son was investing in movies and what could he expect... Ronald should however be commended because without his involvement no film on zeppelin would have been made at all (of the very limited collection of zeppelin films thus far).

The film could have used an injection of drama that was unfortunately out of vogue during the time of its production. This sounds like an excuss but one must remember it took "Patton" ten years to be produced out of similiar concerns. It was private money after all...

To dad... thanks for the memory ol' fella will miss ya...