The Hindenburg (1975)

A film that chronicles the events of the Hindenburg disaster in which a zeppelin burst into flames.

Director:

Robert Wise

Writers:

Richard Levinson (screen story), William Link (screen story),

Stars:

George C. Scott, Anne Bancroft, William Atherton

Nominated for 3 Oscars. Another 2 wins & 1 nomination.

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
George C. Scott	...	Ritter
Anne Bancroft	...	The Countess
William Atherton	...	Boerth
Roy Thinnes	...	Martin Vogel
Gig Young	...	Edward Douglas
Burgess Meredith	...	Emilio Pajetta
Charles Durning	...	Captain Pruss
Richard Dysart	...	Lehman (as Richard A. Dysart)
Robert Clary	...	Joe Spah
Rene Auberjonois	...	Major Napier
Peter Donat	...	Reed Channing
Alan Oppenheimer	...	Albert Breslau
Katherine Helmond	...	Mrs. Mildred Breslau
Joanna Moore	...	Mrs. Channing
Stephen Elliott	...	Captain Fellows

Storyline

This film is a compendium of the facts and fiction of the events leading up to the disaster. For dramatic effect, Sabotage was chosen as the cause, rather than electricity lashing out at a couple of tons of hydrogen.

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Plot Keywords:

disaster | zeppelin | sabotage | blimp | germany | 

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Taglines:

The truth at last? What really happened to The Hindenburg?

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Genres:

Adventure | Drama | History | Thriller

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Certificate:

PG

Details

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Release Date:

25 December 1975 (USA)

Also Known As:

Hindenburg

Filming Locations:

Naval Air Base, Lakehurst, New Jersey, USA

Box Office

Budget:

$15,000,000 (estimated)

Company Credits

Production Co:

The Filmakers Group, Universal Pictures

Technical Specs

Runtime:

125 min

Sound Mix:

70 mm 6-Track (70 mm prints) Mono (Westrex Recording System) (35 mm prints)

Color:

Color (Technicolor) Black and White

Aspect Ratio:

2.35 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

Blimp hangar two, at MCAS Tustin California, was used as a stand-in during the landing scenes of Lakehurst, NJ.

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Goofs

The incident depicting the Hindenburg's crew repairing the tear in the Zeppelin's cover as it drifts lower and lower over the Atlantic is factual; however, the event occurred on the Graf Zeppelin, not the Hindenburg.

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Quotes

Elliot Howell III: Well countess, I've never enjoyed losing so much!

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Connections

Features Hindenburg Disaster Newsreel Footage (1937)

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Soundtracks

"There's A Lot to be Said for the Fuehrer"
Music by David Shire
Lyric by Ed Kleban
Performed by Peter Donat, Robert Clary (uncredited)

User Reviews

Crash sequence was effective

I actually thought the crash sequence in "The Hindenburg" looked pretty realistic. The combination of newsreel footage and special effects was effective as it was often difficult to distinguish between the two.

Robert Wise was an editor on "Citizen Kane" and he skillfully combined studio shots with stock footage on that great film as well. What worked on both of these movies was that the new shots were matched with the archival footage in terms of quality. Scratches, shaky camera movements and other imperfections were added to the special effects sequences to blend better with the existing newsreels.

Sure the script has some flaws but let's face it, you watch a film like this to see the disaster and "The Hindenburg" delivers.