The Hindenburg (film)
The Hindenburg is a 1975 American Technicolor film based on the disaster of the German airship Hindenburg. The film stars George C. Scott. It was produced and directed by Robert Wise, and was written by Nelson Gidding, Richard Levinson and William Link, based on the 1972 book of the same title by Michael M. Mooney.
A highly speculative thriller, the film and the book it is based on depict a conspiracy of sabotage leading to the destruction of the airship. In reality, while the Zeppelins were certainly used as a propaganda symbol by the Third Reich, and anti-Nazi forces might have had the motivation for sabotage, the theory of sabotage was investigated at the time, and no firm evidence for such sabotage was ever put forward. A. A. Hoehling, author of the 1962 book Who Destroyed the Hindenburg?, also about the sabotage theory, sued Mooney along with the film developers for copyright infringement as well as unfair competition. However, Judge Charles M. Metzner dismissed his allegations.
Filmed largely in color, a portion of the film is presented in monochrome, edited between portions of the historical Hindenburg newsreel footage shot on May 6, 1937.
Plot
Kathie Rauch from Milwaukee, Wisconsin sends a letter to the German Embassy in Washington, D.C. claiming the Hindenburg zeppelin will explode after flying over New York. In the meantime, Luftwaffe Colonel Franz Ritter boards with the intention of protecting the Hindenburg as various threats have been made to down the airship, which some see as a symbol of Nazi Germany.Ritter is assisted by a Nazi government official, SS/Gestapo Hauptsturmführer Martin Vogel, who poses as an "official photographer" of the Hindenburg. However, both operate independently in investigating the background of all passengers and crew on the voyage. Ritter has reason to suspect everyone, even his old friend, Countess Ursula von Reugen, whose Baltic estate in Peenemunde had been taken over by the Nazis and appears to be escaping Germany to visit her daughter in Boston.
Other prime suspects include card sharps Emilio Pajetta and Major Napier, Edward Douglas, a suspicious German-American ad executive, as well as several crew members and even the Hindenburg captains Pruss and Lehmann. Many possible clues turn out to be red herrings, such as Joe Spah sketching the ship's interior as an idea for a Vaudeville show and mysterious names which later turned out to be the name of race horses on board the Queen Mary.
As the Hindenburg makes its way to Lakehurst Naval Air Station, events conspire against Ritter and Vogel. They soon suspect the rigger Karl Boerth, a former Hitler Youth leader who has become disillusioned with the Nazis. Ritter attempts to arrest him but he resists and requests help from Ritter, who sympathizes with him because Ritter's son was killed in an accident a year before while in the Hitler Youth. Ritter later receives news that Boerth's girlfriend, Freda Halle, was killed while trying to escape arrest as the Hindenburg crossed the Atlantic. Boerth, upon hearing the news of Halle's death, plans to commit suicide by staying aboard the airship as the bomb goes off, to show that there is a resistance against the Nazi party. Ritter reluctantly agrees with Boerth to set the bomb to 7:30, when the airship should have landed and passengers disembarked, saying an explosion in flight is the "last thing he wants".
While setting up the bomb, Boerth drops the knife part which is recovered by a crew member. To cover up the loss of his knife, Boerth steals a knife from fellow rigger Ludwig Knorr. Vogel starts to work behind Ritter's back, arresting Boerth and confiscating the Countess's passport.
As the airship approaches Lakehurst Naval Air Station at 7:00, Ritter now realizes the landing has been delayed and searches for Boerth to ask where the bomb is. Vogel is caught by Ritter in the cargo bay torturing Boerth and gets into a fight with Ritter and is knocked unconscious. An injured Boerth tells Ritter the bomb is in the repair patch of gas cell 4. Ritter attempts to defuse the bomb, but is distracted by a now-awakened Vogel and is unable to do so in time. The bomb explodes, killing Ritter instantly and sending Vogel flying down the walkway. Vogel survives, being carried by ground crewmen. Boerth was injured from being tortured by Vogel and dies of his burns, but manages to set the Channing's dog free before the ship crashes to the ground. Passengers and crew struggle to survive the fire.
The following day, with the fire cleared, a short list of some of the passengers and crew who died or survived is described briefly, while the wreckage is examined for the inquiry before being cleaned up. As Herbert Morrison's memorable radio commentary is heard, the Hindenburg is seen flying once again, only to disappear again in the clouds.
Characters
- Colonel Franz Ritter — A Luftwaffe Colonel assigned by Joseph Goebbels to board the Hindenburg as a security officer in response to the bomb threat. Ritter won the Knight's Cross as the chief of intelligence during the Bombing of Guernica. His son Alfred was in the Hitler Youth and died the previous year falling from a synagogue after vandalizing it with slogans. In early versions of the screenplay, the character was known as "Fritz Kessler." Ritter is based upon Colonel Fritz Erdmann who was aboard the final flight, though there is no evidence that he nor the other two Luftwaffe officers were aboard as a security officer to investigate a bomb threat.
- Ursula von Reugen — Ursula is a Baltic German Countess and old friend of Ritter, who lived in her estate in Peenemünde. After it had been taken over by the Nazis, she boards the Hindenburg to fly to America. She knew Col. Ritter, because he and her husband were in the same flying club before the creation of the Luftwaffe; she went to live on her estate after he died in a plane crash. Her daughter, Trudi, is deaf and goes to a school in Boston, living with her friends. Ursula survives the fire by walking down a stairway, most similar to the real life escape of Margaret Mather.
- Karl Boerth — A rigger, and the saboteur of the airship. Boerth was a former Hitler Youth leader, but claims he became inactive because he helped build the Hindenburg. His girlfriend, Freda Halle, worked with foreigners in a French bank in Frankfurt, and her ex-lover was killed fighting for the Republicans in the Spanish Civil War, leading the Gestapo to investigate.
- SS/Gestapo Hauptsturmführer Martin Vogel — The antagonist of the film. Vogel is a Gestapo agent who poses as an official photographer for the airship. Initially, Vogel works cooperatively with Ritter, but after Ritter dismisses the suspicious behavior of some of the passengers and has apparent sympathies for Boerth and the Countess, Vogel begins to work behind Ritter's back. He also has a romantic interest in a young girl, Valerie Breslau, referring to her as a "Jewish model." Vogel is loosely based on Karl Otto Clemens, who was a semi-official photographer for the Deutsche Zeppelin Reederei as well as Luftwaffe Major Hans-Hugo Witt, but there is no evidence neither Clemens nor Witt were part of the Gestapo.
- Captain Max Pruss — The ship's commander. Unlike the real Pruss, he rejects the advice of Captain Lehmann and says "I'll do the worrying this trip." In fact, the real Pruss may have been under Lehmann's pressure to rush the landing of the airship.
- Captain Ernst Lehmann — Senior observer who has been a zeppelin captain since before World War 1. He is on the flight at the request of Ritter, and also to appeal to the United States Congress to supply Germany with helium for their airships. He is portrayed as being wary of the Nazis and on good terms with Dr. Eckener. In actuality, the real Lehmann was well known as a Nazi supporter in order to advance his career and the fortunes of the Zeppelin Company. However, in 1929 Lehmann filed a declaration of intent to become a United States citizen, but changed his mind when he was given charge of the Hindenburg in 1936. In the film Lehmann reluctantly mentions dropping leaflets from the Hindenburg during a propaganda flight. In reality, he was eager and glad to oblige in this undertaking, to the extent that he attempted to launch the ship in unfavorable wind conditions, resulting in damage to the lower fin. Infuriated, Hugo Eckener, Lehmann's superior in the Zeppelin Company, angrily berated him for endangering the ship to appease the Nazis, resulting in Propaganda Minister Goebbels blacklisting Eckener in the press, despite his being honored as a hero both in Germany and abroad.
- The Channings — Broadway show promoters and composers, who also own a Dalmatian named Heidi. They took the Hindenburg because Mrs. Bess Channing was pregnant for the first time and did not want to risk the turbulent seas on the RMS Queen Mary. Reed Channing and Joe Späh perform a concert, satirizing the Nazi regime, which is abruptly stopped by an offended Captain Pruss. The Channings are very loosely based upon the Adelts, journalists who were closely affiliated with the Zeppelin Company. In reality, German acrobat Joseph Späh owned a dog, a German Shepherd named Ulla. There was also another dog aboard. The dog in the film survives the disaster. Neither of the two dogs aboard the last flight actually survived, and there was no passenger on board the last flight who was pregnant.
- The Breslaus — A family of German-Americans, consisting of Albert and Mildred Breslau and their three children Valerie, Peter and Paul. Albert Breslau was to sell some diamonds hidden in a pen to get funding for his grandmother's family, the Milsteins, out of Germany because they were Jewish. Breslau refused to do this but the pen was given by a Zeppelin staff member to Valerie Breslau before the flight. The family is based upon the Herman Doehner family that was aboard on the last flight.
- Joseph Späh — A German-American Vaudeville acrobat who comes under suspicion for making unaccompanied visits to see the Channings' dog and drawing detailed sketches of the ship's interior as an idea for a theatre show. The real Späh made unaccompanied visits into the hull to visit his own dog, and was accused of sabotaging the airship by some members of the Hindenburg crew.
- Edward Douglas — A German-American advertising executive who was a cryptographer during World War I. He uses that past experience, during his trip aboard the Hindenburg, to keep track of a rival ad executive sailing aboard the ocean liner Queen Mary. The first person to reach New York City wins a lucrative contract for their agency to handle the advertising for a soon-to-open German branch of General Motors, which has acquired Opel. Although Douglas was a real passenger aboard the Hindenburg on the last flight, this subplot is only mentioned in Mooney's book and has been dismissed as fictional by some airship historians. Opel was completely acquired by General Motors by 1931.
- Hugo Eckener — Renowned airship commander and head of the Zeppelin Company, known to be hostile to the Nazi regime. In the film, he claims to have refused to name the LZ129 after the Führer, but in reality, Hitler did not want the airship named after him because he thought airships were too dangerous and his name attached to something that might be destroyed would be bad for him.
- Captain Fellows — The U.S. Navy commanding officer at the Lakehurst Naval Air Station, based on Commander Charles E. Rosendahl. He is assisted by Lieutenant Hank Truscott, who is based on Lieutenant George F. Watson.
Cast
| Actor | Role |
| George C. Scott | Col. Franz Ritter |
| Anne Bancroft | Ursula, The Countess |
| William Atherton | Karl Boerth |
| Roy Thinnes | Martin Vogel |
| Gig Young | Edward Douglas* |
| David Mauro | Joseph Goebbels* |
| Burgess Meredith | Emilio Pajetta |
| Rolfe Sedan | Ambassador Luther* |
| Charles Durning | Capt. Pruss* |
| Richard A. Dysart | Capt. Lehmann* |
| Robert Clary | Joe Späh* |
| René Auberjonois | Maj. Napier |
| Peter Donat | Reed Channing |
| Alan Oppenheimer | Albert Breslau |
| Katherine Helmond | Mildred Breslau |
| Jean Rasey | Valerie Breslau |
| Joanna Cook Moore | Mrs. Channing |
| Stephen Elliott | Capt. Fellows |
| Joyce Davis | Eleanore Ritter |
| Colby Chester | Eliot Howell III |
| Michael Richardson | Rigger Neuhaus |
| Herbert Nelson | Hugo Eckener* |
| William Sylvester | Luftwaffe Colonel |
| Greg Mullavey | Herbert Morrison* |
| Simon Scott | Luftwaffe General |
| Herbert Morrison | Himself |
Beside name indicates actual historical person
Production notes
Director Robert Wise, known for an attention to detail and background research, began to collect documents and film footage on the real-life Hindenburg for over a year at the National Archives in London, the National Air and Space Museum Library and Archives in Washington, D.C. as well as in Germany. In 1974, while casting took place in United States, pre-production photography was undertaken in Munich, Milwaukee, New York and Washington, D.C. Naval Air Station Lakehurst, New Jersey would also be a primary location, but Marine Corps Air Station Tustin near Los Angeles, where two 1,000 ft hangars constructed for airships still existed, doubled for the original Hindenburg mooring station. Additional locations in Southern California were also chosen.Studio and special effects work was carried out at Sound Stage 12 in the Universal Studios complex. Wise's research was used to advantage, since the bulk of Zeppelin blueprints were destroyed in World War II. Using photographs, a recreated passenger area, gondola and superstructure of the giant airship was constructed to create a realistic exterior and interior set for the actors. A team of 80 artists and technicians working double shifts for four months, assembled a "giant Erector Set" consisting of eight tons of aluminum, of muslin, of sash cord and 2,000,000 rivets.
.
The Hindenburg made extensive use of matte paintings to bring the Zeppelin to life. To take photographs for use as matte paintings, a highly detailed model of the airship was "flown" via an elaborate setup where the stationary model was photographed by a mobile platform consisting of a camera and dolly on a track on Universal Studios largest and tallest sound stage, Stage 12. For the scene where the airship drops water ballast, a matte painting was used, and sugar was dropped through a hole in the windows as water. To recreate the initial explosion of the airship, which was missed by the newsreel cameras, matte paintings and animation were used to make a superimposed explosion of the airship beside its mooring mast. The model of the Hindenburg today is on display at the National Air and Space Museum in Washington, D.C.
A real-life tragedy nearly happened during the filming of the Hindenburgs fiery death. A full-scale section of the Zeppelin's nose was built for the film on Universal Studios' Stage 12, and was set to be destroyed by fire for the film's final destruction sequence. A half-dozen stunt artists wearing fire-retardant gear were placed in the nose replica as it was set afire; however, the fire quickly got out of control, causing several stunt artists to get lost in the smoke, damaging several cameras filming the action, and nearly destroying the sound stage. Only 4 seconds of footage from this sequence appears in the final cut of the film, but the entire sequence, as it had been planned, was not included.
Newsreel footage
An interesting aspect was the film's transition from black and white to technicolor and back to grayscale, beginning with a simulated Universal Newsreel that gave an educated view to the history of the lighter-than-air craft. While a narrator talks about the LZ 127 Graf Zeppelin, footage of the LZ 130 Graf Zeppelin II being christened in 1938 is erroneously shown, indicating the newsreel was not from 1936. Photographs show the construction of the Hindenburg, to which the narrator describes her as "the climax of man's dream to conquer the air, the new queen of the skies." Immediately afterwards the newsreel transitions into the film in colour, with the Hindenburg is shown outside its hangar and along with the opening credits the airship flies by before disappearing into the clouds.Artistic liberties
Although the film is largely accurate to its setting, there were numerous differences between the film and reality. Some aspects were added for dramatic purposes. The scene when the port fin's fabric rips did not happen to the Hindenburg, but a similar event occurred on the Graf Zeppelin during its first flight to America in 1928. Additionally, although the Hindenburg did have a specially constructed aluminum Blüthner baby grand piano aboard for the 1936 season, it was not aboard the final flight in 1937. While the interior of the ship was accurately recreated, a stairway was added to the lower fin for dramatic purposes; in the real Hindenburg, access to the fin was provided by a ladder from the interior of the ship for crew members to use. Several aspects of the airship's takeoff and landing procedures were also inaccurate.The zeppelin hangar seen when the Hindenburg departs Germany for America is actually a World War II US Navy blimp hangar located at Tustin, California, the design of which is quite different from the actual German zeppelin hangars.
The mooring mast used in the landing sequence is black, while the real mooring mast was red and white. During the landing sequence the ship drops water ballast through windows near the nose instead of at the tail section, as it did during the final approach.
A few anachronisms occur as well: At the beginning of the story, two senior Luftwaffe Generals discuss the possibility of Colonel Franz Ritter receiving the Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross for actions in the Spanish Civil War. The Knight's Cross did not exist in 1937, first being created at the start of World War II in 1939.
Also, at one time Edward Douglas refers to the fact that the German car manufacturer Opel is to be taken over by General Motors "the next day." In fact, Opel had already been taken over completely in 1931. At Berlin there are Citroën HY delivery cars which were built in the late 1940s.
Several dramatic escapes depicted were based on fact, slightly altered for dramatic purposes, including:
- Werner Franz, a 14-year-old cabin boy, escaped the flames after a water ballast tank overhead burst open and soaked him with water. He then made his way to the hatch and turned around and ran the other way, because the flames were being pushed by the wind toward the starboard side. In the film, however, he is depicted being doused by the water after he jumped out.
- Passenger Joseph Späh, a circus performer, escaped by smashing a window with his home movie camera, and held on to the side of the window, jumping to the ground when the ship was low enough, surviving with only a broken ankle. In the film he is depicted grabbing a landing rope, but in reality there was no landing rope.
Reception
On the review aggregator website Rotten Tomatoes the film currently holds a score of 36% based on 14 reviews.
Awards
Despite critical reaction, The Hindenburg was noteworthy for its use of special effects and won two Special Achievement Academy Awards in 1976:The film was also nominated for Best Art Direction, Best Cinematography and Best Sound.
In the same year, The Hindenburg was nominated for an "Eddie" in the category of Best Edited Feature Film in the American Cinema Editors Awards.