One type of travel many people were sad to see get axed was the airship. Blimps (as they're commonly called) offered people the chance to see the world from high above the clouds in a unique way. The nail in the coffin for airships was the infamous Hindenburg disaster, which involved the Nazi German airship LZ-129 named after the famed WW1 general bursting into flames as it attempted to land at a field in New Jersey. This movie is very clearly historical fiction, and tries to put a conspiracy spin on the Hindenburg's demise, attempting to show that it blew up because it was sabotaged by those who wanted to bring down Nazi Germany's biggest status symbol. The plot follows a Colonel in the Luftwaffe, Franz Ritter (George C Scott) who has been assigned to the Hindenburg's voyage in order to protect it from those wishing to damage it in any way. A nazi secret police officer named Hauptsturmführer Vogel is tasked with assisting Ritter on the voyage, investigating the backgrounds of the passengers while pretending to be a photographer. One passenger on the airship is the Countess Ursula von Reugen, a friend of Ritter's. Her ancestral home in Peenemünde was recently seized by Hitler's government in order to oversee Von Braun's rocket research. Another passenger named Joe Spah makes pencil sketches of the Hindenburg's interior and says he's trying to get inspirations for a Vaudeville show, but his real motives are obviously sinister. On the journey to America, Ritter begins to suspect a rigger named Karl Boerth, who seems to take an interest in snooping around the ship's metal frame (off limits to passengers). Ritter knows Karl is a former Hitler Youth leader, but he's since become sick of the nazi's way of doing things. While suspicious of Ritter, Karl feels bad for him after he learns Ritter's son was killed in an accident while in the Hitler Youth. Later on, Karl's girlfriend Freda is arrested by the Gestapo for asking too many questions about where the airship is going. She is later killed for attempting escape. When Ritter tells Karl what became of his lover, he vows to blow up the Hindenburg and kill himself in the process, but only after all the other passengers have left. Ritter tries arresting Karl, but the latter says not to force his hand, since he can blow up the airship right now if he wants. While trying to set the explosive in one of the Hindenburg's gas cells, Karl accidentally drops his knife, which is picked up by a crewmate later. Meanwhile, Vogel starts to investigate matters on his own behind Ritter's back, even though he isn't supposed to. Vogel arrests Karl and takes away Ursula's passport. With the blimp coming into view for awaiting spectators at Lakehurst Naval Air Station, Ritter tries to tell captain Max Pruss the landing will have to wait. Ritter tries to find from Karl where the bomb is located, but comes across Vogel trying to mutilate Karl. He says the bomb is in the repair patch of the fourth gas cell. As Ritter climbs a ladder and attempts to defuse the bomb, Vogel pursues him. Ritter's attempts to defuse the bomb are unsuccessful, and he's killed. Vogel manages to escape the now burning airship. As the Hindenburg goes down in flames, some other lucky passengers manage to jump to safety, including Ursula, but Karl burns alive. The day after, news reports about investigations into the disaster start coming in. The nazis refuse to admit the cause was sabotage, since in their minds, it was impossible for their most prized possession to be destroyed by a single person. Hitler therefore declares the Hindenburg's destruction was an act of God. After seeing this movie, I was kind of disappointed. I think I put a little too much faith in TCM and thought it was impossible for them to show mediocre films, but this is not the case. Aside from the fact that most of the movie just feels pretty boring because most of it takes place inside the Hindenburg, this film isn't exactly historically accurate. In the movie, the airship's second in command Ernst Lehmann is portrayed as being distrustful of the nazis, when in real life he was a known supporter of Hitler, at least when he wanted to benefit the Zeppelin company. Another scene has a crew member almost swept off one of the Hindenburg's fins after he ventures onto one in order to fix a rip in it. This never happened. Lastly, Hugo Eckener, head of the Zeppelin company, says in the movie he didn't want to name the airship after Hitler because he doesn't support nazis. In real life, Hitler himself refused to have his name attached to the Hindenburg, god forbid something bad happened to it. Overall, I was somewhat unimpressed by this film. I thought it was pretty idiotic how they try to tell the audience this event happened because of spies, but Hollywood needs to make money somehow I suppose.
Review of The Hindenburg
