The Hindenburg ** (1975, George C Scott, Anne Bancroft, William Atherton) – Classic Movie Review 8539

Among the intriguing star actors aboard the tolerable but glum 1975 disaster movie The Hindenburg are George C Scott and Roy Thinnes as security men Colonel Franz Ritter (Scott) and Martin Vogel (Thinnes), Anne Bancroft as countess Ursula (Bancroft), Burgess Meredith and René Auberjonois as card players Emilio Pajetta (Meredith) and Major Napier (Auberjonois), and Gig Young as adman Edward Douglas (Young).

Director Robert Wise makes good use of much real footage of the German zeppelin exploding at Lakehurst, New Jersey, in 1937, integrating it effectively with his convincing special effects and new footage.

Nelson Gidding’s screenplay provides a blend of facts and fiction, and an interesting sabotage theory, but gives boring lines to an above average cast and gets bogged down in a story that is not entirely riveting, even by the humble standards of Seventies disaster movies.

It was nominated for three Oscars: Best Cinematography (Robert Surtees), Best Art Direction-Set Decoration (Edward C Carfagno, Frank R McKelvy ) and Best Sound. There were Special Achievement Awards at the 1976 Academy Awards for visual effects (Albert Whitlock, Glen Robinson) and sound effects (Peter Berkos).

The Hindenburg runs 125 minutes but the American TV version runs 130 minutes.

Also in the cast are William Atherton, Charles Durning, Roy Thinnes, Gig Young, René Auberjonois, Robert Clary, Katherine Helmond, Richard Dysart, Peter Donat, Alan Oppenheimer, Joanna Moore, Stephen Elliott, Jean Rasey, Ted Gehring, Lisa Pera, Joe Di Reda, Peter Canon and Rex Holman.

It is based on a novel by Michael M Mooney and a screen story by William Link and Richard Levinson.

© Derek Winnert 2019 Classic Movie Review 8539

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